ollmusicroom2

2011-02-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hi.
The week of Feb. 21 thru the 25th. Monday NO SCHOOL.
Tuesday will be Girls' Choir. They will run through their warm-up drills which include sight singing activities, simple solo/response songs, and partner songs. Then the girls will have sectionals on their choir pieces. They will be finishing up their worksheets on Rhythmic Note Value identification while they are not having a sectional.
Thursday will be Band. The students should be practicing Chanson on their own at home and be playing Chanson from beginning to end. They should begin marking note names, slide positions or valve combinations on their music for Bourree. We will begin working on Bourree the week of Feb. 28th thru March 4th. The Band students will be working on worksheets that reinforce rhythmic value and rhythmic equavalencies.
Friday will be Boys' Choir. They will run through their warm-up drills which includes sight-singing activites, simple solo/response melodies and partner songs. Then the boys will have sectionals on their choir pieces. They will be beginning worksheets on Rhythmic Note Value Identification.
Kindergarten will begin playing simple melodies on the bells. They will sing the song first a couple of times to learn the song and then play them on the bells. First Grade is still focusing on recorders and doing an excellent job at getting the songs to sound like what they've just sung. Second, third and fourth grades are still working at learning piano and the basic theory behind the keyboard, staff notation, key signatures accidentals and how all of those affect their hand positions.
PreSchool through Fourth Grade will be continuing their unit on dance. Thus far the Preschoolers have done the Chicken Dance, Bunny Hop and begun learning the Mexican Hat Dance.

2011-02-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Hello for the Week of February 7 thru the 11th.
Band will be working on measure 41 thru 48 in sectionals of the song Chanson. All students should have: note names, and or fingerings, and or slide positions, and or valve combinations already written in on their music. We will be working as a whole group on fitting together Chanson from the beginning to measure 25.
Boy's Choir will meet this week on Tuesday and on Friday to make-up for the days they missed and will be missing in the next couple of weeks due to early releases. They will spend their time working on warm-up drills, sight singing drills and then sectionals on their spring concert pieces "Ain't Gonna Grieve My Lord No More", "Blow the Man Down", "Chopsticks", and "Yellow Submarine".
First Grade will continue to work on more recorder songs. They will be learning two new songs this week first in the generative form with pitch names only and then transferring those songs to the staff and playing them. They will be reinforcing the concepts of which notes are line notes and which notes are space notes.
Second thru Fourth Grade will be at the keyboards this week. Fourth Grade will have their first timed note identification test. They will be tested on the Treble Clef Staff notes only for this test. Second thru Fourth Grade will all be getting worksheets to complete while they are waiting to play test at the piano for the teacher. The worksheets will help them to identify notes on the Treble Cleff Staff.
Kindergarten through Fourth Grade will all begin their unit on Dance in P.E. They will be learning simple dances such as: The Chicken Dance, The Mexican Hat Dance, The Conga, The Bunny Hop, The Alley Cat and The Macarena.

2011-01-28T09:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Catholic Schools Week. Monday is Miss-Match Day. Tuesday is Crazy Hat Day. Wednesday is Red and White Day (5-8 grades will be going skiing if weather permits). Thursday is P.J. Day. Friday is Sports Team Day. Before Masses on February 5th and 6th there will be a Bake Sale to benefit our School, and our School Children will be hosting the Sunday February 6th 10:00 am Mass. There will also be a pancake fundraiser before and after the Masses on Sunday February 6th. I encourage you to please attend the February 6th Mass and if your child attends this School they should wear there OLL Shirts to Mass.
The 5-8 Grade Band is currently working on Chanson and Bourree by Frank Erickson. Your student if they are in Band should be working on measures 1 through 33 of the first movement and practicing the Db Concert Pitch Scale.
The First Graders are again working on recorders. They have learned how to play the notes B, A and G successfully. They have a repertoire of six songs using these notes.
The Second through Fourth Grades are again working on the keyboards. The third and fourth grades have been seriously focusing on speed of identifying the notes on the staff. The Fourth Grade will be getting weekly speed tests on note identification. The second grade is working on accurately identifying the notes on the staff, and remembering how the keyboard is lettered.

