Grade 5 Music – Ukulele

Hello Grade 5 families,

As you have no doubt noticed, we are working on the ukulele again this year. This is a follow up to our Grade 4 ukulele unit, as it got cut short last year with several missed classes. We have done a review and are now picking up where we left off.

At the end of our unit, there will be an assessment which has been outlined to the students, including a well developed rubric to let them know their exact requirements. They will each need to strum to one song of their choice, having been given four choices. I will be listening for clear notes, smooth transitions and staying on rhythm. I will also be evaluating their understanding of ukulele tabs, as they will need to demonstrate that they know how to read and interpret them.

Each student has been given their own ukulele for the duration of the unit. They have been instructed to bring them home and to practice every week (apologies for your home noise level). Each instrument is numbered and I expect that they will take care of their ukuleles and return them to me in good condition when our unit is complete in March.

Please help me in reminding your child to bring their ukulele back to school on the day of their music class. Grade 5A has music on Wednesday mornings and Grade 5B on Monday afternoons. I have extra instruments in class if anyone forgets, but it is easier to have your own.

Upon completion of this unit, we will then learn to play the recorder (apologies again for your home noise level).

Our final unit of the year will be to learn Torah Trope, as many students will be entering Bar/Bat mitzvah age shortly, and this will give them a step up for when they begin to learn.

Enjoy your February break!

Moreh David Kogut

Grade 5 Music Update

Hello Grade 5 Families,

Here is an update of what we have been up to in Grade 5 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 5 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.

“Down in mathematics we solve everyday

Science, we have pulleys and a string

But my favorite part is gym class where we run and play

And at the end of classes we will always sing. “

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 5, along with Grade 3 & 4 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

About Your Music Teacher

Dear OJCS Families,

I am honoured to be back, teaching music at OJCS once again this year. I am privileged to have met many of you and I hope to meet all families this year. I wanted to introduce myself and let you know about me and what I have done to lead up to my role in OJCS.

I was born and raised in the Montreal Jewish community and a graduate of Hebrew Academy high school. I graduated Dawson College from the Social studies program, completed my psychology degree from Concordia University and completed my Master’s of Jewish education and administration from Azrieli at Yeshiva University. I also attended Yeshivat Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem. I am a Chazan and have lead services in many Orthodox and Conservative synagogues in Montreal, Seattle and Ottawa.

This will be my 17th year teaching at a Jewish day school. I worked at the Seattle Hebrew Academy for 12 years as a music and Jewish studies teacher. I also taught at the Torah Day school of Ottawa for three years, before joining the OJCS team as a music teacher in the lower school and the Rabbinics teacher in the middle school. I am also a Bar and Bat mitzvah teacher and have been training students for over 25 years.

My goal for music at OJCS is primarily to have fun! I offer the students a more energetic class full of fun, laughter and music. I teach Jewish songs throughout the year and engage different classes with different types of music related projects, including instruments, song recordings and music video production. Each month, the school organizes an all school assembly for Rosh Chodesh, where all students come together to sing along to our songs of the month, among many other fun and unifying activities that we participate in together.

Please always feel free to reach out to me about your children or about the music program. I love hearing from you! I will always respond to emails. d.kogut@theojcs.ca.

Thank you and have a wonderful year!

Moreh David Kogut

Grade 2-5 Music

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

Hallel Song of the Month – Tevet

Dear OJCS Family,

This month, the Hebrew month of Tevet, we are learning our third song of the Hallel prayer service. This song begins with the chant of the verse “Pitchu li…” in the traditional Hallel nussach (melody) and continues with a song at the words “Odecha, ki anitani…”. Grades 2-5 are learning this song in class and we will all come together to sing as a school at our next Rosh Chodesh assembly for the month of Shevat, on Thursday, Jan 30th. The words in Hebrew and English transliteration are below.

Enjoy!

Moreh David Kogut

פִּתְחוּ לִי שַׁעֲרֵי צֶדֶק

אָבֹא בָם, אוֹדֶה יָהּ. זֶה הַשַּׁעַר לַיְיָ

צַדִּיקִים יָבֹאוּ בוֹ

אוֹדְךָ כִּי עֲנִיתָנִי וַתְּהִי לִי לִישׁוּעָה

אֶבֶן מָאֲסוּ הַבּוֹנִים הָיְתָה לְרֹאשׁ פִּנָּה

מֵאֵת יהוה הָיְתָה זֹּאת הִיא נִפְלָאֹת בְּעֵינֵינוּ

זֶה הַיוֹם עָשָׂה יְיָ, נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בוֹ

pitchu li sha’arei tzedek, avo vam, odeh yah.

Zeh hasha’ar ladonai tzaddikim yavo’u vo.

Odecha ki anitani vattehi li lishu’ah.

even ma’asu habbonim hayetah lerosh pinnah.

