VA Campus: Falls Church Session 2 Newsletter
A Note from the Director of Camp Levine
Dear Camp Levine Families,
We’ve had such an awesome time at Camp Levine this session! We’re thankful for you sharing your camper with us this summer. It’s been a pleasure watching them explore and enjoy the creative freedom that music and arts inspire. Our Camp Levine team is great, but the support of our Camp Levine community is what has made it all possible.
Whether this is your camper’s first or third summer at Camp Levine, we hope that through our theme “Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall: Harmony in All Seasons,” we have provided a fun and engaging artistic experience.
We hope to see you next year!
Best,
Jazmin Goodson, Director of Camp Levine
A Note from the Site Director
Dear Session 2 Families,
Thank you for sharing your children with us over the past three weeks. Seeing them grow musically, make new friends, try new things, and overcome challenges has been a fantastic experience as a Site Director. We know summer is a valuable time each year, and you have many options in our area. We are incredibly grateful that you decided to share a piece of your family with us this summer. I know I speak for all of our faculty and staff when I say your children have left a last impression on us over the past three weeks. We hope you have a great end to your summer and know that you always have a home here at Levine.
Musically Yours,
Paul
Site Director, Camp Levine Falls Church
PreK/Kindergarten Class
Our PreK/K campers are assigned to one teacher and camper group for the entire 3-week session. They explore music and the arts through singing, storytelling, arts and crafts, creative movement, and imaginative play.
The Sprouts
The Sprouts have had an absolutely wonderful time here at Camp Levine! Our days have been jam packed with activities from games, singing, music, arts & crafts, and more! With a focus on the four seasons, the sprouts cut, glued, and colored four trees, each corresponding with a specific season. They especially loved gluing googly eyes and gems onto their artwork any chance they received. Although we started out a little wary, all of the kids were soon singing loudly and proudly during all the song times, learning many songs both in morning sing and in regular class. When the wiggles became too much, we played some of our favorite outdoor games, which included freeze tag and soccer, among others. Visiting instruments was always a hit, as the kids learned how to play the violin, guitar, piano, and drums. All in all, the Sprouts spent a fantastic three weeks learning about the seasons and broadening their musical abilities.
Morning Classes
Morning classes at Camp Levine are music an instrument focused. During the morning classes our campers grades 1-6 experience Instrumental Music introductions and instruction, General Music, Art, and Games & Sports. Read below to hear from our teachers about what your campers did during Session 1!
Music+ (General Music)
Seashells – It has been a pleasure working with the Seashell group in Music+ this session! We have explored all four seasons through song, dance and instrument playing. Students shared their creativity by suggesting lyrics and improvising on the xylophones. We took a pentatonic melody with lyrics about snow and learned how to play it on the xylophone. We paired it with a simple accompaniment pattern and other percussion instruments. The students then learned a spring variation of the song. The Seashells created their own lyrics for the summer and fall seasons. During our recorded performance, you will see each camper perform two of the seasons on xylophone, and then sing and dance the other two seasons’ variations. Other favorite games from this session were “We are Playing in the Forest,” “Freeze Dance,” and “Kooseeki.”
Scarecrows – The Scarecrow group was full of fine musicians this session. Our focus during Music+ was “Fun Things to do in Each Season.” We started with winter and learned a piece called “Play in the Snow.” Campers learned how to sing the song and then learned a simple accompaniment pattern on the xylophones. The group created a rhythmic pattern based on fun things they like about winter – “snowball fight, frosty, sledding, skating.” They improvised on the xylophones using this pattern as their rhythm. For spring, we learned a song about birds! They learned to sing and playing an accompaniment pattern on the xylophone. They each improvised bird calls on the xylophones. You will see this piece on our final video performance. For summer, the Scarecrows learned a song called School’s Out! After learning the song, they split into groups and created rhythmic patterns and movements for use as a “B” section. Finally, for fall the group wrote a sound poem. They wrote the words, then performed it using Body Percussion (snaps, claps, pats and stomps) and finally using non-pitched percussion instruments (drums, triangles, maracas, etc). This group also had fun playing games like “Poison Pattern” and “We are Playing in the Forest.”
Blizzards – The Blizzards are a very talented and hard-working group of campers. They quickly learn pieces and are wonderful young performers. We can’t wait for you to see our recording. This group’s theme throughout Session 2 was TREES and how they change during the seasons. The Blizzards learned a complicated xylophone piece (Simple Simon) with new lyrics called Winter Celebration. They learned to sing and then play both xylophone parts and one drum part. For Spring, we traveled to Japan and learned the folk song Sakura about Cherry Blossoms blooming. The students took on the challenge of learning to sing it in Japanese along with some Japanese-inspired movements. They also learned a xylophone accompaniment part. For Summer, we traveled to Jamaica and learned the partner song Shake the Papaya Down. This was a fun three part vocal piece. Finally, for Fall the students learned a piece entitled Sing Evergreen – a pentatonic piece in 3/4 time with two xylophone parts and unison voice. This group had fun with movement activities throughout camp, including Mirror, Mirror, Shadow, The Shape Game and ribbon/scarf dances.