2010-02-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Catholic Schools Week. The Band will begin working on the piece "Amigos" this week. "Amigos" features the trumpet section throughout the whole piece. Students should focus on Section A to B or measures 5 to 24.

The General Music Class has finished their unit on guitars and is now moving on to learning keyboards.

The Choir is working on three new pieces that have 3-part harmony. They will also be picking out other popular pieces for the concert in May.

2010-01-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

We're beginning a new grading period.
The Band students are doing very well. Band Members should be prepared to play from rehearsal mark B to E with as few mistakes as possible.

2010-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

We had our big review this week, and passed with flying colors. The on-site inspectors were very impressed with the Music Program. Yeah !!! Keep up the great work Parents and Students. Thanks to the OLL Community as a whole for all the great support.

The Jr. High Band is doing excellent on Assembly Processional. We are hoping to be able to play this piece at the Spring Concert along with some other pieces that feature specific sections. The First thru Fourth Grades are not only working on keyboard this week, but also getting ready for the Mass with the Bishop on Jan 20th. We also have an all school liturgy coming up on Feb 7, the close of Catholic Schools week, that they are preparing for. The Kindergarten have begun their introduction to recorders, and are doing well.

2010-01-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 to all our OLL Family.
The students are back and hard at work in Band and Choir. They will be preparing for their end of the year concert that will be sometime in May. Weekly lessons have resumed for the Fifth thru Jr. High Band Members.
The Kindergarten is beginning to learn recorders. They are very excited about playing this beginning instrument.
First thru Fourth Grade are back at the keyboards. We took a break from the keyboards to practice in November and December for the Christmas Concert.
Fourth Graders who are learning to play an instrument for Band next year have resumed their lessons schedules. Thanks to all the parents that are making sure their child spends at least 20 minutes each day practicing.

2009-12-17T13:32:00.001-08:00

Beginning after the Christmas Break the Fourth Grade students will begin taking instrument lessons.

The first week or two of these lessons are spent learning to correctly blow into the mouthpiece, and to assemble the instrument correctly.

Week three, if the student can correctly blow into the mouthpiece and assemble the instrument, the student will begin working out of "The Standard of Excellence Comprehensive Band Method, Book One, by Bruce Pearson. The student will be assigned an amount of music that should occupy 20 minutes. Students should practice a minimum of 20 minutes each day to develop breath support, embouchure and technical facility.

Students who skip three lessons in a row are automatically dropped from the lesson schedule. Students who come habitually unprepared for lessons may be dropped from the lesson schedule also.

Lesson Schedule is as follows:
MONDAY-----Flutes
Tuesday-------Clarinets
Wednesday----Saxophone
Thursday------Trombone
Friday--------Trumpets
Percussion is arranged and by audition only

2009-12-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish all our OLL Family a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.

The Jr. High Choir and Band Concert went very well. The Band Marched in the December 5 Parade in Ashland. I heard many positive comments from community members that the Band looked and sounded very good.

The Elementary Concert was on December 10. The students did a wonderful job singing. The 1st thru 4th Grades sang four songs that had two-part harmony, and they did an excellent job holding their part.

The Christmas Eve Mass at 4pm will again this year be hosted by our Student Body. Students should be here for the Mass by 3:20pm. This year again we will be blessed with many of our Band Students accompanying the Choir. Thank You to these dedicated and talented students who are willing to share their gift with us.

2009-09-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi to all new families at OLL. Welcome back to all our returning families. The year has begun with a refreshingly easy transition from summer fun to educational routines .

This month the students will be learning about the String Family Instruments. I've brought in a Violin this year so that the students can actually see and hear a violin in person.

The older students will begin their routine of Band on Mondays and Thursdays at 10:45. Choir will be on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10:45. The first concert will be on November 9 for the Veteran's Day Observance. Please encourage your Band Student to begin practicing 20 minutes daily.

