Sing it, Act it, Shake it!
6/26/15
Today was a bittersweet day for Mrs. Bakken and me. We've had an amazing time with your children and have come to really care about them. We will miss their smiling faces each morning, their inquisitive minds, and their boundless energy. We are, however, looking forward to a little summer vacation. :0)
This was a VERY different day for our kiddos. We started the day by going to Shakespeare's Kids performance. It was so wonderful!! Mrs. Bakken and I saw several former students. Seeing students continue with their acting is always fun for us.
We continued by filling out our program evaluations and taking down the scenery. There's just something about tearing paper off a wall that gets them excited. Then I got the wild and crazy idea that we should take that paper and have a "snowball" fight. Wow, was that something!
We had snack and then handed out posters and gave the kids some pictures from the performance. We took a little recess and came back into the air conditioned building to play the blanket game.
It has really been amazing to watch friendships grow between these kids. They were all so talented and really got into the research as well. Egypt was an amazing trip. We are thinking that next year we'll either be visiting the solar system or the rainforest. We'd love to have you join us for another adventure! :0)
Today was a bittersweet day for Mrs. Bakken and me. We've had an amazing time with your children and have come to really care about them. We will miss their smiling faces each morning, their inquisitive minds, and their boundless energy. We are, however, looking forward to a little summer vacation. :0)
This was a VERY different day for our kiddos. We started the day by going to Shakespeare's Kids performance. It was so wonderful!! Mrs. Bakken and I saw several former students. Seeing students continue with their acting is always fun for us.
We continued by filling out our program evaluations and taking down the scenery. There's just something about tearing paper off a wall that gets them excited. Then I got the wild and crazy idea that we should take that paper and have a "snowball" fight. Wow, was that something!
We had snack and then handed out posters and gave the kids some pictures from the performance. We took a little recess and came back into the air conditioned building to play the blanket game.
It has really been amazing to watch friendships grow between these kids. They were all so talented and really got into the research as well. Egypt was an amazing trip. We are thinking that next year we'll either be visiting the solar system or the rainforest. We'd love to have you join us for another adventure! :0)
6/24/15
Yesterday we did two dress rehearsals of the show. Let's just say the first one was a little rough, but that second practice gave us hope.
We re-choreographed one song fifteen minutes before our first performance today. To say that we were a little nervous this morning was an understatement, but you should have seen the wide grins and felt the pride that these two teachers felt during our first official performance. They were AMAZING!!!!!
As shocking as it may sound, we will be performing for you tomorrow evening at Open House. Did the last eight days just fly by? Yes, yes they did!! Even though it feels like we just blinked, during the past eight days your child has transformed himself/herself into a character from "Hatshepsut, Queen of Denial." Today's performances were fantastic! You are in for a treat. :0)
Just a reminder to have your child to the North Branch Middle School by 5:15 p.m. tomorrow evening, so they can take a bathroom break, get their costumes on, and find their places on stage. The show will start right at 5:30 p.m. in room 701/ 702. Just follow the signs.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Yesterday we did two dress rehearsals of the show. Let's just say the first one was a little rough, but that second practice gave us hope.
We re-choreographed one song fifteen minutes before our first performance today. To say that we were a little nervous this morning was an understatement, but you should have seen the wide grins and felt the pride that these two teachers felt during our first official performance. They were AMAZING!!!!!
As shocking as it may sound, we will be performing for you tomorrow evening at Open House. Did the last eight days just fly by? Yes, yes they did!! Even though it feels like we just blinked, during the past eight days your child has transformed himself/herself into a character from "Hatshepsut, Queen of Denial." Today's performances were fantastic! You are in for a treat. :0)
Just a reminder to have your child to the North Branch Middle School by 5:15 p.m. tomorrow evening, so they can take a bathroom break, get their costumes on, and find their places on stage. The show will start right at 5:30 p.m. in room 701/ 702. Just follow the signs.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
6/22/15
Happy Monday to all! There was no resting for this group today. Time is ticking, and these kiddos used every single moment. The also saw us get a little stern. Today and tomorrow are our last chances to polish up the show before we perform for others. Everyone was tasked with practicing their speaking parts and the songs. We are always in the back ready to feed someone a line, but with a little practice they won't need to two of us.
Things ARE coming together. We did two run throughs of the musical today and learned the choreography for the last two songs. Our final run through was in full costume for some. We are waiting on a few costume items, please have them to school tomorrow.
