MUSIC AT ST. MARY'S 

We're back together at school!!                                         

I f you are visiting this web site to check out our school, welcome!  Read on for a little information about our music program.

My name is Lisa Thorngate.  This is my eleventh year here at St. Mary's, where I teach all of the general music classes, as well as the middle school chorus.  Mr. Mike Ackerman teaches band, beginning in grade 5.

As we begin another school year, I hope the students will have fun in music class, while at the same time learning lots of things.  Our curriculum is set up to teach a wide variety of the basic building blocks of music – rhythm, notes, sight reading, and eventually chords and harmony in the upper elementary grades.    Elementary students come to music class twice each week.  Singing is always my main focus, so that is a big part of each music class.  We learn to use our voices well.  

Kindergartners will be exercising their singing voices and learning to use them properly together.  They'll learn to listen for loud and soft, high and low, and fast and slow.  They'll start to distinguish beween equal and unequal rhythms, and have some opportunity to experiment with rhythm instruments. 

First graders will gain confidence in their singing ability.  In addition to learning about form and tempo, over the course of the year they will learn to identify eighth and quarter notes and the music staff, along with their first three solfege syllables, "la,  "so" and "mi."

Second grade is the first year that students have music books.  Right away they'll learn to follow multiple verses of a song.  After reviewing the first three solfege syllables we learned last year -- mi, so, and la -- we'll add some new ones. 

Students enter grade three with a lot of musical learning already under their belts.  They'll started out the year with a focus on rhythm and learn about the orchestra, listening to some classical music excerpts that are perennial third-grade favorites, such as Haydn's "Surprise Symphony."  American folk songs are another highlight of our third-grade books.

Students' musical ability at the fourth-grade level allows them to do part singing, and our books provide us with a lot of interesting music.  The same is true of "Music Express" magazine, which the older elementary students really enjoy.   They will also be learning to play recorders.

Fifth graders have lots going on musically.  Many of them will start band lessons in the fall with Mr. Ackerman, and then begin playing in beginner band in January. In music class, they'll be doing  lots of part singing and working on sight singing.  And this is the BIG YEAR for fifth graders, who get to be the "stars" of the Christmas concert!  We'll settle in here for a few weeks before that gets underway.  But mark your calendars -- the

          *  K-5 Christmas concert will be held on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7:00 p.m.    

Sixth graders have options regarding their music classes:  they may choose middle school chorus or band (made up of grades 6, 7, and 8), or general music (grade 6 only).  Students who want to try both band and chorus are able to do so.  We will have those rosters finalized after the first week of school.

In grades seven and eight, it's a Fine Arts option; students choose  art, band, or chorus. The band and chorus give a joint concert twice each year, in December and May.  Again, please mark your calendars:

 * Middle School Band and Chorus Christmas Concert -- Wed., Dec. 15, 7 p.m.

    Middle School Band and Chorus Spring Concert  --  Wed., May 25, 7 p.m.

I enjoy working with my students and always look forward to connecting with parents, as well as meeting those who are new to our school family.  Anyone with questions or concerns, either current parents or new visitors to this page, may contact me at lthorngate@stmb.org. 

Sincerely,

 Mrs. Thorngate