Peters
Township
School District

header address info
424 Bower Hill Road Venetia, PA 15367		Phone: 724.941.6251 Fax: 724.941.0918

3rd Grade Performance

Rockin' the Red, White and Blue

Bower Hill third grade students worked very diligently in many different areas of the school to prepare for their performance this year. Performances at Bower Hill are truly a collaborative event, showcasing learning that has occurred not only in the music room, but also in the art room, regular classroom, and in enrichment classes.

Below are videos created combining poetry and music created by third grade students in their regular classroom and the music room with artwork created in the art room. If you click on "playlist" you can select a specific classroom to listen to!

Song writing

The president songs in the performance got their start in the third grade homerooms with the third grade teachers. Each class wrote 4 pairs of couplets to describe their president. The poetry was brought to the music room where it was combined with a refrain that unifies all the different presidents into one song. Each song was performed and recorded in ABA form, where the A section that the song begins and ends with is the sung refrain. The B section is students reciting the couplets that were composed for their president. It is spoken in a recitative style, with kids speaking over a simple ostinato pattern played on Orff instruments.

Third grade students make much progress in reading music notation in third grade. This development occurs through the use of recorders and Orff instruments. Learning how to play the Presidential refrain for these songs was a collaborative, notation reading process. Students were given the challenge of decoding the song as viewed from the smartboard in the music room. What they looked at is duplicated below. See if you can figure out what they were playing and then click play to watch the notation go by as it is played!

Presidential Poetry

Each of the eight third grade classrooms wrote four pairs of couplets about a different president. This is what became the "B" section as they performed their Presidential Song.

Mrs. Sacco - President John Adams
The Declaration of Independence John Adams did sign
He was alive as long as ten times nine.

He was the first vice and the 2nd president
In the White House he was a resident.

John Adams died on the 4th of July
Thomas Jefferson also did die.

The 6th President his son became
And John Quincy Adams was his name.

Dr. Hobbs - President Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln lived in a cabin in his early life
It was filled with challenge and sometimes strife

He was a lawyer and a Congressman, too
And kept the nation together when it was all through.

Abe was the President during the Civil War
He freed the slaves and so much more

He was known as the Great Emancipator
And will stay in our hearts both now and later

Mrs. Hanig-Jones - President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was our loyal, thoughtful 35th President.
He asked many tough questions of all United States residents.

“Who should win the race to the moon?”
The answer was the United States and none too soon.

JFK challenged us all, “Ask not what your country can do for you,
Ask what you can do for your country” …and that’s still true.

He served this great country in the House, and Senate and US Navy.
The world was sad and mourned his death on November 22, 1963.

Mr. Killen - President Barack Obama
This president graduated from the Harvard School of law
He worked as an attorney, but a career in politics is what he saw

In 1996 he was elected to the State Senate of Illinois
Then became a U.S. Senator and felt great joy

He ran for president on November 4, 2008
Becoming the first African American President on this date

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the USA
The Whitehouse is where he lives today

Mrs. Willkomm - President George Washington
George’s dad died when he was just 11 years old,
His brother Lawrence taught him to be strong and bold.

He led the colonists’ army for over six years,
Finally beating the British and shedding some tears.

He wore dentures of ivory and was very tall,
The cherry tree story is not true at all.

Throughout George’s presidency, it was perfection,
Until it ended with a bad throat infection.

Ms. Pantanella - President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson grew up on a southern farm.
As a young man, he became a lawyer to protect many from harm.

Monticello was the home he designed by hand,
It was there he went to think about our beautiful land.

During our Revolution he was meant for great things,
He wrote the Declaration of Independence so we’d have no more kings!

His last service to our country was being president number three,
Without his help we would not be free!

Ms. Brown - President Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt was number thirty-two
He came up with a deal that was new

President during the Great Depression
To America he made a big impression

Polio made him unable to walk
But on the radio he had a talk

FDR served for twelve years
We remember him with lots of cheers

Ms. Panza - President Dwight Eisenhower
“I like Ike” many people would say
34th President of the US of A

A republican born in the Lone Star State
Thought Serving my nation would be great

Was a leading official during D-Day
As the American soldiers cleared the way

Lived in the White House from 1953-1961
John was my one and only son

Peters
Township
School District

Bower Hill Elementary

Address Info
424 Bower Hill Road Venetia, PA 15367		Phone: 724.941.6251 Fax: 724.941.0918

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