The plan for tomorrow will include making a couple of our songs sparkle just a bit more and doing two full run throughs in costume. We do have a few kiddos who have costume changes, so we'd like to iron those out. This is an amazing group of kiddos. We have no doubt they are going to have great performances, and hopefully have an amazing time doing them. :0)
Thank you to Bailey and Derrian for stepping up and filling in a couple of roles at the last minute.
Happy Monday to all! There was no resting for this group today. Time is ticking, and these kiddos used every single moment. The also saw us get a little stern. Today and tomorrow are our last chances to polish up the show before we perform for others. Everyone was tasked with practicing their speaking parts and the songs. We are always in the back ready to feed someone a line, but with a little practice they won't need to two of us.
Things ARE coming together. We did two run throughs of the musical today and learned the choreography for the last two songs. Our final run through was in full costume for some. We are waiting on a few costume items, please have them to school tomorrow.
The plan for tomorrow will include making a couple of our songs sparkle just a bit more and doing two full run throughs in costume. We do have a few kiddos who have costume changes, so we'd like to iron those out. This is an amazing group of kiddos. We have no doubt they are going to have great performances, and hopefully have an amazing time doing them. :0)
Thank you to Bailey and Derrian for stepping up and filling in a couple of roles at the last minute.
6/19/15
Happy Friday to all! We've been working fast and furious today in class. We did a warm up and started a run through of the musical. Those risers sure are awesome! We learned choreography for at least three songs and completed the full run through. Costumes were being constructed and posters were being worked on.
It's just so hard to believe that we have only TWO DAYS to finish things up and be sure that we are prepared to perform for other SEEK classes. Please have your child work on memorizing their parts this weekend. We're getting there. :0) Contact us if you have any questions or need help with costume items. You can email us at: [email protected].
Enjoy your WEEKEND!!!
Happy Friday to all! We've been working fast and furious today in class. We did a warm up and started a run through of the musical. Those risers sure are awesome! We learned choreography for at least three songs and completed the full run through. Costumes were being constructed and posters were being worked on.
It's just so hard to believe that we have only TWO DAYS to finish things up and be sure that we are prepared to perform for other SEEK classes. Please have your child work on memorizing their parts this weekend. We're getting there. :0) Contact us if you have any questions or need help with costume items. You can email us at: [email protected].
Enjoy your WEEKEND!!!
6/18/15
WHAT A DAY!!! We started our day by doing some scenery planning. The class was divided into five groups. Each group was responsible for one part of the musical scenery. We were AMAZED by their creativity. Some students even gave up their snack break to continue painting. That's some serious dedication!
We quickly cleaned up our painting mess just as the risers made their appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bakken and Ms. Hitchcock made an early trip to load the risers this morning, and Mr. Bakken drove them to North Branch later in the morning to deliver them. SO AWESOME!!!
We worked on learning the choreography for "We Found a Mummy" and "Hatshepsut." During the morning, Mrs. Bakken was hard at work sewing costumes and trying them on the kids. She's one talented lady!! We had a wonderful lunch feast and returned to the classroom where we did a total run through of the show. We blocked it all!! Today was also our first day with NO scripts. They were so impressive.
These kiddos worked SO HARD today. Some of that work was fun, but it takes a lot of focus. As a reward, we did take about ten minutes on the playground before loading the bus. Check out the photos of our day above.
WHAT A DAY!!! We started our day by doing some scenery planning. The class was divided into five groups. Each group was responsible for one part of the musical scenery. We were AMAZED by their creativity. Some students even gave up their snack break to continue painting. That's some serious dedication!
We quickly cleaned up our painting mess just as the risers made their appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bakken and Ms. Hitchcock made an early trip to load the risers this morning, and Mr. Bakken drove them to North Branch later in the morning to deliver them. SO AWESOME!!!
We worked on learning the choreography for "We Found a Mummy" and "Hatshepsut." During the morning, Mrs. Bakken was hard at work sewing costumes and trying them on the kids. She's one talented lady!! We had a wonderful lunch feast and returned to the classroom where we did a total run through of the show. We blocked it all!! Today was also our first day with NO scripts. They were so impressive.
These kiddos worked SO HARD today. Some of that work was fun, but it takes a lot of focus. As a reward, we did take about ten minutes on the playground before loading the bus. Check out the photos of our day above.
