Monday, January 23, 2017

Did You Know?- Jellyfish

Did you know that a group of jellyfish is called a smack??? AND, did you know that jellyfish actually aren't even fish. They have no brain, no heart, and no bones!!! Wow! Interesting!!!


 

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Did You Know? Australian Worms

In parts of Australia there are worms that grow on the average of 4 feet in length and can weigh up to 1 pound.  What in the world?  Even more exciting, if they live long enough, these worms have to potential to grow up to TEN feet long!  WOW!!!

Read more about worms below:



Singing Without Instruments- A Capella

Today in our Book of Knowledge we read about singing without instruments. We learned some pretty awesome stuff!

 Here is the article from ReadWorks that we read:

Have you ever heard a chorus sing without instruments playing in the background? If so, then you have heard a cappella music. 

A cappella music is music that is sung without any background music. The words “a cappella” mean “in the church style” in Italian. That’s because a cappella music was sung in churches hundreds of years ago. Choruses still sometimes sing a cappella in churches today. But today, this kind of music is sung in many places. And it is sung in many ways. 

One kind of a cappella music people sing today is called barbershop. This is often sung by a group of four people. This group is called a quartet. Each person in the group sings a different part. One person sings the main tune of the song. The others sing different tunes that go well with the main tune. The four parts come together. They form beautiful harmonies! 

When people listen to barbershop, they can tell that there are no instruments. But with some styles of a cappella, it can be harder to tell! Some a cappella groups today try to sound like instruments. They often have someone singing the words to the song. The rest of the group may try to sound like guitars, pianos, or even trumpets. These groups may even have someone who makes drum noises. And they do all this with just their voices!

We also had a chance to listen to some music from an a capella group and a barbershop quartet.  Here are the videos so that you can enjoy them from home.  Have fun listening!!!




Here is a sample of a barbershop quartet.  Enjoy!!!