Thanks for getting those waivers back so quickly. The film crew was here this morning and they enjoyed listening to L'Apprenti sorcier along with us. The kids were very attentive and impressed me and our guests with what they remember from our previous musical stories! I will let you know if I receive any information about how the footage from today will be used.
L'Apprenti sorcier, or The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a very famous symphonic poem by Paul Dukas. You probably remember it from Disney's Fantasia, which features Mickey Mouse as the apprentice. That movie does a great job of telling the story of the music through animation. Today I told the story in words. I'm positive the children can tell you all the details of the story, if you don't already know it. Briefly, we talked about three important musical motifs which are repeated frequently. The bassoons play the march theme for the brooms, the brass plays the motif for when a magic spell is cast (sounds like "Ta-da!") and the strings play the falling water motif. We also talked about what other stories come to mind when listening to this one - for me, I think right away of Tipingee and all the work her méchante tante makes her do, and Loupscaroux because the little girl disobeys her mother while her mother's away, just like the Apprentice. Finally, we tried to figure out the moral of this story. We thought of a couple lessons we can take away from the apprentice's story. First, always listen to your parents and teachers, and second, never use magic on a broom!
I hope you have fun talking about this story and listening to it again. Here are a few ways to do just that:
Original version
Narrated version
Scene from Fantasia
Now then, I mentioned earlier this week that we had practised assessing our own math work, according to our co-created rubric, and that I would try to send something home so that you can see how your mathematician is doing. So, that's what's happening today. Each student is bringing home a problem we worked on yesterday individually, and a very challenging problem they worked on with their math partner on Tuesday. They used their feedback from Tuesday's to guide their mathematical communication yesterday, then they had the opportunity to self-assess their solution. I also gave my opinion. If you look at both work samples as well as the feedback and rubrics, hopefully you'll get a good idea of where your child is right now in their mathematical problem solving (which, remember, isn't all about memorizing facts). We will continue this unit for a week or two after the break, so if you feel like working on some problem solving over the break, it will pay off at school!
I am also sending home the pledge envelope for Dewson's annual Dance-a-thon, which is not far off. You probably know how this works from Kindergarten - if not, ask me! It's a really fun, highly anticipated event by all the kids, and it's one of Dewson's biggest fundraisers. The money goes right back into programs for the kids at school. Thanks for your support!
Before leaving today, I asked all students to take whatever books they needed for March break. It's important to keep reading every day, if possible. There are some good reading links on this blog as well, if you need more stuff! As always, please return all books immediately upon returning to school - the green drawer, in particular, is looking rather empty these days.
Yesterday you should have received the social skills rubric for March. We worked on listening to and sharing ideas while working on our plays with our groups, and especially on being a good audience member. I was quite tough on this one because listening to each other super important, and is something we all have to keep working on all the time. Our plays are truly coming along amazingly. Students who are not yet speaking consistently in sentences in French, are thinking up more and more things for their characters to say, and performing with confidence! I'm so impressed!
One last tid bit, yesterday we had a supply teacher for gym. When I arrived to pick up the kids, she started walking towards me - my first thought was, uh oh, I need to follow-up on something. Then she told me that our class had been her best one of the whole day! Mr. Greene has also mentioned how great we are in choir. So proud!!
Hope you have a great March break! See you on the 21st!
Tamara