We have set the dates for the Christmas Concerts. The Band and Choir Concert will be December Third at 6:30 pm in the Church. The K-Fourth Grade Program will be December Tenth at 6:30 pm in the Church. Please mark these important dates and times down.

2007-05-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's nearly the end of the school year.

We have one concert left this year on May 31, 2007 at 6:30 pm in the Social Hall the Junior High Band and Choir will perform their final concert for the year. Students should dress "Sunday Best". Our young ladies may wear dresses, skirts or gauchos. The lenght of any of the previously stated garments should be to the knee. Any shirts that the young ladies wear should avoid plunging necklines, or they should wear a dickie if the shirt is to low for modesty.

The students in both band and choir have been working very hard in preparing for the upcoming concert. Both groups have added some songs at the last minute to keep rehearsals fresh. They may have those pieces adquately prepared to perform them. I hope we are able to do them because they are the more difficult pieces and really show off what they can do.

Please encourage your son or daughter to keep playing over the summer. I can't tell you how frustrating it was the first year I taught here. I had students who hadn't played all summer and when band began they couldn't remember how to put their instrument together. If for some reason your son or daughter needs their instrument repaired over the summer please call the rectory so they can get a hold of me. I'll try and make arrangements to get the instrument fixed in a timely manner.

2007-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

We have one hour and ten minutes until Spring Break begins. The children have been anticipating this week-long vacation since the beginning of March. Many children told me today what they are looking forward to doing during the break with their parents and friends.

All parts have been assigned for the upcoming Spring Program. I sent home copies of lines with the children in First through Fourth Grade that have speaking parts. I encouraged the children to practice their lines during vacation so that when we get back to school some will already have their lines memorized.

The Band is beginning to learn a more difficult piece for the Spring Program. The piece is a collection of songs from the Disney Movie "Tarzan". The Choir will be getting a piece to learn from the Disney Musical "High School Musical". Both of these extra pieces are in addition to what they are already preparing for the Spring Concert. I have one other more difficult piece in mind for the Band if they learn "Tarzan" with time to spare before the May 31, 2007 date.

Have a great Spring Break. Be safe and God Bless.

2007-03-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

The dates have been set for the upcoming spring programs. The Kindergarten thru Fourth Grade program will be May 3, 2007 at 6:30 pm in the Social Hall. The Kindergarten and First Grades are preparing two short musical stories. The stories they are based on are: The Gingerbread Man, and The Three Little Pigs.

The Second, Third and Fourth Grades are preparing three parables with musical selections set to them. This week I will be pulling names from the bucket to see who will get speaking parts. If a child's name is pulled and they do not want to have a speaking role they tell me when I pull their name they don't want to and then I pull another name from the bucket.

The Band and Choir Concert will be on May 31, 2007 at 6:30 pm in the Social Hall. The Band has some straight-forward pieces that are at the easy level, (to accommodate for the beginning band students) and two more difficult pieces at the Jr. High level. The Choir has been preparing a variety of pieces. Some of the selections are from Disney movies and some of the selections reflect our religious school setting.

2007-02-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Parents Band students, and students taking instrument lessons,

Cold weather is very difficult on instruments. Please remind your child that an instrument should never be left in an unheated room for very long. The cold weather can split brass instruments, crack wood instruments, and damage pads covering holes on instruments. Even when an instrument is correctly cleaned after it is used residual moisture still remains in the instrument. The residual moisture is what causes the damage to the instrument. Residual moisture can freeze and expand causing straight things to bend, metal and wood to split, and pads to become brittle and not fit properly.

Please, Please never leave an instrument in an unheated room for any lenght of time.

2007-01-31T12:57:00.000-08:00

Now that you can finally get on my blog.

I understand that people were unable to access my blog, Br. Tom has cleared-up that problem You will now be able to access ollmusicroom2 to find out what's happening.

