Golden Apple: Riverside Elementary First Graders Prepare For Worldwide Music Trip

It’s a lesson of music and language put on by a class of first graders.

“Well, I can sing and stuff and sometimes I can use music tools,” said first grader Roman Johans.

Each first-grade class has a different country theme, and for this class, it’s Japan.

“Japan speaks a different language,” Johans said.

Although they sing in a different language, when you ask the students their favorite part, it’s usually always playing the instruments, and for Johans, the best part is the egg shakers.

“They have this stuff inside that when you shake them it makes a noise because it is hitting all of the inside of the egg,” Johans said.

Due to the set-up of the Japanese music scale, learning the songs from around the world is as easy as 1-2-3.

“Children actually don’t think of it as being hard; they are surprised by it,” said music teacher Stacy Erdal.

“It’s been super fun, I like learning the different languages,” said first grader Sydney Aulie.

It’s a lesson that starts in the music room but is transferred to other academic areas.

“At the first-grade level, playing instruments with a steady beat is so important to their literacy and reading development,” Erdal said.

And the lesson reaches far beyond the classroom as well.

“As they mature and become older, they continue to be aware and inclusive,” Erdal said.

So far, the students have been practicing for three weeks, with their big concert set to take place on May 8.

“Then our parents can see how hard we have been working and how good we have been doing,” Aulie said.

A variety of countries will be represented at the concert.

“After traveling the world, they come back home with a patriotic medley,” said Erdal.

But until then, the students will continue to practice for their upcoming music trip around the world.