October was a very full but exciting month... For starters, let me say a huge:
CONGRATULATIONS!!! GMS CHORUS!!! The GMS Chorus gave outstanding performances at their first concert of the year! Thursday, October 24th was the annual Choral Collage Concert at WHS that featured all curricular choral ensembles, grades 6-12. The GMS Chorus sang "A Light Inside" by Jim Papoulis and did a remarkable job! I hope all members of the Chorus are proud of themselves - I am so proud of them! General Music is winding down as we are heading into the final month of the first trimester. Students have written 3 songs already: a group Layering Composition where they played non-pitched percussion instruments, individual Computer Compositions with loops using the internet app Incredibox, and group ABA Compositions where they were using the human body as a non-pitched instruments.
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This week Trimester 1 Progress Reports opened in iParent. This is a wonderful way for families to stay up to date on a students progress in all their classes at school. They will remain open until the end of the Trimester. All families should periodically check in with iParent to see how their student is doing. Teachers will update iRankbook periodically.
Remember when looking at iRankbook that it is a "live document." As I update iRankbook it will change your students grade. For General Music, students currently only have 4 assignments listed (written work and test assignments). Please refamiliarize yourself with the assessment program for General Music (you can do so by looking at the syllabus on the General Music page of this website). More grades will be added in the next few weeks as students just took another quiz, students will be creating group compositions, taking the Rhythm Test (date TBD), and turning in their Process Folio for the first time. After those 4 additional assignments are added, families will see a more complete and accurate representation of their students grade. In Chorus, students only have 2 grades put in iRankbook. I have listed all the assignments for the 1st Trimester though. This gives families an opportunity to see what assignments are coming up and when they will occur. If you have any questions or are seeking clarification, please do not hesitate to comment on this blog post or email me. Thank you! Things in the GMS Music Department are sailing smoothly at the start of the year! General Music students have figured out how to be successful in class and Chorus students are making some amazing sounds in rehearsals!
Students in General Music should be practicing music at home nightly. I hope you have and will continue to hear your student doing so. They should be listening to any music they like and working on their rhythmic patterns, clapping and speaking variations of: 1 e + a. Students in Chorus are gearing up for their first performance of the year! The annual Choral Collage Concert is scheduled for Thursday, October 24th in the WHS Auditorium. This concert features all curricular choral ensembles, grades 6-12 - which includes the GMS Chorus! There will be 2 performances that are exactly the same; at 5:30pm and 7:30pm. Students will need to be at WHS by 4:45pm and will be done around 8:45pm. We will feed the students dinner. This is an awesome concert that everyone will enjoy! One of the main goals of the 7th Grade General Music Curriculum is for students to learn how to write academically and intelligently about music and musical performances. We do this, in part, by learning music vocabulary.
The students will take their first test on some basic music vocabulary terms and some musical forms. The test will be in the form of a matching exam. There are 15 terms and 2 musical forms at this point in the trimester. Students will also be expected to be able to aurally identify the musical form of recorded musical performances. The test will take place on: - per.1 = Mon, 9/16 - per.2 = Thurs, 9/12 - per.3 = Mon, 9/16 - per.4 = Mon, 9/16 - per.5 = Thurs, 9/12 - per.6 = Mon, 9/16 We have had a smooth start to thist first trimester of the school year and are underway in General Music! Students will have homework assignments throughout the trimester. Here is an overview of the written homework assignment grading policy we use in class:
- Written homework assignments reinforce concepts studied in class, so there is rarely "new" material on a homework assignment. - Written homework assignment grades are generated based on completion so students are not earning grades that will "lower their average" while learning new concepts. - Homework assignments that are fully completed at the beginning of the class they are checked earn a 100%. - Homework assignments that are not fully completed or not done at all at the beginning of the class they are checked earn a 0%. - Homework assignment grades that are a 0% may be changed to an 80% when the student shares the completed assignment to the teacher. - It is the responsibility of the student to share the completed, late assignment to the teacher - the student will not be repeatedly asked for the assignment. - Homework assignments may be turned in late at any point before the completion of the trimester. Hello and Welcome to another exciting year in the Gibbons Music Department! We are gearing up for an exciting couple of months to start the school year:
1. 7th Grade General Music has begun for students who have Music for class during this First Trimester of school. 2. The GMS Chorus is meeting today for the first time and we will be soon preparing for our first performance of the year: the annual Choral Collage Concert on Thursday, October 24th in the WHS Auditorium. There will be many more wonderful things happening here including auditions for the GMS Concert Choir - more information to come! Thank you very much for such a successful and positive year in Chorus, Concert Choir, and General Music!
Have a wonderful and safe summer! I can't believe we've reached the end of another school year and trimester in General Music! It's time to wrap up our school year and course of study. Students will finish General Music with a Final Exam and Final Process Folio Check. Each class will take their exam and turn in their process folios:
per. 1 = Wed, 6/19 per. 2 = Tues, 6/18 per. 3 = Tues, 6/18 per. 4 = Mon, 6/17 per. 5 = Mon, 6/17 per. 6 = Tues, 6/18 The GMS Chorus is done performing for the academic year but is excited for the 2013-2014 season! As the year winds down, students are still working on some assignments. Here is what is coming up still:
Thurs, 6-6 (F Day) Fri, 6-7 (A Day) Mon, 6-10 (no sectional) Tues, 6-11 (C Day) Wed, 6-12 (D Day) - Musicianship Test - Solfege Pattern #4 performances - Rehearsal Logs turned in Mon, 6-10 - Spring Concert Reflection The Social Studies and Fine Arts Departments hosted our annual GMS Memorial Day Assembly on Thursday, May 23rd, during 7th period.
There were speakers from many of the 7th and 8th grade teams and musical performances by the GMS Chorus, Concert Choir, Orchestra and Band. Congratulations to everyone involved! |
AuthorJoseph Stillitano Archives
March 2014
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