Herrera 2011-2012

Welcome back students!  Mrs. Eifler is ready for a new year with the amazing students at Herrera.  This year the students in Mrs. Eifler's class will be focusing on learning how to play keyboard.  We will be adding supplimental activities to expand our knowledge of the topics we cover with keyboard through singing and games.

Mrs. Gore's Fifth and Sixth Grade Class 

Phoenix Elementary District General Music Festival  

March 3, 2011

Tranquil Light

 

Kid of Hope

Chicken Dance



2010-2011 Year End

Since March a lot of learning took place in the music classroom.  Mrs. Eifler had a baby named Leah Belle and Ms. Kathy Blass came to work with the students at Herrera.  They all learned many things that they were very excited to share with Mrs. Eifler when she got back.  The fifth and sixth graders shared their piano talent of the LadyBug Waltz.  The 7/8 electives prepared an in-class concert to perform individual selections for me on the day of my return.  The k/1/2 classes learned Jack the Rabbit and The Ants Go Marching One by One.  Finally, the third grade classes learned about the instrumental music positions that they will have the option of playing next year.

Mrs. Eifler came back to work the last two weeks of school.  Boy, did she miss her students.  Mrs. Eifler hopes everyone enjoys their summer and can't wait to see you in August!

Mrs. Gore's Class Performs at District General Music Festival

Mrs. Gore's class worked extremely hard all since November trying to perfect their performance of Tranquil Light.  After a premiere performance at the February flag ceremony, the students evaluated themselves and created goals for themselves to improve their performance.  After watching the entire performance at district festival, I would have to say these students definitely created the right goals and accomplished them!  Way to go class! Below is a small clip of their performance at the festival.

Musicals Galore

The Kinder, First and Second grade students at Herrera Elementary worked from January to March 2nd on transforming a book to a musical play for the stage.  They presented their work to parents March 2, 2011 at 5:30 P.M.  what an awesome job they did!  Below are a few video clips! Don't forget to purchase your own copy of the performance for $5.00.  Please see Mrs. Eifler or Ms. Angulo!

Herrera Third Graders Present A Night of Folk

Below are selections of folk songs from the third grade concert.  Do you know the titles?  Where did these songs come from?

Students in Grades 5-8 Perform at February Flag Assembly

Several of Mrs. Eifler's students performed at the February Flag Assembly.  Mrs. Gore's fifth and sixth grade class performed their district music festival piece Tranquil Light.  While learning this piece, the students created their own dances and auditioned for their current roles in the piece.  In the video, the fifth graders play the instrumental parts as the sixth graders sing and dance.  They will perform their piece again March 4, 2011 at UPSP for the District Music Festival.  Please contact Mrs. Eifler for more details. 

Three seventh and eighth grade students also performed in the ceremony from Mrs. Eifler's Private Instrumental Studies Class.  The students in this class have selected instruments that they wanted to play in lieu of their main instrument.  Some students have not played an instrument before and and are learning the keyboard.  Students in this class recieve private instruction once a week and work independently the rest of the week on their assigned goals.  At the flag ceremony, all students are playing new instruments with only a month of practice!  They did an OUTSTANDING job!

Herrera Third and Fourth Grades to Present a Night of Folk

The third and fourth grade students from Herrera Elementary School of the Arts have been learning about folk songs since the holiday break and invite you to their Night of Folk concert, February 9, 2011 at 5:30p.m.  We hope you enjoy hearing various selections from around the world. 

Kinder, First and Second Grades prepare for Music Literacy Night

Students from Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Diaz, Mr. Ortega, Mr. James, and Ms. Martinez classes will be performing a musical on March 2, 2011 at 5:30p.m. in the Herrera Performing Arts Center. Students selected two different books to transform from a fictional book into a live play with music, drama, and dance.  They are very excited for the public to come out and watch.  Hope to see you there!

Mid-Year Convocation

The fifth and sixth grade classes performed at Kid of Hope at mid-year convocation. They had a great time and sounded superb!

Upcoming Events in General Music

As Mrs. Eifler prepares for maternity leave, there will be a couple performances that will be your student's last performance for the year.  The list of dates and times are provided below, please note all performances except the 5/6 festival performance will take place in the Herrera Performing Arts Center.

Third and Fourth Grade - February 9, 2011 - 5:30p.m.

Third grade will be Mrs. Eifler's Recorder Classes

Fourth grade will be Mr. Mac's General Music Classes

K-2 - March 2, 2011 - 5:30 p.m.

Students in Mrs. Eifler's Generla Music Classes will engaged in a musical literacy unit. Your child will be singing, dancing, and playing instruments to a narrated story.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Music Fesitval - March 4, 2011

9:00-12:00pm

UPSP (7th St. and Fillmore)

Selected students will be invited to participate in the District General Music Festival.  Students from Mrs. Eifler's class will be singing, dancing, and playing instruments to Tranquil Light, Kid of Hope, and You're a Grand Old Flag.

