It's Time for a Rhyme...

We have had a ton of really cool things happen this week. One of the things that I cannot stop talking about to other staff members is the school song that the 5th Grade is composing. Wow, are they a creative bunch of people! This week, we have listened to the High School Song (recorded by the Baraboo High School Band), countless times to internalize the melody that we are composing for and to get us infused with school spirit. As we were listening, we worked in small groups to come up with words that we would want in our school song and words that would rhyme to make up our lyrics. Next week we will all study our words and really think about what GLW and NF are about. We will pick the most appropriate words and try and shape sentences around those words before we sing the song. This is the last step and I am so excited to see what we cook up. As I type all of our rhyming options, I am blown away by how creative all the 5th graders are. Great job team ? keep those creative juices flowing!



Another exciting event happening in the music room is happening with the Kindergarten classes! Everyday, we each get a chance at singing into the microphone as they say ?Hello? or ?Good Bye? to me. They all have such beautiful singing voices, sometimes I have them sing both! Along with great Kindergarten voices, I have also been hearing great voices throughout the school. As I get to know these students better and I spend more time with them, I become even more excited with the year we have ahead of us.



In many of the other classes (2nd/3rd/4th grade) I have been telling one of my favorite fictional stories about my friend Farmer Brown. Farmer Brown lives in Denver, CO and he meets Mr. Sol, Mr. Mi, and many other interesting musical characters. The adventure has only begun ? we have many more people to meet as the year progresses, so stay tuned! Feel free to ask your 2nd/3rd/4th grade student who these people are and what they do ? maybe they will even sing for you!



Have a great weekend all ? if you like to cheer for the Packers, tune in on Sunday and check for Ms. Baus in the stands! I will be cheering on the Pack @ Lambeau with my Dad and my brother, Nick.

Here We GO!

We're off to a great start to the week @ GLW and NF! In the past two, we have had a lot of time to get to know each other through fun "beat-keeping games" and chants, but it is now time to really get singing! I cannot wait to hear all your beautiful voices in the classroom and really get going!

Speaking of getting going--I was just in Madison, WI this past Sunday (September 13th, 2009), watching the 2009 Ironman. Boy do they know how to "Get Going!" My brother has just graduated High School and was ONE of THREE 18 yr. olds to finish this year's Ironman. I am so proud of him--what a great job! A classroom teacher here @ GLW also completed the Ironman this weekend. What a great accomplishment!

Seeing all those hard workers out on the course really makes me excited to start the week with every one of you. The focus and motivation those men and women had to do that Ironman just motivate me to get going with all of you. I hope to see you pumped and ready this week--your bright, smiling faces keep us going!

Have a great week & see you all soon.

Names, Names, EVERYWHERE

What a wonderful start to the year! This week was my first week with everybody @ Gordon L. Willson and North Freedom Elementary. I feel so lucky to be here in Baraboo, WI and every classroom has shown me how wonderful all the students here really are. We’ve had a fun (and challenging time for some of us!), learning new names and getting to know each other in the music room.

This year, we are really opening our ears to all kinds of music! Each class will start out with a small listening activity in which we describe the music we have heard. Last week, we listened to Patriotic Marches by John Philip Sousa (i.e. Stars & Stripes Forever and The Washington Post March). We will explore the musicians/artists that make the music, the composer of the pieces, and why the composer may have named them or what their intent during composition was. So much information packed into that first five minutes of class! Recently, I have been poking around bookstores in the Madison area and have found some fantastic CD’s for us to listen to. Ranging from Tchaikovsky to Gershwin, we will keep ourselves busy!

Also this Labor Day weekend, I have been finding some books to accompany our classroom activities. One of my favorite finds is called “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Classical Music: A Guide to Composers and Recommended Recordings.” This book has about a page or two of each composer PLUS many pictures of them, their original writings, etc.! It is veeery cool, and I hope to show all of you the composers as we hear their different works!

As the Labor Day weekend comes to a close, I get excited for our next week together. The weather has been beautiful and I hope we have all been able to enjoy it to the fullest—see you soon!