Welcome to Music with Mrs. Cotler!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mrs. Cotler
rebecca.cotler@sau57.org
About Mrs. Cotler...
My name is Miss Pacuk and I am your child's music teacher! This is my sixth year in the Salem School District and I teach at both Lancaster Elementary and Soule Elementary School. I believe that music is something that can and should be a part of every child's life and work to give my student's the tools to experience it to the fullest.
What are we up to?
Kindergarten and First Grade: In kindergarten and first grade music we are learning about dynamics which is our musical word for volume. We have learned that the musical word for loud is forte and the musical word for soft is piano. We are working to identify, respond to, and create music at different speeds using these words!
Second Grade: In second grade music we are also learning about dynamics which is our musical word speed. We are building on our knowledge of forte and piano, and learning about new tempos like fortissimo, which means super loud, and pianissimo which means really soft. We are working to identify, respond to, and create music at different speeds using these words!
Third Grade: In third grade we are learning about the instruments of the orchestra. We have four major families of instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. We are learning how to identify instruments by their sound and appearance within these families.
Fourth Grade: In fourth grade we are learning how to read melodies on the musical staff. We have been practicing how to identify, sing, and play them on different instruments- including the recorder!
Fifth Grade: In fifth grade we have spent a lot of time learning about chords, or groups of three or four notes played together to make the accompaniment to music. Students have learned about the different types of chords used in most pop songs such as the tonic, dominant, subdominant, and submediant. Now we are learning how to play these chords on instruments and use them as the background of a song!