Ladybugs – The Ladybug group composed their own pieces for each season (!). They were so much fun to work with and created some fantastic music together. For Winter, the group was tasked with writing a two-part piece for xylophones. They decided the song needed to have a slow tempo in a minor key. The result was very beautiful. For Spring, the group created a song with lyrics and xylophone accompaniment. When we thought about Summer, we decided we needed to write a pop song. With the help of the GarageBand iPad app, the group chose a few loops and chord progressions, then split into groups to write lyrics. You will hear the fun results on our recording at the end of camp. Finally, for Fall the Ladybugs created a percussion ensemble piece for drums, woodblock, gong and maracas. They wrote a poem about fall that they converted into the rhythm for the piece. The group is full of talented singers, instrumentalists, dancers and composers.
Violin
It has been a pleasure working with all the students at Camp Levine.
Violin Focus Groups will perform an Excerpt from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons-Spring.
In three weeks, we made great progress. The first week, we learned the names and parts of the violin, proper posture, good left hand position, and excellent bow hold. We also did lots of left and right hand exercises to get used to holding the violin and bow properly. We practiced clapping different rhythmic patterns before we started playing with the instrument. We then played the rhythmic patterns with the violin and bow. Everything came together beautifully. We then started the Flower song and Sea Saw. Adding 1st finger on the finger board while maintaining good left hand position & posture.
In the Second week, we polished the Flower Song and Sea Saw. We added the Monkey Song. Using three finger and three strings! Thank you all for the hard work and patience! We also started the 1st mvt of Spring from Vivaldi’s Four seasons.
In the final week, we are polishing the piece for the performance. Learning how to play together and make harmony as a team!
Samplers PreK/K students also discovered the violin and had lots of fun. We moved very slowly, and patiently. Now we all know that we need to be very careful and gentle with the violin and bow. We know how to hold the bow lightly and keep the violin still. Also, we played with different strings and rhythms. We spent more time with bow exercises and tapping exercises to relax our mind and body. This culminated in learning foundational sings such as See Saw and the Flower Song.
Thank you all! I am really proud of you!
Morning Sing
One of the best traditions at Camp Levine is our Morning Sing. We gather together as a whole camp each morning to sing, from Pre-K to 6th grade. We are accompanied by our world class instrumental teachers, lovingly known as “The Band.” This year, our theme was The Seasons. The campers learned two songs about each season, as well as our Camp Levine Song and Camp Levine Chant. You will hear some of these on our recording. We started in Winter, with the new year, and sang Auld Lang Syne and Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! For Spring, we learned the classic song Let’s Go Fly a Kite from Mary Poppins and the round I Love the Mountains. Summertime came next, as well as our most challenging song, In Summer from the movie Frozen. The campers also learned Take Me Out to the Ballgame so they can join in singing the next time they go to a baseball game! Finally we celebrated Fall (it will be here before we know it!) and learned the songs Over the River and Through the Woods and Wake Me Up When September Ends by the band Green Day. It was so much fun singing with the campers, apprentices and staff each morning.
Art
I have had so much fun getting to know your kiddos and exploring projects and craft ideas of different colors to last throughout the seasons! We have colored, painted, cut, folded, sketched, and so much more. While creating artwork with a precise design and many colors is important, I believe most in letting the kids use their imaginations and create something that they feel most represents them. Some favorite projects that we have done throughout the session are combining their thoughts on three different pieces of music onto one page, foam/tissue paper spring flowers, bird potato print art (in which students got VERY imaginative with their birds), and four season paper plate spinners. It has been such a wonderful session, and I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know your kids and having so much fun together!
Percussion
I was blessed with some very talented drummers
The first week we learned how to hold the sticks, how to stroke the drum to get a good sound and some basic rudiments, including the single stroke roll and the double stroke roll. Gradually I added in paradiddles, which is a very cool sticking for drums composed of right left right right, left right left left. When the paradigm is put on the drum set and orchestrated, some amazing sounds an iterations occur. The second week the young drummers started working on The Rock beat which they really took to very easily. I also introduced some rhythmic patterns for the older group which they all memorized and play very well. During the third week some of the kids combined The Rock beat with the paradiddle Groove.. I really enjoyed teaching them. They’re a great bunch of kids.
