Music is an enjoyable component that fits the needs of our diverse community here at Cooke Elementary School.  Students will learn the foundations of music; rhythm, melody, expression, and form.

 

Here at Cooke we strive to integrate our music curriculum with the academic curriculum to foster an encompassing appreciation for how we can connect to those living in different times, places and cultures through the universal language of music. 

 

Our students have learned about various different styles of music and music cultures from around the world.  At Cooke we strive to take the learning outside the classroom walls and engage students through guest artists and field trips.   Each year we bring groups in to perform for our students as well as taking students to see orchestras and other small ensembles perform. 

 

Students also make connections between their music work and the work they are doing in other academic courses, such as our third, fourth and fifth graders discovering how music and math are connected by looking at the fraction relationships between rhythmic note values.

 

One of the highlights of Cooke’s music curriculum is our desire to see instruments in the hands of our students.  With Orff (xylophones), recorders, keyboards, and this year our trial string program, which we hope will become a more permanent part of our classroom next year, students have a chance to put the skills they learn into practice in very practical ways as we create ensembles within each class.  During class, with music teacher Jennifer Irvin, each student receives weekly instruction in both choral and instrumental techniques.

 

Each school year, the music department will host and highlight students of all ages performing at assemblies, concerts and other school events.