Anthems!

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Issue No.1 August 25, 2014

Welcome to music class at Izzi B!
You may have guessed that this newsletter is meant to help us stay connected, get families involved in our musical adventures, and keep us up to date on important events, but do you know why its called Anthems!? According to Websters Dictionary an anthem is a rousing or uplifting song associated with a particular group, body, or cause. Here at Izzi B. we believe in creating bonds, working together for the good of everyone, and giving every voice a chance to be heard. In music class we have the great opportunity to do all these things and create our own anthems to share! Stay tuned in for exactly how we will be doing that and you can be involved. Lets go!

Read about:
Ms. Caryn! Class Happenings! Take a Bow!! Youre Invited!"

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DID YOU KNOW?

Music students out-perform non-music on achievement tests in reading and math. Skills such as reading, anticipating, memory, listening, forecasting, recall, and concentration are developed in musical performance, and these skills are valuable to students in math, reading, and science.

B.Friedman, An Evaluation of the Achievement in Reading and Arithmetic of Pupils in Elementary School Instrumental Music Classes, Dissertation Abstracts International

This is me and my friend Telahun learning to play one of my favorite instruments-the recorder!

Ms. Sowder at a glance:

My name is Ms. Sowder and. . .
I could not be happier to join the Izzi B. family! Teaching music here is the perfect next step in my fantastic year of adventures. My previous undertakings this year include moving to Colorado from Iowa and finishing my music education degree (even though I am not done learning yet!). Exploring the trails and rich culture Denver has to offer has kept me busy! My primary instrument is the euphonium (pronounced you-phone-e-um. Imagine a miniature tuba), but I love to play all sorts of instruments! Right now I am working to improve my guitar skills. I love listening to all kinds of music too-especially jazz! When I am not listening to or making music I love to hike, cook, read, practice yoga, and drink a LOT of coffee. I love being out and about in the community so I hope to see you around! One of my favorite parts about music class is that we get to learn about ourselves, our cultures, and other times and people in an energetic, interactive way. We will unveil the building blocks of music as we learn to express ourselves through performance, all the while gaining insight as to why music is the way it is and what it means to us. You are always welcome to join us in class-just make sure you check in with Tabetha at the front desk first!

Education:
University of Northern Iowa 2014: BA Music Education, Kodly Level 1 Certificate

Experience:
Oodles of hours student teaching in elementary general music and 5-12 band and orchestra, School Age Care Coordinator for the YMCA, volunteer with IVCF in Ethiopia, private music instructor, UNI Music School choir teacher, and 3.5 years as the principal player in my university Wind Symphony!

Philosophy
Music is for EVERYONE! Every person can enjoy music in some way and use music to tell their stories. My job is to give you the tools to do that!

CLASS HAPPENINGS:
We will be establishing classroom community by getting to know each other through fun music games learning what it looks like to be respectful, curious, and creative in music! This fall we will be learning all about the building blocks of music, starting the first two weeks with beat and rhythm! It will be fun to combine Izzi B.s inquiry units and super duper music activities!

ECE & Kindergarten

Introductory Toast attendance game that practices timing, matching pitch,and our very best singing voices. Steady beat games complete with body percussion, rhythm sticks, and tortoise vs. the hare speed game!

working on our steady beat in drum circles!

rhythms-it might even snow rhythms one day!

3rd & 4th Graders

We will challenge ourselves with keeping a steady beat, coordinating different patterns in community clapping games from around the world. Our vocabularies will be expanding as we learn the musical language for the speed of our beat. These classes will go quite presto! We will compose and perform our own groovy

5th Graders
I cant wait to get to know the 5th graders through our steady beat clapping games! We will be learning musical terms for the speed of the beat and also discuss how the speed effects the way music makes us feel! Get ready to write! We will also be creating our own rhythms to perform!

1st & 2nd Graders

Introductory Toast game, too! We will rock improvised rhythms and learn call and response form while

Youre Invited!
Keep tabs on events, performances, and other exciting opportunities! Another way to keep in the loop is by checking out www.weebly.com/ ibcsanthem. Look for pictures, calendars and more!

August 27
Get to know Ms. Sowder at Back to School Night! 6pm

September 7
ECE family music activites: Exploratory games you can do at home! 6pm

October 16
5th grade: Gift of Song service performance at Nursing Home!

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Come for family reading night-stay for an instrument petting zoo in the music room! 5-7pm

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PTA Meeting: Agenda topic Music Resources/ Fundraisers 6:30pm

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Kindergarden: Fall Concert 6pm

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1st grade: Fall Concert 6pm

TAKE A BOW!
! We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Jane Doe and Jim Bob for their efforts in our summer fundraisers. Thanks to their work the students at Izzi B. will get to enjoy rhythm stick, BoomWhacker, and auxiliary percussion instruments in our learning process.

*This could be edited to contain less color, making printing more cost efficient *Even better, this could go on to a IBCS Music Website and be purely an e-newsletter that supplements pictures, a calendar, music resources for families to use at home, and more in a completely green way!