6/17/15
It was a crazy, busy, wonderful day in the SAS classroom! We did an old school warm-up, learned choreography for "Nice Little Flood," and blocked movement for the first third of the musical. All this happened before snack break! WOW! These kids are worker bees. :0)
After snack, we discussed plans for tomorrow's lunch. Yes, we even talked about what veggies I should pick up for them. Work resumed on Egypt posters. Some kiddos finished (see photos above) and started a new topic, and others are still working on those finishing touches. Our amazing SEEK intern assisted in the computer lab, so Mrs. Bakken, Mrs. Higley, and I could hang paper for our scenery on the wall. It is all up and looks GREAT! As we were tidying up, and the kids were putting their posters away, the above video randomly took place. This was not directed by Mrs. Bakken or me. They are GREAT kids!
We choreographed "Nothing Says I Love You" and had time for a few rounds of the blanket game before the lights went out. It certainly made the end of the day a little more exciting. :0)
Tomorrow is EXTENDED DAY!!!! Painting of scenery will take place in the morning along with blocking the rest of the musical and choreography for a couple more songs. Please be sure your child is wearing paint clothes. This is always such a fun and FAST day! Let us know if you have any questions.
It was a crazy, busy, wonderful day in the SAS classroom! We did an old school warm-up, learned choreography for "Nice Little Flood," and blocked movement for the first third of the musical. All this happened before snack break! WOW! These kids are worker bees. :0)
After snack, we discussed plans for tomorrow's lunch. Yes, we even talked about what veggies I should pick up for them. Work resumed on Egypt posters. Some kiddos finished (see photos above) and started a new topic, and others are still working on those finishing touches. Our amazing SEEK intern assisted in the computer lab, so Mrs. Bakken, Mrs. Higley, and I could hang paper for our scenery on the wall. It is all up and looks GREAT! As we were tidying up, and the kids were putting their posters away, the above video randomly took place. This was not directed by Mrs. Bakken or me. They are GREAT kids!
We choreographed "Nothing Says I Love You" and had time for a few rounds of the blanket game before the lights went out. It certainly made the end of the day a little more exciting. :0)
Tomorrow is EXTENDED DAY!!!! Painting of scenery will take place in the morning along with blocking the rest of the musical and choreography for a couple more songs. Please be sure your child is wearing paint clothes. This is always such a fun and FAST day! Let us know if you have any questions.
6/16/15
It was another whirlwind day in Sing it, Act it, Shake it! We started out with a new school warm-up from the GoNoodle website. Their Indoor Recess section has some yoga, dancing, exercise, and just plain silliness all wrapped up into a great session. Most of the kids really enjoyed it.
We did today's first read through using the end of the CD where there are no vocals with the music. It went so well! We did assign students who had only one part to sing for another part as well. Our focus today was to speak loud and slow. Everyone is improving.
As you can see from the pictures above, we had a great time at snack. I thought you would enjoy some close-ups of your awesome kiddos.
After snack we did a read/sing through without stopping. They also stood to speak and sing their parts. This will lead us into blocking tomorrow. We are just so proud of all their hard work thus far. Many students had portions of their parts totally memorized today!!
We moved on to the discussion of costumes and props. This always brings up the, "I think I have that at home." comments. Our pat answer is that they should bring it to class and let us decide if it is something that will work for them or someone else. We will label and return anything that you loan to us. See below for costume needs. I did email this out as well.
At the end of class, we had a little time to work on Egypt posters. The time truly flies!!
Just an FYI, Thursday kids will be in North Branch from 8:30-2:30. They will board the busses at 2:30 p.m.
Costume Needs:
We are doing a lot of the costuming here at SEEK, but each child will need something from home. If you are not sure of your child’s part, please ask them. See below:
Archeologists- light, solid colored pants (white, tan or gray) or shorts and at white t-shirt
Hatshepsut- white leggings
Applebee- Student intern clothing… maybe a skirt and t-shirt
Professor Farouk- Professor clothing
Grumpy Egyptians- Jack- solid black shorts and black t-shirt, Bene’- We have a dress for her.
Hathor-Black t-shirt and black shirt
Pakhut- head peace and hair as discussed (we have a gown for her)
Amun- Bringing in Viking clothing for us to check out
Fred and Freida- Tourist clothing, hat/visor, sunglasses, camera (We have one)
Farmer and Farmer’s wife- Bib overalls, t-shirt, cowboy hat
Expedition Leader and Workers- Tan shorts, capri pants, or pants and a white t-shirt
Egyptian Nobles- White t-shirt, light colored leggings or shorts
Senenmut- Black skirt and black t-shirt
Peasant Husband- pants or jeans
Peasant Wife- T-shirt (white, brown or black)
Royal Servant Women- white t-shirt and light colored leggings or shorts
Tuthmosis III- Black t-shirt and black skirt
***We also need pith helmets or light colored fishing hats, small hammers and chisels, and cowboy hats.
Please let us know if you have any questions! :0) Please have costumes here by next Tuesday. The sooner, the better, we always say. :0)
It was another whirlwind day in Sing it, Act it, Shake it! We started out with a new school warm-up from the GoNoodle website. Their Indoor Recess section has some yoga, dancing, exercise, and just plain silliness all wrapped up into a great session. Most of the kids really enjoyed it.
