Highlights from the Music Classroom - Bridlewood music students are activly engaged in singing, playing instruments, listening, performing, reading and notating music, improvising and composing music, evaluating music, making connections between music and other subjects and everyday life, and learning about the history of music.  Activities are alligned with the National Standards for Music Education as well as grade-level Music TEKS.  Additional online activities are posted on the Bridlewood Music SchoolWeb site.  Access this site from the LISD Elementary SchoolWeb site.  Click on Bridlewood under Course Categories, and then scroll to the bottom of the list and click on the last entry - Bridlewood Music.  Students log in using the LISD Username and password.

Kindergarten - Bridlewood's youngest musicians have enjoyed making "Pumpkin Stew" in music classes.  They have really "gotten into" the songs and singing games in our "cat" unit, as they work on beat competency by showing the beat with their "spider fingers" and on clapping the rhythm, which they know as "the way the words go."  Ask them to sing "Juba," "Oma Washi," or "Big Black Cats" for you, and to count from one to four in Japanese!

First graders - The first grade music classes are very busy working on the symbols for one beat of sound ("ta"), for one beat of silence ("Z" or rest), and the divided beat (two sounds on a beat - "t-t"). Besides discovering the rhythm of their spider poem, they have used combinations of these symbols to form ostinati (patterns that repeat), which they performed with an instrumental piece called "Hot Pretzels."  As for melodic movement, the focus has been on combinations of sounds that move up, down, and stay the same.

Second graders - Second graders are just finishing their study of "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from the Peer Gynt Suite by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.  They followed Peer into the great hall with a listening map and then wrote what they thought happened to Peer when the music stopped. They used our classroom computers to play an online "In the Hall of the Mountain King" game, which is accessible from the Bridlewood Music SchoolWeb site, and watched the Jim Gamble puppet version of the story of Peer Gynt.

Third graders - Students in third grade music classes received rave reviews for their program, Freedom, presented on Thursday evening, October 16, at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.  Following their performance, they worked on Pumpkin Rhythms and "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater."  Currently they are reviewing dynamics (piano, mezzo-piano, mezzo-forte, and forte) with a song favorite, "Supercalifragilistic," from Mary Poppins.

Fourth grade - The patriotic songs of George M. Cohan were the focus of the fourth grade musical, Song and Dance Man: George M. Cohan, presented on Thursday evening, November 13, at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.  Song favorites "Yankee Doodle Boy," "Over There," "Give My Regards to Broadway," and "You're a Grand Old Flag," and helped make the program a tremendous success. Thanks to all the parents who helped by lending props, and especially to Mrs. Petro, for all her help with the set and props.  Fourth graders have been watching clips of James Cagney's film version of Yankee Doodle Boy.

Fifth grade - Bridlewood's fifth graders are preparing their grade level program, An Early American Christmas, to be presented on Thursday evening, December 11, at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.  Special parts and speaking parts will be assigned before Thanksgiving break.  

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