Sanford Pride Elementary School

August 2020 
Greetings Musicians,    I am SO excited to see you all! I hope you had a wonderful summer. For those who  haven’t met me yet, my name is Mrs. Mannino, and I am your music teacher at Willard  School. I am looking forward to making music together again with some familiar faces,  and also to meeting some new friends!    This school year will feel and look different than any other year we’ve had before.  There will be parts of music class this year that feel familiar from last year. Since we  want to stay healthy while making music, there are also parts of our class that have  changed a little. Here are some of the things you may notice…      Some of you will have Music class right away once school starts, and some of you will  have your other awesome specials classes first (like Phys. Ed., Art, or Health!) You will  have the same specials class each day for two weeks before switching to a new subject.    In Music class, we will still get to wiggle around and use our imaginations. You  will see spots marked on the floor for your personal space and safety. We will listen to  lots of music, move our bodies, and make up stories about the sounds we are hearing.      We will still play some musical instruments with our hands, such as maracas,  triangles, and drums. We will not be sharing instruments or trading with friends during  class. At the end of each class, I will collect your instruments and clean them myself before  they are played again.      To begin the school year, we will not be singing during Music. Even  with a face covering, singing spreads germs through the air much faster than  talking does. Don’t worry-- we’ll still be making plenty of music by learning new  rhythms and rhymes. We’ll even add movement and instruments to our work in  order to create masterpieces!      You will notice the use of more technology during Music class this year. This is a fun and  exciting way to explore music, and this will also get us prepared in case we have to do some  of our learning online.    I am hard at work getting our classroom ready for a fun and safe start to school.  Whatever this year’s journey may look like, I am looking forward to spending it alongside  my favorite musicians in the whole world (psst...that’s YOU!)    Be sure to wave “hello!” when you see me! I’ll be the lady wearing the music masks. I  can’t wait to be together once again!      See you soon,  Mrs. Mannino  mmannino@sanford.org