February 2015

In January Verde classroom was working on the music appreciation unit. We talked about different ways of making music: with our voices or musical instruments. We talked about musical ensembles and the role of a conductor. We talked about strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments. We looked at their shapes, learned their names and listened to the sound they make. We played listening games and tried to guess what instrument it was by listening to its sound. But most of all we just enjoyed listening to beautiful music. The children were the most impressed when we watched together a video recording of Bolero by Maurice Ravel performed by Vienna Philharmonics under Gustavo Dudamel. They were able to see up close how musicians play their instruments and listen for the instruments’ sounds. They could also observe a conductor at work and see different ways he moves to express the way he wants the musicians to play.

In February we have already started talking about differences between vertebrates and invertebrates and five classes of vertebrates. From this we will move on to the study of fish, their habitat, body parts and life cycle.