Sincerely, Web
Guitar
It is great to be at Camp for session II. The Focus Guitar students have mastered playing simple melodies with their thumb, fretting left notes, and even started strumming some simple chords. Looking forward to their performance of “Puff the Magic Dragon” as our camp piece. Focus guitar is very talented this session! It was wonderful introducing Pre/K and sampler to the guitar. They were a great audience while listening to the performances of “Milwaukee” by Ben Verdery and “A Day in November” by Leo Brouwer. PreK/K enjoyed trying out the guitar as well. Sampler class practiced playing some simple tunes on open strings and fretting the A,C, & D notes on the guitar. It was wonderful time at camp sharing guitar music with all the Campers.
Piano
The piano focus campers have exceeded expectations by learning to transpose a melody and play with the metronome. They may be steady, focused, and hard-working, yet they bring a fun, summer vacation attitude to the keyboard. Piano Ladybugs and Blizzards make camp a joy!
Games & Sports
Beginning each day with a question of the day, our three-week Sports and Games class was a whirlwind of excitement and growth! Campers, TAs, and Miss Nya engaged in a variety of team-building activities that fostered camaraderie and collaboration. Indoors, they enjoyed classic games and modern challenges, while outdoor sessions brought the thrill of sports under the sun. From strategy games to kickball, every moment was packed with fun, learning, and new friendships. The program not only enhanced physical skills but also emphasized the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship.
Afternoon Classes
Afternoon classes at Camp Levine are musical theater focused. During the afternoon classes our campers grades 1-6 experience Dance, Drama, and Choral music classes. These 3 classes collaborate to produce a musical theater performance at the end of the session. Read below to hear from our teachers about what your campers did during Session 1!
Drama:
It has been so lovely to be able to work with your children at this session of Camp Levine! The first week we played some icebreaker games and discussed our 3 most important actor tools: voice, body, and imagination. We also discussed some of the skills we would be working on in class: cooperation and concentration. With these building blocks we now were able to start implementing these skills with some improv games. We learned how to quickly create characters, relationships, and situations within a scene and how to make these aspects very specific so the audience knew what was going on. We also worked on movement and physicality. In order to create a character we have to know how they move. What part of the body do they lead with? Are they older or younger than we are? How does that affect how we move? We did a movement exercise where I called out a different part of the body and that is what they had to lead with as they walked. At the end of the exercise we discussed how this impacted how we moved and how we felt compared to our normal everyday walk.
As we approached the second week we began the process of auditions for the final showcase. We talked about what kind of skills we needed in order to audition and how to develop a confident and positive mindset going into them. Each one of us has our own unique and special skills to offer so the more we can be ourselves the better! We cast the show and then began staging for the final showcase while also continuing to work on some of our improv. We started discussing what objectives are for an actor and how we can achieve them in our showcase. We also discussed different theatre lingo and how that applied to our rehearsals in camp. We learned what blocking and ‘cheating out’ meant and identified the different parts of the stage: stage left, stage right, downstage and upstage. We also continued exploring how to improve our physicality and project our voice.
The third week we started to combine all three classes and put drama, singing, and dancing all together! It was so wonderful to see how quickly they all adapted and were able to remember all of the things we have talked about over the past three weeks.
Dance:
The three-week dance class at Camp Levine was an exhilarating journey for students from 1st to 6th grade. We explored creative movement and learned foundational elements of hip hop, lyrical, and jazz dance styles, guided by “Miss Nya”, a passionate instructor. Friends not only learned choreography but also had the opportunity to contribute their own creative ideas, making each dance piece unique. They were challenged with memorizing dances and singing along, adding an extra dimension to their learning. Throughout the session, laughter and fun filled the studio as we worked collaboratively to create a joyful dance experience. The Seashells and Scarecrows brought the spunk with “You Can’t Win ”, while the Lady Bugs brought the boogie with Martha and the Vandella’s “Dancing in the Street .” Finally, the Blizzards kept it cool with “Ice Ice Baby.” The culmination was a spectacular musical theatre performance where their hard work and dedication shone brightly for all to see!
A Note from Miss Nya: Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us, it has been my joy and greatest pleasure to share the love of dance with this musical crew! <3
Choral:
Seashells & Scarecrows – These groups combined in the afternoon for musical theater time. They learned two full group songs along with the older campers – Dancin’ in the Streets (by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter.and made famous by Martha and the Vandellas) and Seasons of Love (by Jonathan Larson from the Broadway Musical Rent). The Seashells and Scarecrows also learned their own piece Here Comes the Sun (by George Harrison; performed by the Beatles). This group took on some big challenges for their age and it really paid off. You will really enjoy seeing their performance!
