We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day a little early in our Primary classes on Wednesday and Thursday! We played a game called, “Can You Catch the Leprechaun?” This game required us to create a rainbow and to catch silly friend while we sang and moved! They practiced high and low.

In speech, our eighth graders are preparing their informative speeches. Today was workshop day. They have completed their speeches and are presenting them to their classmates. Students each have a “Glow and Grow” sheet. They gave each other constructive criticism on how to make their presentations better. Then, they each worked with me for a final critique. These kiddos have worked hard. I cannot wait to hear the finished product next Monday!

These past few weeks we have been super busy. We have had a field trip and lots of learning.

Primary: I have been working closely with the Primary teachers to further their learning in the classroom in music. We have sung and moved to songs that had to do with their construction unit. They had a blast!

PreK: They have been hard a work on learning about Dynamics. They know that Dynamics is just a fancy word of volume. They know that Forte means loud and Piano means soft. They are also masters at using their terminology and applying it in our activities.

Kindergarten: They have been learning about quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes. They can identify them and read basic rhythms. We ended with our favorite activity, play dough notes. They had a blast creating their own notes and rests out of play dough.

Lower School: Lower School got to attend The Orchestra Swings concert on January 30. They kiddos sang and played their recorders from their seats. They were so excited to actually be able to participate in the concert. It is such a wonderful opportunity to be involved with the Perot and The Texarkana Symphony Orchestra! We have also been hard at work on our spring musical, The Little Mermaid Jr.

Middle School: They have been hard at work on our musical as well. They have been learning blocking, their lines and music. We have even finished ROUGH blocking the show. For those of you who do not know what blocking means, it is just stage movement while acting. So proud of these kids and their hard work!

Speech: We have been learning about Logical Fallacies and how they can weaken an argument in a speech. Students participated in an activity where they had to match each fallacy with it’s definition and example. Then, we watched a few commercials and they were able to name the fallacy used to help advertise. This knowledge will help them avoid using them in their upcoming speeches.

This week in Primary, we took a trip to the jungle. We started with a jungle hunt and singing, colored our very own animals, listened to find out special friends, and even played the djembes. We had a blast working and playing together. We worked on our listening skills and how to be patient. It was so much fun!!!

These past couple of weeks have been filled with such wonderfulness!

Primary: We dance, sang and played along to Jingle Bells. We talked about taking care of our instruments and worked on our spatial awareness.

Kindergarten: We began working on quarter notes, quarter rests and eighth notes.

1-4: We had a very special guest during choir, Maestro Philip Mann. He is the conductor of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and helped our students prepare for our concert, The Orchestra Swings, in January. He was very impressed with our students and their musical knowledge.

Middle School: We went to Cornerstone Methodist Retirement Community and sang Candlelight Songs. We had a blast helping the residents celebrate this Advent and Christmas season.

We are so thankful this week and every week! We get to go to school and learn so many wonderful things! This week we did some Thanksgiving inspired activities!

Primary: We talked about all the things we were thankful for sang and moved to If You’re Thankful and You Know It!

Kinder: We practiced our instrument families by matching the feathers to the correct turkey. Each turkey had an instrument family on them (Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, Percussion) and each feather had a different instrument. Students masterfully created the most beautiful turkey tails and got every one of them right! So proud! We talked about how the Percussion turkey had the biggest tail and how this makes sense because the Percussion family is the largest in the Orchestra!

These past couple weeks have been a hodgepodge of learning. We did a lot of DIFFERENT things!

Primary: It is Thanksgiving season and we talked all about turkeys. We listened to a story called Run, Turkey, Run. We learned a song and move to it! Run, Run, Turkey Run!

Prek: I forgot to get pictures because these kiddo blew me away while practicing for their annual Christmas Program. They are working so hard and singing so beautifully!

Kinder: We are continuing out study on the instrument families!

1st: We worked on Candlelight songs and had time to find some placements for the musical!

