William Ford students are getting in the holiday spirit adding body percussion, movement, instruments, and listening activities to some favorite holiday music.

  
Kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms have been learning about the story and music from the Nutcracker Ballet. They have learned dances to accompany some of the music, including Chinese Dance and Russian dance. Kindergarten and first grade students added instrumental parts to the March from the Nutcracker. First graders also listened to the piece and colored a listening glyph based on features they heard in the music such as loud/soft, short sounds/long sounds, or steady beat/no steady beat.

    

Second graders color contour maps and match them to the melodic themes in “Waltz of the Flowers.”

Third graders learned an instrumental accompaniment to “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and performed it in class. Click below to watch Mrs. Cercone’s class perform.

Fourth and fifth grade students learned a body percussion routine that follows the form of the piece “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson. See Ms. Mroczka’s class perform by clicking the link below.