The Fourth Grade students who wish to learn an instrument have begun taking lessons during their lunchtime recess. Mondays are saxophone. Tuesdays are trumpet. Wednesdays are clarinet and flute. Thursdays are percussion. Fridays are trombone. Students should bring $6.75 to the office to pay for their books. Reeds are free for the woodwind players. Oil is free for the brass players. Students who are woodwind players or brass players are expected to bring in baked goods when we do lunchtime bake sales to pay for the free reeds and oil. Rental contracts for the School Owned Instruments will go home sometime next week. Please sign the contract and make the check payable to the school.

Students who are learing to play an instrument should be spending at least 20 minutes each day practicing. The lessons are free and I do them during my lunchbreak. Please encourage your child to be prepared for lessons so they don't waste my lunchbreak. This particular group of fourth graders has done an exceptional job at the keyboards so I am expecting that they will do very well in band.

We will begin learning about Edvard Grieg in the Elementary Music Classes during February. Students will learn information about Mr. Grieg and listen to some of his music. Grades 1,2,3, and 4 are back at the keyboards fulltime. Kindergarten has been a great group. They are learning new songs, and as a group doing some basic melodic dictation (figuring out how music would look written on the staff and then we write it together.)

Mid-February we will begin getting ready for the Spring Program. I hope to be doing mini-musicals with the elementary grades. The Junior High Choir is preparing some Disney Songs to perform for the younger school children along with the material for the Spring Program. The Band is also preparing material for the Spring Program. Some of the songs are pieces chosen by the older band students and some pieces were chosen by me. The difficulty level of the pieces vary from Beginning Band to Middle-School Band level.

2006-12-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

Four more days until Christmas. So much to do and so little time to do it in. The K-4 Concert went great. The children had lots of fun singing the songs I chose this year for them. Thanks to all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings that came to watch our younger students.

The Junior High Band and Choir Concert went very well also. This year is a building year for both the Band and Choir. I have to be honest that it was very difficult trying to pick music that would sound good for the band to play, but also not be so challenging that the newer band students wouldn't be able to play the pieces. The choir was a little easier to choose music for. I chose pieces that would give them a chance to sing parts of the song in unison and other parts with easy harmony lines added to them.

Concert time is always a great time as a teacher to step back and watch the students. The children give us a brief glimpse of what they will look like in the future. I have always found that the students carry themselves with such dignity and self-confidence that I am sometimes moved to tears. I get to see them progress from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade. They start out diamonds in the rough, but by the time they reach Eighth Grade they bloosom into such rare jewels.

I hope everyone has a BLESSED and PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS.

Mrs. Trapp

2006-11-29T08:13:00.000-08:00

Dear O.L.L. Family,

Thank you so much for the cards, and letters after my Mother's death. The children here have also taken time in their classes to draw me cards. Please forgive me if I don't send a Thank You Card before the Christmas Break, this time of year is just so busy for me. I always feel at this time that things are moving at 100 miles per hour because there is so much to do, so please forgive me.

My family is doing well. My son, Greg, is back at school--brightening his classroom with his humor. My son, Gabriel, is at home with my 21 year old son, Michael David. Michael David will care for Gabriel until Christmas Break. After break Michael David will be going to tech school so I am looking for someone to do daycare after Christmas. We will be staying at the farm keeping an eye on it until it can be sold. It may take quite awhile to sell the farmstead so I don't plan on moving anytime soon.

The Christmas programs will still be on the scheduled dates, Dec 13th K thru 4th at 6:30 pm in the Social Hall. Dec. 15th is the 5 thru 8 Band and Choir program, that also is at 6:30 pm in the Social Hall.

In the Music Classes we are still preparing for these upcoming events. When we have finished running through the songs in the elementary classes grades 1 thru 4 go to the keyboards, so they don't forget too much before we return full time to the keyboards. Kindergarten is busy learning new songs that revolve around the holiday season.

All students are learning some of the songs that we will be singing on the Christmas Eve Mass. Please don't hesitate in signing your child up to sing if you will be at the Mass.

Band parents please, please encourage your child to practice for the Christmas Program. I am willing to stay in at recess with any child who needs any extra help in reheasing their band part.

