Fab Friday 9/7

This year's 8th graders performed "Africa" last year at the Pops Concert in October. This was a nice trip down memory lane...plus this group begins with the ever-popular rain storm activity. Now why didn't I think of that?  :0)

PR Committee: Help with Project

Choir Public Relations Committee: Follow this link to the instructions for your paper ball project. Unfortunately, they aren't overly detailed...but as I mentioned Friday at school, this project just takes a bit of patience and old-fashioned trial-and-error until you get it right. Working with the cardstock is a little frustrating, as it will want to collapse on you. Grab a friend, older sibling, or parent if you need help. The result is worth the time and trials. NOTE: you may end up having to reverse the hanger I taped on to your final piece in order for it to slide in the correct way. The last piece is the hardest...gotta find every petal that needs attached! Remember, every petal of every flower needs to be attached to a DIFFERENT flower. Good luck, and I can't wait to see them when you bring them to school on Tuesday. Just bring them right to my room first thing in the morning -they are not locker material!
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-make-3d-paper-ball-ornaments.html

Fab Friday 8/31

When I first saw this, I thought it was a movie trailor. Not so...  The source will surprise you and probably make you scowl, giggle, or even wince with the almost absurdity of it all. But, at the end of the day, it's a really. good. message. This week, we listened to a poignant piece for our listening log - I shared with the classes that it made me feel, well...it's hard to describe with words. That's the power of music...words just sometimes aren't sufficient. Pachelbel's Canon in D (the track to this video) makes me feel the same way.

In this time when teachers are being stressed to the max with piling state requirements and demands/rhetoric that demoralizes them, I guess I'm inadvertantly doing some soul-searching. Perhaps that's why the listening log and Fab Friday have been "deep" this week. It's great to teach a subject matter that can instantly salve the wounds of everyday life. Not only do I teach it, I live it. And I hope my students will continue to live it as well!

 

Fab Friday 8/24 and More

I dig The Piano Guys! This week, our SQUILT/Listening Log had us enjoying their rendition of Christina Perry's "A Thousand Years". We saw a couple more clips I came across that made us smile...   And then there's this Fab Friday clip: It cracks me up that The Muppets (Beaker) has jumped on the overdub/split screen band wagon. And just like when I watched The Muppet Show back in the early 80's, my favorite part is the cranky old men at the end! :0)

Fab Friday 8/17

What is this obsession with overdubbing your vocal tracks to create popular covers and then slapping them on YouTube??? Oh yeah, it's called technology making your face and voice irresistable to teens all over the globe! So many are going this route nowadays....it amazes me how we've come so far in the days since I was a teen listening to the latest music. (Hey, The Bangles on my walkman wasn't THAT long ago!!!) So here he is...Matt Harris and his cover of Gotye's hit. The amazing human voice...with a little help from some recording magic.

Fab Friday 8/10

More vocal awesomeness with a fellow whose specialty is TV and movie theme songs. His double and triple-tonguing would make any trumpet player proud! Listen to how he goes after those sixteenth note runs in the "string" parts! Check out his YouTube Channel...he's got something for everyone!

Some of the 6th graders saw an encore of The Voca People. It's a re-post of a group I showed last year. They are a great example of vocal creativity and awesomeness (oh no, I've used it twice now...is that even a word?). Their stage story is a little odd, but they are pretty good!

Fab Friday 8/3

Two different takes on the same great song! These performers are so "into" their interpretations of the song that they don't worry about how over-exaggerated they look. *wink*wink MSers!