Classroom Music: Grades 2 - 5
All students at Heron Pond have a weekly music class with their classroom (once a week) for 50 minutes. When at school, students have the opportunity to learn vocal techniques, folk dances, and play on a wide variety of small hand percussion and mallet instruments. The students are currently using rhythm sticks in second grade. Grades 3, 4 & 5 will be using recorders. All grades also use bell sets and Orff instruments, i.e. small xylophones and metallophones. Starting in September 2021, 5th grade also has the option to study and learn a band instrument during the weekly in-school music class with Ms. Chaplin. (Check out 4th and 5th grade band under the parent portal)
Different composers and their music are studied and listened to in each grade. Notation and music theory are also covered with age appropriate activities. Each year a school wide 'sing a long' assembly is organized for Veteran's Day where the student body sings selections prepared for the audience who are active or retired military personnel from the community. Our end of year assembly also features several vocal selections which the students prepare and share with the school on the last day. Each grade also has special activities and curriculum which is outlined below. All current Covid protocols are followed throughout the music curriculum.
Grade 2: Ms. Chaplin, Mr. Joyal
Students in Grade 2 work throughout the year on their singing and rhythm skills. They use games and small hand percussion to practice counting and beat. They practice singing a variety of songs that introduce new notes and different rhythms which also cover varied topics that coordinate with their classroom studies. Second grade's major project in music is a Spring musical which has a central theme with songs, acting, and dialogue that the students prepare to finish with a night time performance for their families.
Grade 3: Ms. Chaplin, Mr. Joyal
Grade 3 learns many songs from around the world and the United States to correlate with their classroom unit on Immigration. They also begin to learn how to play recorders. Each student receives a new recorder which is theirs to keep after sixth grade. These recorders are also used throughout music classes during 4th, 5th and 6th grades here in Milford.
Grade 4: Ms. Chaplin, Mr. Joyal
During the year students will continue their music skills by working on note reading, increasing their rhythmic skills and learning new songs with a variety of themes. They perform an annual musical during the Winter and practice and perform a unit with their recorders called Recorder Karate. Students who finish the unit with a Black Belt are treated to an extra performance class at the Recorder Assembly in May. Grade 4 also has the opportunity to join band Afterschool and learn a concert band instrument.
Grade 5 Classroom with Mr. Joyal, or Band with Ms. Chaplin
The students in fifth grade continue to study early Renaissance Instruments that were introduced in fourth grade during the recorder karate unit. They continue to work on their understanding of rhythms, note reading and musical form, performing increasingly more difficult music than was previously used in the lower grades with hand percussion and singing. In addition to these activities the fifth graders study music history by listening to various composers from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras. They are also introduced to a unit on World Drumming, using classroom Tubano drums that simulate pitch and playing practice one would find in South American and African cultures. As mentioned earlier, 5th grade will have an exciting opportunity to have Band lessons during the weekly Music Class period with Ms. Chaplin this year. (Check out 4th and 5th grade band under the parent portal) Many of the classroom music activities will still be carried over into the instrumental class however the main focus will be learning their instrument of choice. Exact information for the 5th Grade Band Program can be found under the Parent Portal in 4th/5th Grade Band.