2006-11-06T08:11:00.001-08:00

Hi, great weather for the beginning of November. The children are all saying the weather is more like spring or summer. This month we will be learning a little about Mozart and listening to some of his music. We also have begun preparing for the Christmas Concert. So if you hear your child humming Christmas music already it's probably something we're working on in class.
The scheduled dates for the Christmas Programs are: K-4 December 13, and the 5-8 Band and Choir December 15. Both programs are scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm. Both programs will also be in the Social Hall.

Children in Kindergarten, and First Grade should dress "Sunday Best". Children in Second, Third and Fourth Grades a note will be sent home later telling you what they will need to wear.
Students in Grades Five through Eight that are in either the Choir or Band should dress "Sunday Best" the night of their program.

November 10th at 2:00 pm in the Church we will have a brief program to honor Veterans. The Band will play the Star Spangled Banner with some of the students in Third and Fourth Grade leading the singing of the National Anthem. The Band will also play another selection titled "Arch of Triumph". The Choir will be singing "The 11th Hour" and "Fifty Stars". The Junior High Teachers also had their students write either a poem, or a thank you to Veterans that will be read during the program. Please encourage Veterans to attend.

2006-11-06T08:11:00.000-08:00

Hi, great weather for the beginning of November. The children are all saying the weather is more like spring or summer. This month we will be learning a little about Mozart and listening to some of his music. We also have begun preparing for the Christmas Concert. So if you hear your child humming Christmas music already it's probably something we're working on in class.
The scheduled dates for the Christmas Programs are: K-4 December 13, and the 5-8 Band and Choir December 15. Both programs are scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm. Both programs will also be in the Social Hall.
Children in Kindergarten, and First Grade should dress "Sunday Best". Children in Second, Third and Fourth Grades a note will be sent home later telling you what they will need to wear.
Students in Grades Five through Eight that are in either the Choir or Band should dress "Sunday Best" the night of their program.
November 10th at 2:00 pm in the Church we will have a brief program to honor Veterans. The Band will play the Star Spangled Banner with some of the students in Third and Fourth Grade leading the singing of the National Anthem. The Band will also play another selection titled "Arch of Triumph". The Choir will be singing "The 11th Hour" and "Fifty Stars". The Junior High Teachers also had their students write either a poem, or a thank you to Veterans that will be read during the program. Please encourage Veterans to attend.

2006-10-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
I stated earlier in my blog that students in Grades 1,2,3, and 4 are using keyboards. If you or your child is uncomfortable with them sharing headphones you may send a set of headphones to school for your child to use. The headphones should be in a ziploc bag with their names clearly printed on it. The headphones may be stored in their lockers for use during Music and Computer Classes. The children are doing great at the keyboards and are very excited to use them. Children who are taking private lessons from me can use their lesson book during Music Class. They may keep their lesson book in their backpack and take it out before class.
Thanks,
Tresa Trapp

2006-09-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

October is here with it's great fall colors and bountiful harvests. In the Music Room we will begin learning about Handel, a Baroque Composer. We will be using his music to learn about the music form/style: SUITE. During September we learned about Bach. The children also learned about and heard the following instruments: flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone. The children were able to see these instruments and I played them for them during classes. We also talked about what family they belonged to. Students also spend a few minutes each class focusing on rhythms. Rhythm counting and clapping tends to be something that everyone needs isolate and focus on no matter what level of musican they are.

Grades 1 thru 4 are also learning to use the keyboards in music class, something they really enjoy. I try to go as slowly as possible so that they don't feel overwhelmed with all the information they have to try and internalize before they can play. Students are assigned to a keyboard and they have a book. In the book we begin using black keys and the pages all have what I can "road maps" at the top to show students where their hands should go. Students progress at their own rate. When children are ready they play their piece for me on the real piano in the room. If they play the piece accurately they move on to the next page in their books. While they are still with me we go over where their hands should be on the keyboard, which sounds are long or short, and any other musical directions on the page. Students may go ahead if they feel that they know their assignment well enough when I am listening to other students.

The leadership quality I will be focusing on during PE classes will be respectfulness. The students will discuss what that means and how they can show it.