2nd-4th: The past few years, 2nd through 4th grade has been lucky enough to perform alongside the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra in a concert. The repertoire of this educational concert is in conjunction with Carnegie Hall in New York City. These concerts invite local schools to participate in the show while they are seated in the audience. Students can sing, move, and even play the recorder. We have been involved with The Orchestra Moves, and The Orchestra Rocks. This year we are going to participate in The Orchestra Swings. This concert is filled with swing music and is a lot of fun. 2nd grade is going to sing! 3rd and 4th grade are going to sing as well as play the recorder with the orchestra. This is a wonderful concert and the kids and I look forward to it every year. We can’t wait for January 30th!

Middle School: We worked on Candlelight Songs, played musical games, and learned more of our Musical Songs.

We have been celebrating spooky season!!!

Primary: We had some ghosts escape into our room! I needed help from our resident ghostbusters to keep them under control while listening to their theme song!

3rd & 4th: We learned a bucket drum routine to, “The Addams Family.” We worked on keeping tempo and playing all together!

The smiles say it all. It was a great week!

We have been so busy and had so much fun along the way!

Primary: We used the rhythm scarves to explore music and move our bodies. We learned and practiced spatial awareness and our gross and fine motor skils.

PreK: We finished out study of Pitch Hill and our Solfege friends (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do). We practiced our hand signals and even used out knowledge to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We ended class by playing Hide the Potato and worked out our listening skills.

1st: We began our study on different Rhythms. We learned about Quarter Notes, Quarter Rest and Eighth Notes. We learned their value and how to say them. We even made them out of playdough! It was a blast!

2nd: They have become masters of Quarter Notes, Quarter Rests, and Eighth Notes. They know how to read them, say them, play them and write them. We even created our own rhythms. We even started learning about half notes and half rests.

3rd: They have all completed the first test of Recorder Karate and are now all White Belts. They played Hot Crossed Buns. The next belt is Yellow and will require a new skill.

4th: They are working on becoming Green Belts as they continue their study of Recorder Karate.

5-8: We have been practicing our Candlelight Songs in preparation for Candlelight. When we have time, we work on Chapel Songs and Musical Songs.

It’s all about rhythm! We had fun in class learning about, reading, and playing rhythms.

PreK: We moved to the music and kept a steady beat and rhythm. We sang and moved to,”When the Saints Go Marching In.”

2nd: We practiced reading and writing rhythms. We reinforced our learning by playing rhythm bingo and went on a rhythm monster hunt around the room. Next up, we will learn to play what we read!

3rd: We began our recorder unit and learned how to follow the rhythm on the page. We used out knowledge of the treble clef and rhythm by practicing, “Hot Crossed Buns.”

We had an absolute blast! Learning is fun!

This week we did a lot of exploration with different instruments and had a blast!

Primary: When it rains, I go to them! In Ms. Diane’s class, we used bucket drums. In Ms. Cristen’s class, we were able to play with our djembes.

PreK: We explored another type of percussion instrument, the tambourine! We moved and played together while singing, When the Saints Go Marching In!

Everyone give a warm welcome to, Miss Dowd. She was our music teacher today! She did an amazing job! The kiddos had fun moving, singing, and learning.

Primary: Miss Dowd and the children talked about all of the Summer fun we are going to have. They colored a Summer pictures and moved together and separately with scarves to “In Summer" and “You’re Welcome!”

Prek: Miss Dowd helped Mrs. Wright teach about crescendos and decrescendos. They played a listening game and then used our knowledge to help our friends Find the Gnome with our drums.

1st: Miss Dowd tested their knowledge of musical instruments with Instrument Bingo.

4th: Miss Dowd had the students use their musical knowledge to escape a Digital Escape Room.

The past few weeks in music, the middle schoolers learned the importance of music in advertising. We listened to some jingles, new and old, and talked about how effective they were in promoting a product. They had not heard of some of the older one, sad day, but they were excited to hear their favorites. The culmination of this study was the Commercial Jingle Project. The students were divided into group and tasked with creating a product that had never been done before. Once they had their product, they used Chrome Music Lab to compose their 10 second jingle with lyrics. After that was completed, they wrote and performed a 30 second commercial to show off their jingle and promote their product. We had lots of cool and unique products like energy drinks, foods, gas stations, sippy cups, chairs, pest control, etc. It was amazing to see how creative these students could be and how they worked together! It was a lot of fun! I definitely will be getting some of these jingles stuck in my head…hey it’s good marketing!

