Music

A Summary of the Year

Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 are having a great time with music twice a week! Each week we have music class in their classrooms where we begin learning about the fundamentals of music including rhythm, melody, tempo, dynamics and much more. In addition to music in their classrooms, we have a music and movement class in the gym. In our movement class we explore music through dramatic play and exercise. We do fun and exciting activities using hands-on manipulatives. We soar with our scarves, dance and sing with our ribbons and love our individual bean bags! Music is so much fun!

Kindergarten and 1st Grade are so excited to be able to come “upstairs” with the big kids for music! We have had a great start to the year with singing in circle time, doing music and movement and learning songs for our Christmas show. This is a very energetic show and the students love to sing and dance. Throughout the year the students will be introduced to music theory concepts through games and activities. We will also learn about famous composers and styles of music. The students are energetic and ready to learn each week!

2nd and 3rd Grades are doing an amazing job singing this year in music class. They are all part of our exciting Christmas show and the enthusiasm is contagious. This year we will also explore music theory concepts such as writing our own rhythms and learning how to read music using our colorful tubes called “Boomwackers” We put these concepts into practice with a culmination at the end of the year and write our own music! It’s amazing to see them grow and learn musically.

4th Grade has a very important role to play in music this year. They will be leading our Primary students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd for the Christmas show. This year we are trying something new and exciting. The 4th graders will learn an entire script and portray their parts on stage! They are very excited about this opportunity. As we move forward throughout the year the students will explore different genres of music. They will work on projects in class and will share their information with each other. This allows for all students to learn a vast amount of information. As mentioned, our  projects will be done “in class” so students will need to work diligently with a final project date. It will be a great learning experience with tons of excitement!

5th Grade students are super excited about writing their own music in a computer program called “Soundtrap" This program teaches students about rhythm and beats in a measure, dynamics, tempo, melody, harmony, and mixing musical instruments to create a wonderful masterpiece of their own. We will be doing many different projects in class using this program. Students will also study American Musical Artists. We will start with Jazz and study  many styles and artists such as Musical Theater, Folk music, Country, Elvis, Motown, and the development of MTV, and much more!

Mrs. O'Hara has been teaching music for 18 years. Her previous schools include: Grey Nun Academy, Yardley Pa, Providence Heights Alpha School, Allison Park Pa, Archbishop Ryan High School, Philadelphia, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Doylestown. Mrs. O'Hara has also run musical theatre programs in all of the schools where she has been a teacher as well as St. Andrew's School, Newtown. Mrs. O'Hara believes in a hands-on approach using various manipulatives to teach music. Her teaching style is designed so each child has an appreciation for music and the arts. Mrs. O'Hara holds degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western University, Shenandoah Conservatory, and Mannes College of Music. She has additional studdies through Juilliard.