Me’et adonai hayetah zot hi nifla’ot be’eineinu.

Zeh hayom asah adonai, nagilah venismechah vo.

Hallel songs

Hello OJCS families!

We have been learning songs for the holiday prayer service of Hallel in our music classes. Each month, OJCS holds an all school assembly in honour of the new Jewish month on the monthly holiday of Rosh Chodesh. It is traditional to say the Hallel service in our morning prayers on Rosh Chodesh. At our assemblies, we sing one song from Hallel, as a school all together.

Here are recordings and the words to the two songs that we have learned so far this year.

Betzeit Yisrael

H’ Zecharanu Yevarech

Words for both songs:

Betzeit Yisrael and H’ Zecharanu

Grade 5 Music

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Grade 5 music has been off to a slow start this year. With the holidays coinciding with our Friday classes, as well as other interruptions to the schedule, we have only had a handful of classes so far. From now on, we will have more consistency and be able to get into a groove, where we can accomplish some great and exciting things.

So far, we had focused on learning a few songs that are associated with the Holidays. We learned the song “Avinu Malkeinu” around the time of Rosh hashanah and Yom Kippur, a song that students would be able to participate in, if they were in the synagogue on those days. Another mission of our music class this year is to learn songs from the Holiday prayer service called Hallel. We learned the song “Betzeit yisrael”, which is a song that I taught to many other classes in the school as well, so we could all sing it together at our last Rosh Chodesh assembly. We are now learning “H’ Zecharanu Yevarech”, another song from Hallel, which we will all sing together at the next Rosh chodesh assembly.

We have also now begun to learn to play the recorder. Students will now be bringing recorders home, to practice what we have done in class (apologies…). Each week ,they are taught to play new notes, and given challenges to master songs that use those notes. They are assessed regularly and are given “belts”, or coloured pieces of yarn to tie around the backs of their instruments, as they are able to play more challenging songs. We will continue with this unit for the next two months, and we plan on making some recordings and sharing with families when we are ready. The first few lessons are attached, which include a rubric and instructions for playing notes and new songs.

Betzeit Yisrael

One goal of OJCS music this year is for our students to learn some of the songs from the Hallel service that we say on Holidays. We began by learning the song “Betzeit Israel”, which is also traditionally sung at the Peach Seder. you can listen to the song at the bottom of this post and the words are below in Hebrew and in English transliteration.

Betzeit Yisrael Mimitzraim Beit Ya’akov Me’am Loez	בְּצֵאת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם בֵּית יַעֲקֹב מֵעַם לֹעֵז
Haytah Yehuda lekodsho Yisrael mamshelotav	הָיְתָה יְהוּדָה לְקָדְשׁוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל מַמְשְׁלוֹתָיו
Hayam Ra’am Vayanos Hayarden tisov le’achor	הַיָּם רָאָה וַיָּנֹס הַיַּרְדֵּן יִסֹּב לְאָחוֹר
Heharim rakdoo che’elim geva’ot kivneh tzon	הֶהָרִים רָקְדוּ כְאֵילִים גְּבָעוֹת כִּבְנֵי־צֹאן
Mah lecha hayam	מַה־לְּךָ הַיָּם
Ki Tanoos	כִּי תָנוּס
hayarden	הַיַּרְדֵּן
Tisov le’achor	תִּסֹּב לְאָחוֹר
He’harim	הֶהָרִים
Tirkedoo che’elim	תִּרְקְדוּ כְאֵילִים
Geva’ot	גְּבָעוֹת
Kivneh tzon	כִּבְנֵי־צֹאן
Milifenei adon	מִלִּפְנֵי אָדוֹן
Chooli Aretz	חֽוּלִי אָֽרֶץ
Milifnei	מִלִּפְנֵי
Eloha yaakov	אֱלֽוֹהַּ יַעֲקֹב
Hahofechi Hatzoor	הַהֹפְכִי הַצּוּר
Agam mayim	אֲגַם־מָֽיִם
Chalameesh	חַלָּמִישׁ
Lemaynoh mayim	לְמַעְיְנוֹ־מָֽיִם

Grade 5 Music

In grade 5 music there’s been a lot on our plate. We have worked on our singing and school spirit by learning and performing the OJCS anthem. We’ve also been pushing forward on the recorder and developing skills on the instrument. The students have all been working on exercises in the practice book, performing playing tests for the class, and creating a video of themselves playing the recorder. And of course we’ve been having fun along the way!

Grade 5 Music

In Grade 5 music class, we have been doing many great things! We began the year with the students presenting on various musical topics to the class. It has been a really great experience as I have realized that there are a lot of keen musicians in the group who have a definite interest in developing as an artist. We will begin learning the recorder as a class in the near future. This is going to be great for the students to apply musical knowledge that they will have already learned at school and develop their own musicianship through the instrument. I hope the students are having as much fun classes I am. Let’s keep up the great work!