December 17th Festival -- grades 5 to 8

 4th Grade  We will perform the 5 songs from page 13 for the nursery next Tuesday.  We are reviewing them.  We are moving quickly through pages 15 and 16 (not quickly enough for some students) and will start pages 17 to 19 soon.  These often reprise songs we have already learned--while helping us to learn to read music.  Our goal will be to get to Jingle Bells on page 20 and let other students catch up.

A number of 4th graders forgot their instruments today.  I had enough spares.  A number are also forgetting or do not know where there books are; I do not always have enough extra copies.  Please confirm that your child has Strictly Strings and remind her to bring the book and instrument to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

5th Grade will hopefully perform for 20 minutes or so during the Christmas Festival on Friday, December 17.  We are practicing the following for the festival.  Jingle Bells from Strictly Strings Book 1 (page 20).  I have made copies for students who do not possess Book 1.  The rest of the songs are from book 2.  Our line-up is as follows:  Scarborough Fair (3), Jasmine Flower (5), Billy Boy (5), The Carnival of Venice (5), Oh, Tannenbaum (17), Lovely Evening (21), and Over the River and Through the Woods (23).  I have selected songs that will fit the mood of the festival.  After the holiday break, we will return to page 7 and proceed through the book in a more regular fashion for a while.

6th to 8th Grade  We are taking a break from Jazz Philharmonic.  We have learned a lot from the effort, but the songs will not fit the mood of the Christmas Festival.  We hope to play 20 to 30 minutes at the Festival and will play the following songs from More Strings Extraordinaire:  Bluegrass Blastoff (2), German Dance (3), Daydreams (4), Fanfare Minuet (5), Round and Round (6), Chatsumi and Rice Planting Song (6), Peasant Dance (7), and Simple Gifts (8).  If we master these, we will add a song or two.