A Note from the Site Director |
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Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Campers with smiles and still no bee stings
These are a few of my favorite things
Campers are rockin and rollin! The sun is out, the A/C is on, the pianos are tuned, and the markers are marking! The campers are learning fast! They’ve done name games, new songs, dance moves, sports & games, and so much more. They are absorbing so much information and having a blast. It is great to see after spending so much time in school, not in school, and in limbo with the last few years of pandemic. It’s nice to see kids interacting, learning in the arts, having fun, and just enjoying being alive.
The new group of TAs are absolutely hilarious and wonderfully talented. It’s been great to watch them connect with campers so intuitively and easily. Today the Apprentices decided to dress up as movie characters and they look amazing.
The teachers are magicians! Many of them have carried over from session 1 and I don’t know how they just turned on the energy again after finishing the first session. But they do it. They are dedicated because every camper deserves their own week 1, week 2, and week 3 experience. It’s a special group of people and I have been blessed to work with them.
Jonathan Hamilton
Site Director
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Notes from the Camp Director |
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Dear Camp Families,
Welcome to our first newsletter of Camp Levine Session 2 2022. We are so excited to be reunited with returning friends and making new ones! Campers are already filling the halls with artwork and songs inspired by Music from the Movies. I am grateful to our fantastic teachers, staff, apprentices, campers and parents for helping us Rock the Red Carpet this first week of camp.
It’s a pleasure to have you join us, and I hope every camper has already discovered new musical and artistic interests and talents. We are looking forward to continuing our musical adventure next week. Have a safe and relaxing weekend!
Happy Friday,
Mary Cat Gill
Director of Camp Levine
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Here are a few reminders to help continue our adventure down the red carpet:
Instruments: Campers in rising 3rd grade and up bring their focus instruments to and from camp daily. Feel free to encourage your camper to practice and show you what they’ve learned!
Lunches/Backpacks: Your child should only be bringing their lunch, snack, mask, and water bottle to camp. Space is at a premium, so it is tough to accommodate backpacks, particularly with older campers are traveling with instrument cases.
Late drop off: If you arrive after 9:45am, please walk your child to the camp office so we can sign them in and escort them to their class. It is the best way for us to keep every child accounted for.
Absences/Early Pick-Up: If you are running late to drop-off, need to pick up early, or if your child will be absent, please e-mail camp.va@levinemusic.org. Notice enables us to have every camper accounted for.
The Parent Portal may look a little bare for session 2, but it will continue to be updated as camp progresses. Please take some time to explore and learn more about your child’s upcoming musical adventure! This includes the parent handbook, car line maps, teacher bios, contact info, health form links, camp photos, and more. The portal will be regularly updated during the camp session.
Password: camplevine2022!
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This week in the Emmys was so fun and exciting! We had arts and crafts time where we played with Play-Doh, made a paper chain, made Hollywood style name signs, and painted & decorated toy microphones. We sang songs and played shakers. We also had visiting musicians who introduced various musical instruments to the kids, from a flute to a piano. Outside we played many games, including duck duck goose, red light green light, Simon says and even a parachute.
Ms. Mary, Mason, Alberto, and Frieda
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Our usual day consists of Music+, Sports & Games, Art, Sampler, Drama, and Dance. We play games in each class that correspond with the class we are in. With Mr. Jonathan in Music+, we play with xylophones, and we also have Vocal & Choral where we learn songs. In Sports & Games with Mr. Paul, we play games like Four Corners, Streets & Allies, and many more fun games. After that, we have Art class with Ms. Megan, and each day we do themed projects. The past couple of days we’ve created our own muppets, drew a circus show, and painted a boat with water colors. In sampler, the kids are sent to different classrooms in groups to learn about a new instrument each day. In Drama we play games like poison frog and introduction games. The Grammys end the day with Dance instructed by Ms. Maddi. We are currently learning a surprise dance and everyone is having so much fun! |
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The Oscars have enjoyed learning Step in time with xylophones in Music +. They also started learning songs and dances for their final performance. Games and Drama are two of their favorite classes, which they always look forward to. In art, they enjoy crafts such as designing circuses, making paper plate Muppets, and painting pirate ships. |
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In the Tony’s we worked on the basics in the various focus instruments. In art we made muppets out of paper plates, silhouette scenes of circus acts, and worked with water color to make pirate ships paintings. In music plus we learned the parts to The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and learned the rhythms and parts on the orff instruments. During dance we started learning the dance to Try Everything and Everything is Awesome. In drama we played DUDE! and Concentration 64. In chorus we started to learn the lyrics to the Camp Levine Rap part of everything is awesome and Try Everything. Overall a very good week 1 for the Tonys! |
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Violin Focus Group- The violin focus group has been hard at work learning how to hold the violin and bow, play on open strings, and learning the notes to play Mission Impossible! They are making great progress and I am so proud! ˙ᵕ˙
Percussion Focus Group- The percussion Focus Group has been learning the basics this week: how to hold the drumsticks, how to stroke, and some rudiments including the single stroke roll, the double stroke roll, the paradiddle and the 5 stroke roll.
