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hour a week in the music room
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fun during class
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folksongs and dances learned each year
MS. BANNASCH
Email: jbannasch@monfortonschool.org
Hello! My name is Jessica Bannasch and I’m delighted to be teaching K-4 general music at Monforton School!
I grew up in Plano, Texas where I studied piano and oboe and played in my high school drumline (keyboards and drum major). I received my Bachelors in Oboe Performance and Music Education from the University of Michigan. During that time, I performed in several local orchestras and both Carnegie and Walt Disney Concert Halls. I taught private lessons and elementary general music in Flushing, Michigan and Atlanta, Georgia before my husband (a bassoonist) joined the Army and took us around the world. While overseas, I taught early childhood music at a local German music studio. I received my Masters in Music Education from Boston University and also hold a Elementary General Music Level One Mastership from the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. I have presented at music conferences in both Michigan and Georgia and look forward to networking with a new group of educators here in Montana.
When not in the classroom sharing the joy of music with my students, I like to travel, exercise, cook delicious food, and find new places to explore with my husband, sons, and Labrador retriever named Melody!
WAYS YOU CAN HELP MONFORTON MUSIC
- Continue to be an avid supporter of your child in any musical endeavor they wish to try
- Donate to Miss Feige’s DonorsChoose projects so that we can get our students more instruments and music making experiences!
- Keep up-to-date on new classroom information (alongside see really cool links to musical performances, information on music education, etc) on the Monforton Music Facebook Page or on our Instagram @monfortonmusic
THE VALUE OF MUSIC EDUCATION
Parents, even though your son/daughter may not be a child pop star, perhaps their singing isn’t always perfect and they struggle patting along to the beat, know that these are learned behaviors. I have had students struggle matching pitch with the entire class up until their 3rd and 4th grade year. Music education is all about process, not product. If you want to know what you can do to support them at home, please ask! I am always available by email and always delighted to help you bring music into your home and your lives!
KINDERGARTEN MUSIC
Kindergarten music is a time for students to start developing their very basic musical skills. Every class, we work on developing a sense of steady beat, finding the steady beat, and creating a steady beat. We spend time singing together and matching pitch, as well as exploring our own voices and figuring out how to get them to make the sounds and pitches we want. We sing as a class, but we also sing by ourselves. We play games and learn folk songs and nursery rhymes that have been passed down through generations. We start to play instruments and get to start describing how sounds are similar and different. By the very end of the Kindergarten school year, we start laying the foundation for reading notation, which we begin to explore in 1st grade.
1st GRADE MUSIC
1st Graders continue to develop and build upon the foundation laid in Kindergarten with a more developed rhythmic and melodic understanding. They also add to their repertoire of folk and traditional songs. 1st graders also get introduced to a variety of pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments. See below for the nitty gritty.
Melodic Elements
Rhythmic Elements
Folk Songs
Vocabulary Words
2nd GRADE MUSIC
2nd Graders start to blend together all of the separate elements they have learned in Kindergarten and 1st grade while still adding to their musical knowledge and vocabulary.
Melodic Elements
Rhythmic Elements
Folk Songs
Vocabulary Words
3rd GRADE MUSIC
Melodic Elements
Rhythmic Elements
Folk Songs
Vocabulary Words
4th GRADE MUSIC
Melodic Elements
Rhythmic Elements
Folk Songs
Vocabulary Words