Hello Grade 4 Families,

Here is an update of what we have been up to in Grade 4 Music so far this year.

We began our year with some simple fun with music, by learning two new songs, in order to sing all together with the rest of the school at our first assembly. We learned the Beatles’ “ObLaDi ObLaDa” as well as the Hebrew song “Acheinu”. We spoke about the meaning of the songs, which relate to family and people we care about. The Grade 4 class was also tasked with creating their own verse for “ObLaDi ObLaDa” that relates to something positive at OJCS. Here is an example of one verse from one of our students.

“In the morning we get to OJCS

Ms. Jenn greets us all with a warm smile

The teachers are so happy to see us in class

With lessons and games every day is worth our while.”

We sang the songs together with the entire school at our first Rosh Chodesh assembly, which we have each month. These assemblies are a great opportunity to demonstrate our “RUACH” and togetherness.

For our newest project, students are working in small groups and choosing any song they like to use its tune for Adon Olam. We were inspired by several fun Adon Olam tunes that we heard online and now we will be recording our own. Each group submitted 3 choices of songs and I helped them to select the most appropriate one. After practicing, each group will record their song and it will be posted right here on this blog upon completion.

On top of that, we have been learning a new song from Birkat Hamazon. Students sing the first part of Birkat Hamazon daily after eating lunch. There are many more parts to Birkat Hamazon, including several other fun and catchy songs. Grade 4, along with Grade 3 & 5 have been learning to sing the final paragraph “Migdol Yeshu’ot Malkot…” as well as some fun hand motions that go along with it. When we have completed learning, we will all gather together and sing it as a school at our next Rosh Chodesh assembly.

Thanks for reading!

Moreh David Kogut

Hello Grade 3 Families,

Here is an update of what we have been up to in Grade 3 Music so far this year.

We began our year with some simple fun with music, by learning two new songs, in order to sing all together with the rest of the school at our first assembly. We learned the Beatles’ “ObLaDi ObLaDa” as well as the Hebrew song “Acheinu”. We spoke about the meaning of the songs, which relate to family and people we care about. We sang the songs together with the entire school at our first Rosh Chodesh assembly, which we have each month. These assemblies are a great opportunity to demonstrate our “RUACH” and togetherness.

Since the end of the Jewish Holidays, now that we have had more consistency in school we have begun our newest project, which gives the students more independence and control over their learning. We are now doing a karaoke project! Each student has grouped together with one or two others, where they have chosen a song to learn and to record. Each group gave me three song choices and I selected the most appropriate one for each group. They have been practicing in class and will soon record their song with the real background music from a professional microphone and real recording set-up. These songs will be posted right here on the blog when they are complete.

On top of that, we have been learning a new song from Birkat Hamazon. Students sing the first part of Birkat Hamazon daily after eating lunch. There are many more parts to Birkat Hamazon, including several other fun and catchy songs. Grade 3, along with Grade 4 & 5 have been learning to sing the final paragraph “Migdol Yeshu’ot Malkot…” as well as some fun hand motions that go along with it. When we have completed learning, we will all gather together and sing it as a school at our next Rosh Chodesh assembly.

When this unit is finished, we will begin learning some songs for Chanukah and understand their meanings and how they relate to the miracles of the holiday.

Thanks for reading,

Moreh David Kogut

Hello Grade 2 families,

Here is an update of what we have been up to in Grade 2 Music so far this year.

We began our year with some simple fun with music, by learning two new songs, in order to sing all together with the rest of the school at our first assembly. We learned the Beatles’ “ObLaDi ObLaDa” as well as the Hebrew song “Acheinu”. We spoke about the meaning of the songs, which relate to family and people we care about. We sang the songs together with the entire school at our first Rosh Chodesh assembly, which we have each month. These assemblies are a great opportunity to demonstrate our “RUACH” and togetherness.

Since the Jewish holidays have ended, we have focused on understanding rhythm in songs. Students were able to clap along to syllables in a song and learned to count how many syllables are in each line of a short song that we practiced together.