Piano Focus- Campers have been exploring the inside of the piano with their eyes only and learning keyboard geography and rhythm. Younger campers Al have been pairing music and movement. Older campers have been learning one of the coolest songs from a movie!
Guitar Focus- The Focus Guitar students have a great start on learning how to play the guitar. They mastered playing simple melodies with their thumb, fretting left notes, and even started strumming some simple chords. They should be practicing every day after camp. Looking forward to working with them on “Puff, the Magic Dragon” as our camp piece. It was wonderful introducing Pre/K and sampler to the guitar. They were a great audience while listening to the performance and enjoyed trying out the guitar as well.
Art- In Art we have been working with mixed media to crake fun creations while listening to the iconic soundtracks of the Muppets and The Greatest Showman. Today we started transitioning to watercolors to make our own pirate ship while taking a soundtrack journey with the Pirates of the Caribbean. Beautiful and creative art has emerged from each of our campers and their TA’s.
Sports & Games- Sports and Games have been working on team building. Students have been playing games that encourage students to work together to achieve a common goal.
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Drama- My name is Julian and I am teaching the drama classes! Our focus this week is game playing and improv for the 1st through 4th grade. Specifically, our focus has been on team bonding and finding what we have in common. Improv games help the group become comfortable in the new environment, and develops confidence, creativity, and bonding, as well as speaking and listening skills, and inclusivity and tolerance as well as empathy. This group is so highly imaginative and has bonded so quickly that I have been able to expand the games we play. 5th and 6th graders learn more of the specific rules of acting and improv. This is such a great group!
Dance- In dance, campers have been getting to show their individuality and get to know each other through movement icebreakers. They’ve been learning the importance of performing with expression not only with their body movements but with facial expressions as well (we’ve learned that you can still read someone’s expressions with a mask on!) All of the campers have shown incredible dancing skills and musicality while learning the beginning of the whole group dances for their end of session performance. I am so excited to see their growth throughout these next couple of weeks!
Music +, Vocal/Choral: All of our 1st - 6th campers have had a terrific start in Music+ and Chorus! It's been a joy to sing, dance, play instruments and games with them. At Morning Sing every day, all campers have learned our Camp Levine Song and Camp Levine Chant, as well as parts of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Yellow Submarine. Ask them to sing them to you at home!
The Grammys have started learning the song "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White. They have learned to sing the song, and are now learning a xylophone part so they can accompany themselves. We have also done a few movement activities like Move Your Body where students move isolated body parts to the teacher's drumbeat, and We are Playing in the Forest, an elimination game with singing and movement. We have some very talented instrument players and singers in this group!
The Oscars are singing and playing xylophones to the song Step in Time from Mary Poppins. They have picked it up very quickly! As a group, we have also been creating our own lyrics to a song about why they like movies. I'm so impressed with this group's creativity!
The Tonys are learning to see an acapella version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Their voices are very strong and they are doing a great job! The Tonys have also learned to play the theme to Star Wars on the xylophone. We are now going to add a second harmony part. We have also had fun with some movement explorations.
For Chorus, all 1st - 6th graders are learning the first three pieces for our musical theater performance - Try Everything from Zootopia, Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie, and Happy from Despicable Me 2. Each group will start learning individual songs next week.
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If the Camp Levine experience has revealed a budding musician, I hope you will consider Levine’s many ‘school year’ opportunities. Whether you’re interested in private lessons or a group learning experience, I’m sure Levine has something for your child. And maybe for you, too, since many of our students are adults!
You can find a list of camper age-appropriate classes and lessons on the parent portal under "next steps."
Password: camplevine2022!
We hope you will take us up on a $50 discount to join any weekly private lessons or yearlong group class over $250. You can use the coupon code CMPL22 at checkout anytime before September 5th!
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