2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Grade Melodic Compositions

Upper grade students will be bringing their melodic compositions home this week.  Students learned a poem and then composed a melody (tune) to match the rhythm of the poem on a xylophone.  2nd graders used do re mi sol and la, 3rd graders added high do and low sol and low la and 4th and 5th graders composed in G major utilizing a flatted 3rd (Bb).  These are the same pieces the 4th and 5th grade students shared at Arts Night.  After improvising melodies to the rhythm of the poem, students wrote down their favorite musical ideas and then published their ideas by using musical notation.  Then they played them for the class.  Next we saved our compositions for the keyboard unit.  Students took their pieces and learned how to play them on keyboards.  2nd and 3rd graders used the black notes of the keyboards and 4th and 5th grades were in the key of G (on the white notes with the added Bb).  Have your student sing or play their piece for you, look for pieces that end on do (the tonal center) use repeating musical ideas (the first and 3rd lines are the same or similar) and are easy to sing (don't have multiple huge jumps that are hard to follow).  Enjoy!