We did today's first read through using the end of the CD where there are no vocals with the music. It went so well! We did assign students who had only one part to sing for another part as well. Our focus today was to speak loud and slow. Everyone is improving.
As you can see from the pictures above, we had a great time at snack. I thought you would enjoy some close-ups of your awesome kiddos.
After snack we did a read/sing through without stopping. They also stood to speak and sing their parts. This will lead us into blocking tomorrow. We are just so proud of all their hard work thus far. Many students had portions of their parts totally memorized today!!
We moved on to the discussion of costumes and props. This always brings up the, "I think I have that at home." comments. Our pat answer is that they should bring it to class and let us decide if it is something that will work for them or someone else. We will label and return anything that you loan to us. See below for costume needs. I did email this out as well.
At the end of class, we had a little time to work on Egypt posters. The time truly flies!!
Just an FYI, Thursday kids will be in North Branch from 8:30-2:30. They will board the busses at 2:30 p.m.
Costume Needs:
We are doing a lot of the costuming here at SEEK, but each child will need something from home. If you are not sure of your child’s part, please ask them. See below:
Archeologists- light, solid colored pants (white, tan or gray) or shorts and at white t-shirt
Hatshepsut- white leggings
Applebee- Student intern clothing… maybe a skirt and t-shirt
Professor Farouk- Professor clothing
Grumpy Egyptians- Jack- solid black shorts and black t-shirt, Bene’- We have a dress for her.
Hathor-Black t-shirt and black shirt
Pakhut- head peace and hair as discussed (we have a gown for her)
Amun- Bringing in Viking clothing for us to check out
Fred and Freida- Tourist clothing, hat/visor, sunglasses, camera (We have one)
Farmer and Farmer’s wife- Bib overalls, t-shirt, cowboy hat
Expedition Leader and Workers- Tan shorts, capri pants, or pants and a white t-shirt
Egyptian Nobles- White t-shirt, light colored leggings or shorts
Senenmut- Black skirt and black t-shirt
Peasant Husband- pants or jeans
Peasant Wife- T-shirt (white, brown or black)
Royal Servant Women- white t-shirt and light colored leggings or shorts
Tuthmosis III- Black t-shirt and black skirt
***We also need pith helmets or light colored fishing hats, small hammers and chisels, and cowboy hats.
Please let us know if you have any questions! :0) Please have costumes here by next Tuesday. The sooner, the better, we always say. :0)
6/15/15
What an amazing Monday! After warming up, we jumped right into a full read and sing through of the musical. I can tell that many kiddos spent time memorizing parts this weekend. YAY!!! Please continue to do this. Our last day with scripts will be this Wednesday. The big emphasis today was speaking slow enough for people to understand your lines. :0)
After our run-through, we took some time to discuss what we learned about Ancient Egypt on Friday. It was fun to hear what they remembered over the weekend. Have we told you lately how much we adore your children? It is so true! This is an amazing group.
Today we were in charge of cleaning the snack area, so after that task we returned to the computer lab. The class was divided into small groups where they were to become the experts on one area of Egyptian culture. The Nile River, mummies, obelisks, pyramids, Hatshepsut, and hieroglyphics were just some of the topics. Each group started a poster that they will then present to the class later this week.
Tomorrow we will be discussing costumes. There are some costumes that we will be creating, but we'll need help with others. We will post a list on this site and will email it also. Please let us know if you can help out with any costumes or props.
Our extended day is this Thursday. SEEK will run from 8:00 a.m. -2:30p.m. (these are the hours they will be at SEEK with us). Painting scenery is on the agenda for this day. Please have your child wear clothing that can get dirty. Sometimes paint drips on pants and shirts even when we are being careful. The plan is to continue working on choreography for the songs and blocking movement on our "stage" as well. We ask that you send $6 to help cover the cost of lunch. Pizza, beverages, veggies, and dessert will all be provided.