Blizzards – Vocally, this group is incredibly talented. They learned the two full group songs – Dancin’ in the Streets (by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter; made famous by Martha and the Vandellas) and Seasons of Love (by Jonathan Larson from the Broadway Musical Rent). These students auditioned for some short solos in Dancin’ in the Streets and it was very difficult to choose just three campers out of the group. The Blizzards individual song is We are Going to be Friends (by The White Stripes). This was challenge for them to memorize all the lyrics (5 verses and a bridge with very little repeated words). It was such an honor to work with these young vocalists. This group liked to play chorus/drama games at the end of each session, including Bippity Bippity Bop and Pass the Beat Around the Room.
Ladybugs – Our senior most members of our chorus, the Ladybugs learned and memorized three songs for our musical theater performance: 1) Dancin’ in the Streets (by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter; made famous by Martha and the Vandellas), which will feature three of our Ladybug singers as soloists; 2) Seasons of Love (by Jonathan Larson from the Broadway Musical Rent); and 3) A Marshmallow World (by Carl Sigman and Peter DeRose, and made famous by Bing Crosby and Dean Martin). The Ladybugs are the strong backbone of our chorus and are a great example for our younger campers. You are really going to enjoy seeing our recorded performance. This group also enjoyed our game time at the end of Vocal/Chorus time, especially Do You Love Your Neighbor?
Check out photos of our campers from Session 2! They had an awesome time exploring the seasons through music and the arts.
From the Teen Apprentices
TAs from the Sprouts
Hello Camp Families we are happy to tell you that the Pre-K and K group have had a lot of fun, made new friends, and made some wonderful memories in these past three weeks. They enjoy playing with toys, making fun crafts, and singing their favorite songs. Some of the songs they enjoy singing are Mr. Sun, Five Little speckled frogs, and If all the Raindrops. We love watching them play together during outdoor play and choice time. In the morning all the kids come into the room with enthusiasm and a little warm smile, ready to begin camp! Even when our teacher was out and we had some new faces teaching, the Sprouts stayed respectful, positive, and awesome. We loved getting to know them and having a lot of fun and silly times!
TAs from the Seashells
Hello parents and guardians of the seashells! So far, the seashells have been doing wonderfully here at Levine. Firstly, the seashells have been amazing little artists every morning within their art class! We have created many pieces inspired by the seasons, from snow people to surfboards. Next the seashells have been working on many special surprises for the coming performance in music plus. Along with playing various music oriented games. Speaking of games, the seashells have been getting all their energy out and learning about good sportsmanship in our sports and games class. Some of our highlights have been rock-paper scissor battles and kickball. After that the seashells are dabbling in many instruments in sampler.
During the afternoon our seashells become the brightest performers, exploring their acting, learning songs and new choreography for our recording! In summary, the seashells have been enjoying many of their classes with their most loved being sports and games. Along with them having such big bubbly personalities everywhere we go!
TAs from the Scarecrows
During the second session of camp Levine with the scarecrows, the TA’s and campers enjoyed expressing themselves through dance and the arts. I found that the campers had a special interest in being as creative as possible, and were extremely confident in themselves when volunteering. The campers also were able to get along with everyone, and it was pretty cool to watch the campers slowly develop friendships with each other.
TAs from the Blizzards
The Blizzards have been fun and upbeat! The majority of them manage to bring great energy to camp days and it shows in their performance throughout the day. They tend to be on their best behavior and are very enthusiastic about the day ahead of them. The favorite classes so far seem to be drama and dance. My co-TA and I are consistently told that they love the games and practicing their play and their dance. We have also been told by other TAs that their dance is the best one they have seen (and we agree). Overall, camp has been very enjoyable with these campers, and we wish them all the best.
TAs from the Ladybugs
This session at Camp Levine’s Falls Church location, the Ladybugs have been exploring the joy of music with the theme of the 4 seasons. This is a general run down of the individual classes. Immediately after morning sing, the Lady bugs are sent to their focus instrument classes to learn with their respective teachers. They learn the basics of their instruments and learn how to play a song. A great foundation for a passion towards music. After, they are taken to Sports and Games, which is usually outside unless the weather says otherwise. The campers have played many enjoyable games like, kick ball, rock paper scissors tournament, capture the flag, empire-alliances, and others. The kids get good exercise while enjoying the fun. “Music+” is the next class which has the campers playing xylophones and other miscellaneous instruments. With the theme of 4 seasons, they have created 4 songs as a class, one for each of the said seasons. 2 of them can be seen on the Falls Church Performance video.
After eating lunch, the campers are brought to art class. They have been creating many crafts revolving around them. Crafts like trees, rainy days and other weather like art. In drama, they played acting games improving their ability to act on stage. Later into the session, they were given scripts for the performance which the campers have actively worked hard on to perfect. Leaving drama, they go to Vocal/Choral. A pretty self explanatory class, where they’re doing vocal exercises and singing dogs, also prepared for the performance. The final class is dance, where they create choreography for the songs they’re singing. In short, the Ladybugs have been working hard to get a performance going while having lots of fun.