First graders started the winter in music by reading, playing, and conducting the beat in short songs. Once they could track the beat by reading, playing, and conducting, they moved to doing the same experiences with the rhythms to those short songs. They began to understand rhythm aurally (“the way the words and syllables go,” “put every word/every part of a word/syllables in your clapping”) and to read song rhythms using iconic/picture notation. We made the switch from reading iconic notation to traditional rhythmic notation in early March.
Students have performed the rhythms to songs on various percussion instruments including boomwhackers, lolllipop drums, and resonator/melody bells. First graders now know how to read and perform rhythms with quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests for the following age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate songs: Hot Cross Buns; Snail, Snail; Naughty Kitty Cat; All Around the Buttercup; We are Playing in the Forest; Cobbler, Cobbler; Rain, Rain Go Away; Bee, Bee Bumblebee.
The next step is to understand whether beats have one, two, or zero sounds. We will learn about that in April. Another challenge for first graders will be to apply what they know about reading/performing quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests to figure out unknown rhythm patterns. Below is an example of iconic/picture notation for reading rhythms and the same song with traditional rhythmic notation.
Hot Cross Buns -Iconic/Picture notation below Hot Cross Buns -Rhythmic Notation below
Each picture represents a sound to be performed. 1 Picture = quarter note rhythm
The red box = no sound/pause that beat 2 Pictures = eighth note rhythms
0 sound/red box = quarter rest symbol
WANT TO SEE SOME ANIMALS MOVE AROUND AT HILLTOP SCHOOL? WE HAVE PLENTY OF THEM IN MRS. MORALES’ GYM CLASS. OUR UNIT THIS MONTH FOCUSES ON BODY AWARENESS. IN THAT UNIT WE FOCUS ON BODY CONTROL, BODY BALANCE, USING YOUR OWN BODY WEIGHT AND UPPER AND LOWER BODY MUSCLES.
ANIMAL WALKS COVER ALL OF THESE AREAS, AND THE CHILDREN LOVE IT. I ADD TAG GAMES AS WELL, WHICH IS ALWAYS A FUN WAY TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN OF HILLTOP SCHOOL IN SHAPE. 
ASK YOUR CHILD TO SHOW YOU SOME OF THE ANIMAL WALKS.
ASK YOUR CHILD TO SHOW YOU SOME OF THE ANIMAL WALKS. 
From the Hilltop Library Media Center
3rd & 4th Grade Keyboarding: Many students have been practicing and applying their keyboarding skills, and submitting their weekly keyboarding log. When we return from spring break students will submit their final log for the school year. Students are still strongly encouraged to practice keyboarding skills and apply the correct technique to their ‘real world’ keyboarding tasks.
3rd & 4th Grade Keyboarding: Many students have been practicing and applying their keyboarding skills, and submitting their weekly keyboarding log. When we return from spring break students will submit their final log for the school year. Students are still strongly encouraged to practice keyboarding skills and apply the correct technique to their ‘real world’ keyboarding tasks.
In celebrate of National Women's History Month, students in all grades learned about various women from our history. We read about Jane Goodall, Waagari Maathai, Isatou Ceesay, Clara Lemlich, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ester Morris, and many others. Students in 3rd and 4th grade gained a greater understanding of the Women's Rights Movement and our 3rd graders collected data reflecting the years in which many countries and states granted women the right to vote! 
