2nd Grade Performance

Dear Parents of Second Graders,


The second grade is performing Birds of a Feather on April 16th and 17th on the Meadow Wood Elementary Cafeteria Stage. Meadow Wood has provided most of the costumes; however, there are some things that your child will need to wear to school or bring to school on the days of the performances. The following list tells you the items that your child will need to wear for his/her part in the play. If there is a problem with borrowing or buying the item, please contact Mrs. Blair (music teacher) at Kristi.Blair@springbranchisd.com. Thank you for your help!

Birds of a Feather performances: Monday, April 16 at 1:30 P.M. (for the students)

Tuesday, April 17 at 6:30 P.M. (for the MWE P.T.A. and families)
     Meet at 6:00 P.M. in your homeroom

Students need:
1. Long black pants

2. White long sleeved shirts (with no writing on it)

3. Socks and Tennis Shoes (any kind)



Volunteer: Here are some areas in which we will need parent volunteers for this performance.

1. Donate extra child size black pants and white long sleeved shirts

2. Help get children dressed on the day of the performance

If you can volunteer in any of these ways, please contact Kristi Blair at Kristi.blair@springbranchisd.com or 713-251-6275.

Thank you!

Chinese New Year Song

Every year I like to introduce some Chinese songs into my curriculum right around Chinese New Year.  It is a great tie-in to the cultural side of music class.  Here is a video of one kindergarten class performing a pattern on instruments to accompany a Chinese song called,Go-a-Tin meaning Lantern Bright.

A new musical at MWE

DATE:         October 7, 2011

TO:             Parents of Fourth Graders

FROM:        Mrs. Blair, Music Teacher

RE:              4^th Grade Performance

Dear Parents,

This year the Fourth grade class will be the first class to perform on the NEW stage, and I have decided to grace our NEW stage with a NEW musical for Meadow Wood.  The musical is called Schoolhouse Rock Live! and it contains songs about math, reading, writing, science and social studies.  This musical is a personal favorite of mine and I am very excited to offer the students opportunities to sing, dance, and act in this play.  The performances are on January 30^th at 1:00pm for the school and January 31^st at 6:30pm for the parents. 

Because we have never performed this musical before we will be making a lot of set pieces and props.  I would like to have parents of 4^th grade students be a part of the production by helping to make these props.

Please indicate how you might help with the production by e-mailing Ms. Blair at this link.

Thank you ahead of time for your participation and for volunteering to help!  Your support is vital to all we do at Meadow Wood.

Music materials

Every year I do a couple of music projects that require things you can’t buy at a store. This is a good chance to recycle some of the things you throw away weekly.


I need:

1. Empty rolls from paper towels (not toilet paper)

2. Empty baby formula cans (Similac, Enfamil) or empty coffee cans (small not large)

If you have some of these things to donate to music projects please bring them by my room any time.  I will be collecting these materials all year long.  Thanks.

Baby Jonah

Here is a picture of me with my young son Jonah.  He is now 4 months old and doing just fine.  I love his smile and the happy baby dance he does when he sees me.

This is the beat for the Innisbrook RAP Contest. More details coming soon. Prizes to be announced.

11 tools Reflection

My favorite tools were the iPod Touch and Digital Storytelling. I will probably use the iPod Touch in my classroom as a center. Since they are first and foremost mp3 players I will probably have students listen to music on them. However, my favorite application for the iPod Touch was the iTalk Recorder. So I will use that tool to have students record themselves singing one of our curriculum songs. That way I can evaluate and assess their singing. Also, the students can hear themselves sing.

I believe that music itself is interactive and experiential. Music must be experienced and shared by people in community. Music builds community. In some ways I think that technology strips away the feeling of community and the experience of music as a group. When you are interacting with a computer or iPod screen you are not interacting with another person and sharing music with them. When you are playing "pretend" guitar on a app or video game you are not really learning to play an instrument. However, technology greatly enhances our ability to share music with others who are not in the same room with us. It bridges the distance between states and countries, and in that way we can share our culture and ourselves with each other.

I was surprised at how many programs and apps are out there that I had never heard of before. Not that I am up on all the newest technology, because I am not. Still, I was surprised at how huge the internet has grown and continues to grow. The possibilities are endless.