To say I have the best job and kids in the world is a complete understatement. March 22nd was so magical! I could not be prouder of the production we put on. These kids blew me away! They worked so hard and it showed. I love them all more than words can say. They make waking up everyday for work one of the greatest joys of my life. Thank you to all who helped with this production, teachers, staff, administration! A huge thank you to Ms. Denise. I am in awe of your talent and ability to create everything in my head. Thank you PGHS Curtain Call Productions for making our show a dream! Thank you parents for allowing me to work with your amazing children every day! I am so blessed to be a part of the SJDS community! I love you all! ❤️

Photo Credit: TR Photography

Come on out tonight at 6 pm to the Pleasant Grove High School Performing Arts Center to see these talented kiddos! They have worked so hard these past few months and I could not be more proud to be their director! YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!

We are nearing the final countdown to the musical! These hardworking kiddos are blowing me away with their talent, hard work, and determination. I cannot wait for them to show off for you next Friday!

We have all had so much fun this week!

Primary: We worked on spatial awareness while learning to play and move together as a group. We used musical dice and scarves.

PreK: We learned about Audience Etiquette. The dos and don’ts for a well behaved audience member. Then, we practiced those skills while watching Fantasia 2000, Disney’s Concert Feature.

1st-8th: We are deep into Aladdin rehearsals. This week, Lower School has been practicing, Friend Like Me. They learned places and choreography. Middle School has started blocking the show and are making sure our vocals are on point!

We have had a fun couple of weeks! A lot has been going on and we have been celebrating Christmas and learning new skills!

Primary: We sang and did movement to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Kinder: We studied quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes. We made note pizzas to understand their value and how they all create a whole note!

1st-4th: We continued our practices for Candlelight. Lower School’s Candlelight is Tuesday December 19 @ 6 PM. We did a drum routine to Jingle Bell Rock!

5th-8th: We continued our practices for Candlelight. We even practiced our songs by bringing Advent/Christmas cheer to the residents of Conerstone!

Primary: We learned the words to Jingle Bells and played with some while we sang.

PreK: We are hard at work on their Christmas program!

Kindergarten: Rocked out with Lit or Quit and studied different tempos!

1st-4th: They are working hard on their Candlelight songs! Come out and see these amazing kiddos and celebrate their hard work! Special shout out to 4th! They all received their yellow belts in Recorder Karate!

5th-8th: They are working hard on their Candlelight songs! Come out and see these amazing kiddos and celebrate their hard work! They are doing so well…as a treat we have done some work on our Spring Musical. We have learned fencing basics for one of or songs, High Adventure!

This week in Primary, we worked on spatial awareness and moving as a group. Our rhythm scarves served as “Ghosts” and were moved them around together and in our own spot to Ray Parker Jr.’s, Ghostbusters. These were some pretty noisy ghosts, but I think we got them all busted!

PreK: These amazing students have been practicing on their Christmas Program. We have been working on singing strongly, proper posture, and reciting their lines. They have done an amazing job!!

Kinder: These rock stars have finished our study on the Instrument families. We played a review game at the end and they were able to recognize which family and instrument belonged to based on it’s picture and its different characteristics. Go, Kinder!!

1st & 2nd: We have been working on a lot. We have been working on our Candlelight music and our Texarkana Symphony Orchestra Music.

3rd & 4th: They have been working so diligently on their recorders. We have learned that it takes a lot of hard work to be able to play an instrument. They are doing a fantastic job and some have even earned their Yellow belts. Testing will continue next week! I could not be prouder of these awesome kiddos!

5th-8th: Last week, our Cast list for Aladdin Jr. was announced. I am so excited to get to work! Before we do, we have Candlelight up first. We have been practicing the songs in choir and have been working on their duets. They are doing a fantastic job and I cannot wait for you all to hear it on December 20.

Let’s Go, Spartans!!!