Music at EES
Music Overview
All students receive music twice a week including one thirty minute class and one forty-five minute class. The music program works on the development of music reading and appreciation skills through singing, playing instruments, movement, composing and listening. We use the Vermont Arts Expectations for Music in Skill development, reflection and critique, making connections and approach to work.
Kindergarten Through Grade Two.
The K-2 curriculum for EES students is built around the First Steps in Music model developed by John Feierabend. The goal is to develop students aptitude in being tuneful, beatful and artful. Each class includes a vocal exploration, a simple song, an echo song, an arioso (opportunity for vocal improvisation), a beat based movement activity, a movement activity focused on form and expression, and a song tale. Your children have no idea that the songs, games and dances that they enjoy in class are all a carefully designed workout designed to prepare them to become musical adults who feel comfortable and capable of participate in the various musical activities that are interwoven in our lives.
Grades Three through Five
The 3-5 curriculum continues the pedagogy of Feierabend with Conversational Solfege as the guiding structure. This system of developing music literacy follows the same process that students use in developing the ability to talk, read and write. The sequential steps lead students through the experience of learning by rote, then to first decode familiar musical ideas aurally to then decode unfamiliar material aurally and finally create new musical ideas aurally before students engage with reading music. The whole process is then repeated with reading music and again with writing music. All these steps are cleverly disguised in games, songs, and dances. In addition, EES is now a member of Music-comp.org an online community that promotes student composition through the use of technology. All third-fifth grade students will experience learning to play instruments as well, including recorder, xylophones, ukuleles and various unpitched percussion instruments All fourth and fifth grade students will work with the online program noteflight to write original music compositions.
Standards: Music class at EES addresses the Vermont Arts Expectations for Music in Skill Development, Reflection and Critique, Making Connections and Approach to Work.
Learn more about VT music standards here: http://education.vermont.gov/documents/music.pdf