The following principles guide us in the ongoing creation and revision of the Large Group curriculum, creation of new music and movement resources, and in the Professional Development offered:
Create expanded opportunities for child choice and shared control where all children’s voices, ideas, unique contributions, and cultures are heard and celebrated.
Create opportunities for children to explore music and movement skills like they do language skills and process art - through exploring rhythms, melodies, sounds, movement concepts, and instruments, as well as singing and chanting back and forth creatively through "musical conversations" with adults - not solely learning through imitation.
Music learning and language learning follow closely related neural processes. Imagine if we learned language from birth only in a large group setting, with no opportunities for back and forth conversation. There would be limited opportunities for language production, a lack of individualized modeling, greater distractions, children's voices not being heard due to other children speaking for them, it would be mainly adult-led, with limited opportunities for creativity, and imitation would be the only option for communication.
The inclusion of ideas and resources for scaffolded learning to ensure children at all levels of learning have their needs met and opportunities to grow from right where they are, regardless of the child's linguistic, behavioral, social-emotional, or cognitive level.
The inclusion of culturally responsive and linguistically appropriate material based upon children’s diverse backgrounds, and the removal of culturally insensitive songs and chants to maintain an inclusive curriculum and create a safe space for all children.
Inclusion of activities based in trauma-attuned practices where children learn strategies to support their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
Children begin learning music even before birth. They gain musical skills much in the same way they gain language skills: through listening and watching others sing and move, then beginning to imitate what they see with increasing accuracy, coordinating their breathing with their singing and moving, and creating their own songs and movement. It is essential that children have one-on-one "musical conversations" with adults consisting of sounds, two or three notes of songs, and rhythms to help grow their musical skills in the same process as language learning.
Musical exploration is often "play-based" and includes vocal, instrumental, and movement experiences. High-quality music and movement experiences include music from a wide variety of genres and cultures, and teachers are encouraged to use "authentic" music rather than music marketed for early childhood educators to ensure that children always have high-quality models.
Early music and movement experiences build upon the developmental needs of children. Activities are scaffolded to help children progress at their own rate, while striving toward a common goal. Through music activities in the PreK classroom children learn the skills of singing, chanting (rhythmic songs), playing instruments, and creating. The words of the songs support skills in counting, identifying colors and shapes, building vocabulary, recognizing feelings, and developing reading skills. Singing songs improves speech and language skills and promotes social interaction and emotional bonding with others. Music activities help children recognize patterns, which is key to music learning, as well as the development of math skills, reading skills, and memory. Singing songs without words (on just a consonant-vowel pair like "da") eliminate the language barrier for children with limited language skills and work on phonemes they are familiar with to grow musically while setting a foundation for the words to be added later. To learn more about this visit our "Techniques for Children with Limited Language" page.
The Pre-K Music and Movement Specialist works with classroom teachers, providing support and modeling activities. This includes:
Helping teachers choose and learn songs, movements, and activities that enhance learning across subject areas.
Helping teachers create music resources and centers for their classrooms.
Modeling songs and activities in the classroom.
Participating in teacher-designed classroom activities to support arts integration in the classroom.
Maintaining instructional support through the use of online communication (e-mail, website, blog, etc...) and professional learning opportunities.
Allison Burchell, Pre-K Music and Movement Specialist
Contact: allison.burchell@rcsdk12.org
The Purpose of the Music Building Blocks Program
The Music Building Blocks program has been a part of the Rochester City School District UPK and EPK programs for over 20 years. In that time, we have developed a curriculum to encourage teachers to:
Provide students in UPK and EPK programs access to quality music experiences aligned to the PreK Core Arts Standards and provide a strong musical foundation.
Use music as a tool to establish classroom routines such as greeting, transition, and dismissal time.
Promote learning by integrating music and movement into the Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies curriculum.
Content for this website was created by the current Music and Movement Specialist: Allison Burchell and former Music Building Blocks Teachers Ashley Moss Fox, M'Lou Speranza, Grace Wetzel, and Denise Ondishko. Additional contributions have been made by the current Music and Movement Team: Emily Dorsey-Ching and Susan Neal, early childhood music teachers, and EPK and UPK teachers from the Greater Rochester Area and beyond.