Course Description

MUSIC IN GRADES 4-6
VILLAGE SCHOOL
MARBLEHEAD, MASSACHUSETTS

Goals
The primary goal of music class is to help students grow into independent, creative, thoughtful musicians.  Music is not an elusive, mysterious gift given to a chosen few.  Musical skills can be learned in a sequential, developmental way by any student.  At Village School, children will learn how to sing, read musical notation, improvise, compose, and play instruments at a level that is appropriate for them.

Music Class
Instruction in music class is based on the Massachusetts Fine Arts Curriculum Framework and on the Marblehead Public Schools Fine Arts Curriculum.  Every activity in music class has one of three purposes: to prepare students for a specific musical concept, to present a musical concept to students, or to practice a musical concept.  

The preparation stage involves aural, kinesthetic, and visual activities that highlight a musical concept before the children are actually aware of the concept.  For instance, we will sing many songs that use the solfege tones do, re, and mi before the children read those notes in any key.

In the presentation stage, the teacher leads the children to name the concept that they have been experiencing.  For the concept of the solfege tones do-re-mi, for instance, students will differentiate between the low, middle, and high tones in a do-re-mi pattern.  They will be asked to echo sing do-re-mi patterns and use their hands to show the relative pitch of each tone.  Only at this point will the children see the actual notation for do, re, and mi.

To practice a musical concept is to use that concept independently.  In the example of do-re-mi, practicing may include singing written music that uses this particular solfege pattern, playing games that require them to aurally identify do-re-mi patterns, and composing their own songs using these three tones. Fourth graders put the musical concepts they have learned into practice by playing recorder and keyboard; fifth and sixth graders do the same by playing ukulele and keyboard.

Preparation, presentation, and practicing are woven together in every lesson.  The same song or activity may even serve to prepare several concepts at once

Classroom Management
Discipline policies in the music class are based on collaborative rule making between the teacher and the students.  Each class has had an opportunity to discuss its hopes and dreams for music class for the coming year, and they discussed how our three Village School rules (be respectful, be responsible, and be safe) will help them realize their goals.

When people break our class rules, the teacher will determine a logical consequence.  A logical consequence is directly related to the choice the student has made.  For example, a student who chooses to disrupt the class when the teacher is explaining the rules of a new game may be asked to sit out for part of that game.  A child who breaks an instrument deliberately or out of negligence will be asked to fix it. In serious situations or after repeated bad choices, the teacher will send the student to the office and contact his or her parents.

Contacting the Teacher

You are welcome to call Mr. Stoddard at school anytime at (781) 639-3159, ext 41033.  You can also email him at stoddard.joseph@marbleheadschools.org.