Fourth graders are learning about the composer Leroy Anderson, who composed light orchestra pieces such as “The Syncopated Clock” (which we learned about in 2nd grade) and “Sleigh Ride!” Leroy Anderson grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and many of his songs are still played by The Boston Pops today. We watched a video of John Williams conducting the Boston Pops playing “Sleigh Ride” and talked about all the instruments we saw and heard. Then we sang the song! Fourth graders will be singing “Sleigh Ride” at our school sing-along assembly in a few weeks, so it was good to start practicing now. After singing the song, fourth graders learned a special rhythm, which we then translated to cups. We began learning the rhythm on cups. We will be playing this special rhythm ALONG with “Sleigh Ride” next week! Here is the routine we will be doing:
The West Elementary Music Blog! 