What an amazing Monday! After warming up, we jumped right into a full read and sing through of the musical. I can tell that many kiddos spent time memorizing parts this weekend. YAY!!! Please continue to do this. Our last day with scripts will be this Wednesday. The big emphasis today was speaking slow enough for people to understand your lines. :0)
After our run-through, we took some time to discuss what we learned about Ancient Egypt on Friday. It was fun to hear what they remembered over the weekend. Have we told you lately how much we adore your children? It is so true! This is an amazing group.
Today we were in charge of cleaning the snack area, so after that task we returned to the computer lab. The class was divided into small groups where they were to become the experts on one area of Egyptian culture. The Nile River, mummies, obelisks, pyramids, Hatshepsut, and hieroglyphics were just some of the topics. Each group started a poster that they will then present to the class later this week.
Tomorrow we will be discussing costumes. There are some costumes that we will be creating, but we'll need help with others. We will post a list on this site and will email it also. Please let us know if you can help out with any costumes or props.
Our extended day is this Thursday. SEEK will run from 8:00 a.m. -2:30p.m. (these are the hours they will be at SEEK with us). Painting scenery is on the agenda for this day. Please have your child wear clothing that can get dirty. Sometimes paint drips on pants and shirts even when we are being careful. The plan is to continue working on choreography for the songs and blocking movement on our "stage" as well. We ask that you send $6 to help cover the cost of lunch. Pizza, beverages, veggies, and dessert will all be provided.
6/13/15
Day two consisted of an "old school" warm up with stretching, movement and some crazy dance moves. Some days we will warm up "new school" with some GoNoodle movement. We then read through our newly assigned parts. After that we sang the songs with the kids choosing their favorites. Snack break followed.
The second half of the morning was just as busy. We started in the computer lab researching Ancient Egypt. The kids learned what the "black land" and "red land" were, where the three largest pyramids were located, why Egyptians were mummified, and many more facts. You can check out the web quest at: https://bruinhistorywebquests.wikispaces.com/Ancient+Egypt+Webquest
When we finished our web quest, we returned to our classroom to read through the script once more and play the blanket game. This is a great way for the kids to test how well they know each other's names and just plain have some fun.
Enjoy your weekend and work on memorizing those parts!
Day two consisted of an "old school" warm up with stretching, movement and some crazy dance moves. Some days we will warm up "new school" with some GoNoodle movement. We then read through our newly assigned parts. After that we sang the songs with the kids choosing their favorites. Snack break followed.
The second half of the morning was just as busy. We started in the computer lab researching Ancient Egypt. The kids learned what the "black land" and "red land" were, where the three largest pyramids were located, why Egyptians were mummified, and many more facts. You can check out the web quest at: https://bruinhistorywebquests.wikispaces.com/Ancient+Egypt+Webquest
When we finished our web quest, we returned to our classroom to read through the script once more and play the blanket game. This is a great way for the kids to test how well they know each other's names and just plain have some fun.
Enjoy your weekend and work on memorizing those parts!
6/11/15
Day one of Sing it, Act it, Shake it is in the books, and the teachers are exhausted!! :0) We are also very excited to have amazingly talented students in our class. These actors and actresses made it so difficult to decide on parts. Add to that the fact that there were only 15 minutes to finalize part assignments at the end of class, and I have no idea what I told the kids before they ran out to catch the bus.
Today we did a warm-up activity called Pop-See-Ko. It also helped us get to know each other's names. We ran through the script and sang some of the songs. During this time the kids also signed up for parts they were interested in. We took a quick snack break and returned to the room for try-outs. As I said before, we were blown away by these performers!!
Tomorrow we are going to read through our script a couple of times with our parts. We are also going to spend time researching Ancient Egypt. We told the kids today that this is one of the hardest classes at SEEK as we use every minute we have.
We are sorry to say that there are no photos of kids today. There is one of the classroom before they arrived. We promise that will change tomorrow. We will leave you with a couple photos of Hatshepsut's mummy. Yes, she really was a real pharaoh!
Mrs. Bakken and Ms. Hitchcock are so excited to begin exploring the world of Ancient Egypt and learning all about Hatshepsut with you. We hope that you are excited too! This is Mrs. Bakken's third year with Sing it, Act it, Shake it, and Ms. Hitchcock can't quite remember how many years she's been teaching this class. It has been a long time! She must really love singing, acting and shaking. :0)
Tomorrow is our first day and our auditions. It is always busy and fun! Get some good rest, so you are ready for all we have in store for you. |