MUSIC Dave duMonde

It's amazing to see a kid pick up a musical instrument for the first time and light up when they play their first song. This has been happening in 5th & 6th grade this month on ukuleles! We've learned so much together--tuning our ukes, playing notes, chords and the pentatonic scale, and we're working on "La Bamba." Several of you have already succumbed to your kid's request to buy their own ukulele. Well, you've made a great investment!

The ukulele test is at the end of this month: February 26 - March 2. All students will demonstrate their knowledge of the material we've been covering in class on an individual playing assessment. They know their only opportunity to learn and practice ukulele is in music class . . . and I'm there to help. All the material students need to know is posted on the Music Google Classroom. As long as students use their time wisely during class, they'll do well on the test. It's exciting to see students develop a love for music on ukulele!

5TH GRADE HISTORY Ian Jewitt

In 5th grade history we have been studying early explorers. After researching information about different explorers, students created captains’ logs from the point of view of the explorers. Students wrote about the explorers’ experience during the exploration, as well as their interaction with Native Americans. Students created journals and dyed the pages and burnt them to give a sense of authenticity.