Mrs. Lisa Starks

Welcome to Music/Speech! 

I love teaching Music!  I received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas in 1983 and an Elementary Education certificate in the late 1990s.   My favorite instruments are piano and guitar.  I started playing piano at the age of ten and my parents could not get me to stop practicing!  I have two other part-time jobs playing piano  besides teaching at Eliot.  In my spare time I like to listen to music and work outside.

I  love cats; I have a big, black persian named Tabor.  Tabor likes to play Monopoly-- yes, he can roll the dice!!!   Only one problem-- it's difficult to get him to stop rolling the dice at times. He ends up chasing them all over my upstairs.  Many of my students remember my orange tabby, Charlie; I'm sorry to say that Charlie passed away last spring.  


In Music, we sing, move, dance and play instruments.   We also learn how to read and notate music.  The elements of music are practiced in every class: beat, rhythm, melody, harmony, form, dynamics, and tempo.  We read and watch movies about famous musicians and composers from Bach and Vivaldi to those still working today.  


4th and 5th Graders are expected to bring recorders to every music class.  If you need to purchase a recorder, please purchase a Yamaha soprano recorder with Baroque fingering, available at most music stores in the Tulsa area. 


In Speech we focus on poetry, retold stories, informative speaking and prose.  Dates and details of speech projects will be posted later.