The last week before winter holidays can be tough for students AND teachers. Lack of sleep, too much candy and the excitement before a well-deserved break. I subscribe to an education blog called "Education Closet" and received an update this week. Here is a link to the article that inspired our "Mannequin Challenge" this week! ​

What is the "Mannequin Challenge"? Basically it is a video that captures a room full of people frozen like mannequins and put to music. Here is an example from the article above of Michelle Obama with the Cleveland Cavaliers:
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The Grade 5/6 and Grade 7/8 French classes have been working on a guitar song of their choice for the last month. They had to choose a song, create a fret diagram based on the chords in the song, practice the chord changes and then share with me or the class. 

P.S. It was PJ Day when these photos were taken!

This week in guitar with the Grade 5/6 French students, we practiced chord changes AND singing a well-known song at the same time. We started with "Happy Birthday", a song everyone has done a million times.  To give the students a little extra push, I told them it was my big sister's 40th birthday that day, and that it would be really cool if we could record the whole class playing guitar and singing 'Happy Birthday' to my sister, Mary. After just 3 classes of guitar, here is a video of the students creating the perfect birthday present for my sister! Happy 40th Birthday, Mary!

At the beginning of the school year, a student in Grade 2 French asked if he could bring his harmonica and perform for the class.  I love when students share what they do musically outside of school, so of course I was open to the idea!  The best part about the talent sharing is that the students took it upon themselves to remember when they have music class and get permission from their parents to bring their instrument to school. #shareyourtalent is completely student driven! It is also a great opportunity to discuss appropriate audience behaviour and practice what we do before, during and after a performance (most importantly, we clap to show our support!). 

Here are some photos of one the Grade 2 students playing a few pieces on violin.  She also showed the class different parts of the instrument and explained that she has to practice every day.  At the end of class, the students were buzzing with excitement! In the coming weeks, we will have a singing performance, dance and some more violin. 

On Thursday night, we had a potluck dinner with many families at ÉCCS. Everyone brought a dish to share and we gathered for great food and conversation. A highlight of the evening was a performance by the Grade 3/4 students singing, "Things I am Thankful For".  Both French and English students performed, and we had a great turnout of 15 students - impressive, considering it was a very cold and snowy evening!  I am very proud of how hard the students worked to prepare for performance. We had a short preparation time - only two classes - and it was evident that these students love to sing! I am looking forward to more performing opportunities in the future.

Here is a short video clip of the performance, captured by Mrs. Daelick.