Every December, a special celebration, called the Winter Concert, happens at Chickering School. Following the success of the concert, we chatted with our band and music teachers. Please sit back and enjoy our interview and Animoto.
Reported by Olivia, Katana, Caden, and Rachel
Music is wafting from our music room and stage with our new music teacher, Mrs. Law-Linck. She teaches music with instruments and movement as well as Chorus to Grades 3, 4, and 5. We hope you enjoy listening to our chat with Mrs. Law-Linck.
[The music you heard in the podcast are exerpts from a 4th/5th grade chorus practice.]
Reported by Liza and Emily
Do you know what we do with all our art after we finish it? We don’t just take it home, we celebrate it! On this special night the Arts are presented in 3 ways. One is putting up paintings and sculptures, which is done by Mrs. Pelletier, another is displaying children’s projects on the computers, done by Mr. Harte, and the last is sharing Chickering School’s fabulous musicians and chorus, with the help of Ms Pappas and Mrs. Barry. We interviewed all the teachers involved in this occasion. The 3 questions we asked gave us details on what they like about Arts’ Night, what they would change, and how they prepare for the evening. It’s time to celebrate the Arts!
What is your favorite part of Arts’ Night and why? Mrs. Barry and Ms Pappas, the music teachers, both said their favorite part was having their Art being a celebration. They and the students worked hard all year, so they deserve at least one night to show off what they had taught our students. Mrs. Pelletier answered that she likes how the students work so hard all year for this very night, to let family and friends see their artwork and for them to take it home with them.
Mr. Harte mostly enjoys watching families come in and appreciate their children’s hard work and art creations.
If you could change one thing about Arts’ Night, what would it be and why? Again, both the music teachers thought the same thing. They both would love a larger and better auditorium, because they want their music to be shown in an auditorium with less echo, not a hot, stuffy, crowded gym. They want real seats or movie-style seats, not the cafeteria benches. Mrs. Pelletier wishes Arts’ Night was on a cooler day, because Arts’ Night always seems lands on a hot day. One ‘con’ to that idea is that if Arts’ Night was earlier in the year, the students wouldn’t have as much artwork in their portfolios. Mr. Harte would like it if he could have a larger area to show off his pupils’ work. Even though he only has first and second graders’ work being displayed, he still thinks the computer lab is small with such a lot of people!
How do you prepare for Arts’ Night? Ms. Barry spends a lot of her time helping 4th and 5th grade students practice their instruments or strings. She teaches them little by little instead of giving them a truckload of notes on the first day and practicing them everyday. Ms Pappas prepares for the occasion the whole summer! She admits that she spends over 40 hours finding the perfect music. That’s almost two days straight! Her technique is if the song get stuck in her head all day, it’s good! Mr. Harte’s job is to make sure everyone’s projects are finished. After that, he makes it easy for parents to find their children’s work by logging on to all the computers and having the projects ready.
We are very fortunate to have the special Art programs we have, here at Chickering. They are so fabulous, they deserve a celebration. If it weren’t for Mrs. Pelletier, the art teacher, Mr. Harte, the technology teacher, and Ms Pappas and Mrs. Barry, the music teachers, this special night wouldn’t be possible. It’s Spring – the time to celebrate the Arts of Chickering School!
Reported by Ellie, Lauren, and Ryan
Every Wednesday, we hear “Mommy made me mash my M&M’s”. What could that be? It’s Chickering Chorus warming up for their voices. A group of 4th and 5th graders rehearse for their next concert while their classmates are doing morning work on Wednesdays. The 3rd graders practice on Tuesdays during their lunch-recess. All of their beautiful voices ring on the stage of Chickering School.
The leaders of Chickering Chorus are our very own music teachers, Ms Pappas, and when she is absent, our band teacher Mrs. Barry substitutes. Mrs. Barry plays the piano for the Chorus when they perform in front of the school and town. Ms Pappas plays the piano while the Chorus practices. We interviewed both of these teachers to see what happens and what Chorus is like.
One of the questions that we asked both, Mrs. Barry and Ms Pappas, is what is chorus like? Ms Pappas answered this question by saying what Chorus used to be like. For instance she said that Chorus used to be about 40-50 minutes long and that it was really early in the morning so sometimes they even had breakfast. She also said that the Chorus used to get to school and have time to warm up their voices and bodies. Some of the things that Mrs. Barry said, …”in one word Chorus is fun. It is a chance to learn to sing and develop your voice.” She also said you get to learn different languages and lots of different types of songs. Finally, she said that it is a chance to sing with your peers and sing different parts together as a family. The main answer that both teachers gave is that Chorus is really fun for everyone including them and they think of the Chorus as one big happy family.
Reported by Addie, Will G., and Calvin
Mommymadememashmym&m’s, mommyma….. Can you hear the music ringing in your ears? That’s the Chickering Chorus! Chorus is a program we have at our school. We sing songs that are so cool like “Cantar!”, “Symphony of the Heart”, and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. “Cantar” is in Spanish. It is so fun! We practice at 7:30 in the morning and if you come before 7:30 you get a blue ticket, which was an idea of a 5th grade student. To reward us for our attendance, Ms Pappas gives us a bead, (blue, white or black) for each time we come, which we add to our necklace. A couple of times a year, she will recognize the students with perfect attendance with a gold bead.
We asked Ms Pappas a few questions about what she thinks about chorus. One question was what is the process of picking the music? She told us that she takes the whole summer to choose the songs. The songs that “stick in her head” on the first day of school are the ones she chooses. We asked what do you like about teaching chorus? She loves the people and think chorus is a great thing and every single person that does it is a great person. Chorus is fun and musical and we love Ms Pappas so much and we thank her for all her time.
The Chickering Reporters interviewed two kids from third, fourth, and fifth grade and learned some of their opinions about chorus. We asked three questions from each grade and these are some of their answers. The third graders first question was what is your favorite part of chorus? Some said they liked listening to Ms Pappas tell her jokes because they made the them laugh and the reviewing the songs because you get to sing with our friends and it is fun. We asked the third graders what is your favorite song? “Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening” because it has a high pitch; another is “Cantar” because it is in a different language (Spanish). The final question we asked do you like to perform in concerts? The overall response from the third graders was “Yes” because they like to perform in front of people.
We asked the forth graders, What’s your favorite part of chorus? Most fourth graders replied that they like being with their friends. What is your favorite song? The students said that “Cantar” because it is cool, loud and funky. Finally, we asked do you think that other grades should be able to do chorus? Students said yes but not younger than second graders.
What is your favorite part of chorus? we asked the fifth grade students. They said they like getting to sing songs with Ms Pappas. What is your favorite song? The one said “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” because he has a violin part in it. Another said, “Symphony of the Heart” because she likes the piano music. We asked, do you think we should have a choice of songs? The answers were mixed, “No” because Ms Pappas knows what songs are written at an appropriate key for students to sing. Another said, “Yes” because sometimes Ms Pappas picks songs that we don’t really know so maybe we could pick one that we know instead. We thank the students for giving us their thoughts about chorus.
Even though 7:30 in the morning is early, all the students, who participate, love singing together with Ms Pappas.
Reported by Abby and Sarah