Welcome Mr. Hassan's General Music School Notes page for Park View Middle School!  Please check back often for Newsletter Updates

General Music

All Students who do not take band or strings will take a General Music Class.  The theme for the class will be in line with the high school Arts Proficiency requirement.  Students in my classes will be required to Perform, Create and Evaluate.  In order to achieve this, each student will learn to read music, learn to read rhythms,  learn to play an instrument and work on the art of critical listening.   The instruments will include small percussion instruments and recorders depending on the grade and class. 

What Students Will Need

Each student must bring a pencil, a notebook and their planner to every General Music Class. 

Grading

Quarter grades will be determined by notebook check, tests and quizzes and by participation and attitude.

Class Room Rules

• Students must be on time to class
• Students must be prepared for every class
• Students must not touch any instrument until given permission by the teacher
• Be respectful of others and their property
• Be respectful of school property

Mr. Hassan’s General Music Class Newsletter

January 2012

Welcome

Welcome everyone to the first edition of Mr. Hassan’s General Music Class Newsletter.  The purpose of the newsletter is to keep both parents and students informed as the activities in the General Music Class.  The newsletter will be emailed and posted on the school notes web site. 

To This Point

So far this school year, we have learned what music is, where we find music and the historical and musical significance of The Star Spangled Banner.  Since late fall, the students have been working with music notation by learning the different note values.  They have been reading rhythms and performing both alone and in groups.  The performance has been in the form of a game where groups earn points for correct rhythms clapped.  This has been a fun learning experience for all the students.  As the game continues through the second quarter, we will be working on advanced rhythms.

Moving Forward

As we move toward the third quarter, the eighth grade classes will begin using their knowledge of rhythms by composing their own compositions for hand held percussion instruments.  This project will focus on group and individual work.  The students will be guided through each step of composing but will rely on their own creativity.  At the conclusion of this unit, the compositions will be recorded and saved on student’s flash drives.  We will keep you updated when you can expect to hear the final project!

The Seventh Grade students have started reading the note names not just the rhythms.  This will help them as we learn to play music on the piano and keyboards.  We currently have one piano and three keyboards in our class room.  We will be working on getting at least one more keyboard.  If the students have a keyboard at home, they will be asked to do some practicing a couple times a week.  We will keep you updated when this begins.   

Stay in Touch

You can stay in touch with the lessons by going to http://www.cpsed.net/pview/music.html on the Park View web site.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email Mr. Hassan at rhassan@cpsed.net.