Band Notes...
Sarah Ashcraft and Melanie Caster
Band Director

Challenger and Discovery are working hard on their concert songs! Our concert will be Monday, February 8 in the Goddard High School Auditorium. Discovery will play at 6:30 pm.  . All students are to report 30 minutes prior to their concert time. 5th graders will report to the GHS band room and 6th graders will report to the GHS choir room.

We are still requiring 100 minutes of home practice time. Please encourage your student to practice, give a concert, or record him or herself if practicing becomes mundane. Practicing together in two or more is also a way to have fun while doing homework! For extra help, we are available Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings before school at 7 am, and after school until 3:25 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday only.

The 5th graders are working on playing longer songs (as many as 44 measures!) as opposed to only 8 measures when we began school. They are also learning about dynamics and even learning more notes! We hope to have learned the B-flat concert scale by the end of February.

The 6th grade are working on the concert A-flat scale (they already know B-flat, C and F), and several other concert songs, including a march, a fanfare, and a Latin piece. Each instrument has its own part, which makes playing in band challenging, yet really fun because of all of the music we can make! However, if students don’t practice and learn their parts, it’s very difficult to rehearse music; we end up spending a lot of time on technical aspects of playing rather than making music! If you aren’t hearing your 6th grader practice, please encourage him or her to do so. 

Thank you for your continued support of the bands at Discovery!!

Sarah Ashcraft (316) 794.4040 sashcraft@goddardusd.com
Melanie Caster (316) 794.4040 mcaster@goddardusd.com

It is hard to believe, but we are nearly halfway through the school year! The month of December provided several opportunities for the orchestra students to spread Holiday Cheer . The orchestra traveled with the band to several of the elementary schools to play Christmas Carols and we had a great time! On December 12, 2009, all orchestra students were invited to perform at  Towne West Mall. The Towne West  performance was a delightful afternoon of music and fun. Kudos to all parents who brought their childeren out to play and very special thanks to those who helped keep the event organized. The mall manager wrote the orchestra to express her thanks and even extended another offer for the orchestra to play at the mall next year. Who knows, perhaps this will become a tradition.

As we begin preparing for our spring concerts, the 6th grade orchetra students will need to bring in the Essential Elements for Strings Book 2. If you have not done so already, these books are available for purchase at Senseney Music, located at 2300 E. Lincoln in Wichita. The 5th grade orchestra students are continuing to learn new skills such as developing the use of 4th finger A, and the cello and bass students are beginning to shift (moving the hand up and down the fingerboard). The students are also learning to combine combination of notes of different lengths. These are fundamentals that are imperative to the young musicians’ progress in preparation for middle school.

A few girls have arrived in class with acryllic nails. Unless there is an occasion that requires them, I am asking that students not have them on in class. Acryllic nails will hamper a student’s ability to keep the hand shape required to play notes in tune.

Finally, please help remind your child that practice cards must be kept on some type of log. This can be recorded in the students’ method book, or any kind of paper log. In order for the student to receive credit, all practice logs must have a date and a parent signature.   If you have any questions or concern, please do not hesitate to contact me. I appreciate all that you do for the orchestra.

Lion Pride Website

The 5th graders are practicing the extended pentatonic scale with folk songs and singing games.  It’s not too early to mark your calendars for the 5th grade vocal music concert.  The concert will be held on Tuesday April 27 at 7:45 p.m. in the Challenger Gym.  This is a wonderful opportunity for your 5th grader to showcase some of the musical skills that we have been working on this year.

The 6th graders are practicing world music drumming.  We are learning about drumming in African cultures and are striving for better cooperative teamwork and listening skills.  In class, we have practiced and performed two different drum ensembles, one from Ghana, the other from Liberia.
      
I enjoy working with your children!

We have just kicked off our Hoops for Heart Fundraiser.  Last year we raised $3,438.00 and hope to top that this year.  All donations go to the American Heart Association to help fight against heart disease and stroke.  We have completed our basketball unit where we worked on ball handling and dribbling skills and played some fun games.  We are currently in our bowling unit.  Students learn how to keep score and have a blast bowling on our new roll out lanes!  Please help your child remember to wear tennis shoes to P.E.  

Fifth graders continue their study of the Earth and its systems.  Currently, they are taking a closer look at the causes and effects  of volcanoes and earthquakes – very appropriate due to the recent event in Haiti.

Sixth graders are currently learning about atoms and the “Chart of Elements”.  During this unit, we will also be learning how to write formulas and what those formulas represent.    

Just a quick reminder that Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up on February 23-25 for the 5th and 6th graders.  Please call the offices to schedule an appointment with your child’s teachers.

As always, if you want to know what’s going on in fifth grade, please go to the web site at:  www.goddardscience.weekly.com.