Upcoming Important Dates

• 01/16 – Celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday – NO SCHOOL
• 02/02 - STEM Night 
• 03/08 - Literacy Night

News

Happy New Year! May 2023 bring you great joy.

Be on the lookout for information regarding upcoming STEM and ELA nights

Announcements

• We need your help! Our uniform supply is getting super low! If you have any uniform items, you no longer use and would like to donate, please send them in! If you are willing to purchase new items, we would love those too!
• Please remember items must be red, navy blue, or white for tops/sweaters/sweatshirts/dresses and navy blue or khaki/tan for pants/skirts/dresses/leggings.
• We are especially low on smaller sizes in pants, long sleeve shirts and sweaters/cardigans, and larger sizes in pants and tops.
• Per the district, families will now be charged for lost/stolen laptops and chargers.
• Fifth graders had the opportunity in December to participate in robotics for six sessions. The first two sessions were “free build” where they had electronic pieces and had to create a moving object. Many were successful and went beyond in creating several moving objects. The next two sessions were building an object from a kit. This was more challenging, and we had to stop early. The final two sessions were about coding. They were successful in creating a moving animated object on the iPad. The next session will begin in January with a new group of students.

PE

Buenas & Hafa Adai! 

The PE website can now be accessed on student laptops (from school and from home). Visit www.pewithmrz.com for home workouts/activities or see what we’re doing in PE.

Mr. Zapanta

Library

Prior to winter break, Mrs. Grelson’s 4th grade class did a buddy read during library class with Mrs. Vacca’s kindergartners. 4th graders chose a book or two they thought the Kinders would enjoy. The following week, Mrs. Vacca’s class visited during Mrs. Grelson’s library time. Partners were chosen and away it went! It’s always so great to see the older students taking the lead with the younger ones. We saw both grade levels enjoying their time, books being discussed, and curious questions being answered. What a great way to start the day!

Musings from the Music Room

The 4^th grade classes have a music field trip on Friday, Feb 3, during the school day.  

The 4^th grade classes will head downtown with Mrs. Whalen, their classroom teachers and a few chaperones to Urban Grace church, in downtown Tacoma, to hear a performance by the Tacoma Youth Symphony!

The students performing are high school age and are part of an ensemble called a symphonic orchestra which includes string instruments, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.  The 45 min program will be led by TYS director Dr. Paul-Elliot Cobbs and will include music by composers John Williams and Sergei Prokofiev featuring Harry Potter, Star Wars and Peter and the Wolf. 

***********************************

During the month of January the music room will be filled with music making!

All grade levels will learn two songs to sing at MLK Recognition assembly. The songs are One Day written by Matisyahu (an American reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer, and alternative rock musician) and We Shall Overcome a gospel song which became a protest song and a key anthem of the American civil rights movement, made famous by long time folk singer/song writer Pete Seeger.

***********************************

What else are we doing in the music room?

Kindergarten, Success, and 1^st grade classes are learning about melody and singing, along with steady beat and will also learn how to categorize our 'general classroom music instruments' and how to hold and play them!

2^nd grade classes are also learning about melody and beat and will learn how a scale works by learning Solfege Curwen music sign language (hand signs). To put it all together they will continue lessons learning to play Boomwhackers. (Please see 1-minute video all about Boomwhackers here https://youtu.be/-Haf9IzInpM)

3^rd grade classes will continue rhythm lessons through bucket drumming and an activity I call The Cup Game. The classes will also begin learning about note and rest types, duration, and value. And they will learn how to use breath support for best singing practice.

4^th grade will dive into the Discover Music curriculum. This curriculum will prepare them for the Feb 3rd field trip experience. They will study and learn about instrument families, how instruments make sound (the science of sound and vibration), how to listen to music, how to draw connections to music drama based on dynamics (volume) and tempo (speed, pace) and how to be an excellent audience member.  4^th grades will take a break from recorder lessons during this month, but we'll get back to recorders and reading music on the staff later in the winter.

5^th grade classes will continue with soprano recorder lessons, learn note types/duration and value of notes and how to read rhythms and pitches on the staff. Each 5^th grader will receive their own recorder curriculum booklet (that I will suggest they store in the music room for safe keeping between classes).  This booklet will guide them through simple songs that will teach basic rhythms and pitches based off the Kodaly method (Zoltán Kodály - Wikipedia) that attaches the solfege syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) to the melodic pitches to teach intervals for more articulate playing and enhance their listening skills and musical understanding of the rise and fall, skips and leaps that happen in music melodies.  

Call to action button