Everyone loves Fridays!

Today we split into two groups: one was out on the playground making music, and the second was inside working on their buckets. It was a perfect balance! The group outside was able to hear themselves when Matt instructed them...and they were sounding great! I think everyone has a natural talent for playing drums since we got the drum sticks involved. The playground is going to become one of our instruments as well. Inside, we were drawing on our buckets and finishing up the Fundreds. I was introduced to a lot of new music! Next week will be great when we paint our drums and drum sticks. We'll have some colorful pictures to show you.

Bucket Madness!

Thursday was a ton of fun. We unveiled the drum sticks and let everyone come up with their own grooves. Eventually it went outside and students started to experiment with sounds from the play ground area. Lots of fun. We also worked on our "Fundred dollar bills." The kids are excited to show their support for students in New Orleans in a fun and creative way. There was talk of it even spreading out to the whole Desert Oasis Community.

Today we took a break from practicing our soon to be masterpiece and worked on a side project that is great! We drew on Fundred Dollar Bills! We are helping out New Orleans and Mel Chin in his feat to rid the city of lead contamination. It was a great day that ended with Pictionary. Happy Valentine's Day!

The buckets came in and we got them to Desert Oasis! We started our afternoon with some drum warm ups. And after our hands were sore from banging on the buckets, we looked at 'road side architecture' - architecture that looks like what it sells: an ice cream building that sells ice cream, a donut building that sells donuts, and more. The students drew their own ideas of 'road side architecture.' We're starting to get some rhythm and melody and soon enough we'll have a platinum album!

Groovin'

Today we learned about the basics of rhythm and how to construct a groove. The students got into groups and wrote their own grooves. First they could only use their hands and then later they were given found instruments to explore all of the new sounds. At the end the students performed their grooves in front of the class. The buckets came in today! Once the sticks from Vic Firth come we will be ready to rock!