In our newest unit that we just began, we started to learn about musical notes and rests and practiced understanding the difference between whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. We will continue learning this for another couple of weeks, before beginning to learn Chanukah songs as well as their meanings and how they relate to the miracles of the holiday.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with your children and I look forward to a year of fun and learning ahead.

Moreh David Kogut

Hello Grade 1 families,

Grade 1 music has been fun and educational this year and the students have really been involved and participating well!

We began our year slowly, as there were many interruptions due to the Jewish holidays in September and October. We had spent much of our time throughout the first part of the year, preparing for our first all-school assembly, where the whole school gathered and sang songs together, among other exciting events that occur every month at our Rosh Chodesh assembly. We learned to sing the classic Beatles song “ObLaDi ObLaDa” as well as the Jewish song “Acheinu”, which grade 1 was able to fully participate in singing along with the rest of the school.

Now that we have had more consistent school time, we have begun our next units which involve learning rhythm as well as high and low, fast and slow sounds.

We learned to clap along with the syllables of a song and students finished a worksheet where we sang together and they indicated how many syllables were in each short line of the song. Next, we learned to recognize high and low sounds, as well as fast and slow sounds. We did this by listening to the sounds of several different instruments, which I was able to bring to class, so we can identify if they are high or low sounding.

Students have been learning well and very engaged and we look forward to our next units in a couple of weeks, where we will begin to learn Chanukah songs as well as understanding their relation to the miracles of the holiday.

Thanks for reading,

Moreh David Kogut

Hello OJCS families,

Welcome back to school! I am excited to have the privilege to be teaching music to your children once again. I will be in touch throughout the year by posting updates on this blog. I will send emails to each class with a link to this blog and I ask that you subscribe to the grade level that your children are in, so you can continue to see my updates. I will post regularly, so that you can follow what we will be doing in class and encourage your children to practice at home for any songs or lessons that we learn in class.

To begin the year, I have decided to teach two songs to every class from Grade 2-5. Our goal is to learn to sing these songs, so we may all join together as a school and sing together, bringing the unity and RUACH (spirit) that will create pride in our school and our studies. The first song, is a classic by the Beatles, called Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da. This song represents life, endurance and positivity.

The second song is a Jewish song called “Acheinu”. this is a very well known Jewish song that represents unity in the Jewish people. I am including links to both of these songs below, so students can listen and get to know the songs better this week.

I’m wishing all families a successful start to your school year. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me at any time. I will reply to all emails at d.kogut@theojcs.ca.

Acheinu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZaiZ1E95u0

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRtAO-nffz0

Dear Grade 3 family,

As our year comes to a close in Grade 3 music, we have completed our final project in creating a music video for both classes. Each class has chosen a song, learned it, split up parts for individuals or small groups to sing and recorded it. We then created a music video to go along with it. you can watch each video on the links provided below. Please note that these are private links and should not be shared in public spaces, to protect the privacy of families.

Thank you for your support throughout the year and have a wonderful summer!

Moreh David Kogut

Grade 3A: Ani Yehudi by Mordechai Shapiro

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VvwSGyX0iXNlYGvlyXE2C68Bp1MXp37f/view?usp=share_link

Grade 3B: Machar by Mordechai Shapiro

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19hIdUTMidhO_WuqHvTbV37PqfTSYS_dq/view?usp=share_link

Hello Grade 4A families,

The previous unit in the Grade 4A class was about creating a music video. We learned a new song, recorded it and filmed us singing, so we could create a complete video. We chose the song “Ani Ma’amin” by Tai, as it incorporates both Hebrew and English in the song and has a deep meaning of connecting to Israel.

Here is a link to watch the video online. It is in a private drive and not accessible to the public. Please do not share it publicly.

Thank you,

Moreh David Kogut

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PlhHLtOwRB6cMKmS3zuFq4X-QnuPxvjB/view?usp=sharing

Edit: I posted an incorrect link originally. It is now fixed and can be viewed properly.