Kinder First and Second Holiday Performance



The k-2 students of Herrera Elementary School celebrated the ending of the first semester of 2010-2011 celebrating the Holiday Season by singing, dancing, and playing instruments to various tunes of the season.  Please check out a portion of the show below.  Remember if you would like to see the entire show, we are selling DVD's for $5.00!

Herrera Instrumental Music Concert

Third Graders Perform with Band and Orchestra

Last Thursday, December 2, 2010 the third graders performed several holiday selections in the Performing Arts Center.  Once their class performed, students had the chance to listen to their peers in higher grade levels perform on instruments for band and orchestra!  Be sure to check out the performances of the third graders below.



Super Mario Brothers Theme

Below is a clip from the Jr. High Guitar class as they practice a run-through of their Super Mario Brothers music.  The students have been working on this about a month and a half now and I really reading tablature well. 



Patriotic Performance 2010

Fifth and Sixth Grade Students Perform a Patriotic Affair

The fifth and sixth grade students presented the colors of America and sang five Patriotic hymns for the public on November 11, 2010.  The event took place in the Performing Arts Center at Herrera Elementary School.  Students, family, veterans, and school staff gathered to honor and celebrate our country's service men and women as well as our freedom.  Students wrote their own poems and recited them as a way to give back to their veterans.



Third Graders Prepare for Holiday Performance

Herrera's third grade classes learn recorder in general music all year to prepare them for band next year.  Students have been complete staff identification charts and practicing away on the pitches of B,A,G,C, and D.  This year's students are playing several classical selections as well as a couple well-known holiday tunes.  Be sure the catch their concert on Tuesday, December 2, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.  We will be in the Performing Arts Center!





Kindergarten's First Performance

The kindergarten classes of Martinez and Sanchez had their debut performance at the opening night of the Performing Arts Center!  They were so excited to perform on a REAL stage with lights and a curtain and in front of their parents that they could hardly stand still.  The shock and excitement got to them once they got on stage, but their performance was still outstanding!  The video above is 2 rehearsals prior to the performance as we practiced like we were on a stage in the classroom.  Kinders you are amazing!



A Night of Patriotism



Wednesday, November 10, 2010 the Herrera Elementary School fifth and sixth grade students will take the stage and honor our local service men and women.  Please make plans to attend as the students have been working extremely hard on various patriotic hymns as well as writting their own patriotic poems.  This is their way to give back to the people that have gave them so much!  The show starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center.

Video to Come!

Kindergarten

The kinder classes have been working on different nursery rhymes since the begining of the year.  We decided to practice a performance run through in the classroom and video-tape the results.  We are in process of waiting for the disc to fill so please stay tuned! 

Junior High

Junior High Keyboard and Guitar

The piano students have been working diligently to learn enough fundamentals to practice a song selection of their choice.  Students work on fundamentals the first half of class and the second half, they begin their independent songs. Students are working on In the End by Lincoln Park, Airplanes by BOYB, The Super Mario Brothers Theme and Linus and Lucy from Charlie Brown.

The guitar class has been working on tablature reading with The Super Mario Brothers Theme.  We have also been learning about chords and the 12 bar blues form.  We hope to create our own lyrics with a 12 bar form for presentation. 



September and October Music Events

**Performing Arts Center Premiere**

The staff at Herrera Elementary School have been working hard to promote our new Performing Arts Center!  We are proud to announce the opening performance from many of our students and community members.  Please join us October 21, 2010 at 5:15p.m.  Students from Mrs. Eifler's fifth and sixth grade classes will be performing the Star Spangled Banner.  Students in Mrs. Eifler's kindergarten classes will be performing the Eenzy Weenzy Spider.

Fifth and Sixth Grade Upcoming Performance

The fifth and sixth grade general music and choir students will have a performance November 10, 2010 at 5:30p.m. in the Performing Arts Building at Herrera Elementary School. The performance is in recognition of Election Day and Veterans day.  Students will honor our veterans and people that serve in our communities and country through sharing their singing and instrument playing talents, as well as showcasing some of their compositions in the form of song and/or poetry. Please invite your friends and family as well as any current serving citizen or veteran that you know.

~Kinder, First, and Second Grade Performs~

On September 30, 2010 our first and second grade classes along with Ms. Pozo's kindergarten class at Herrera Elementary School took the stage for the first performance!  The
y took the audience through the days of the week.  Each song discussed something particular about that day of week in the scheme of life. Students from Mrs. Eifler's classes danced to certain songs and played a variety of musical instruments.  Mrs. Benson's dance class added songs from the months March and April in which they did special choreographed dances. 

Students that performed in this program were from the following classes: Mr. Ortega, Mrs. Diaz, Mrs. Esquivel, Mrs. Segovia, and Ms. Pozo.

Be sure to watch I like to Sing on the following video!