Kinder music is full of so many new experiences! Students will get to try out a lot of different unpitched percussion instruments in the room such as the claves, wood block, maracas, hand drum, cow bell, triangle, and more! We will also try out the pitched percussion instruments, the glockenspiel, metallophones, tone bars, and xylophones!
Using these instruments, singing, and movement, we will:
Explore pulse and rhythm, and define steady beat
Experience fast/slow, high/low, up/down, sound/silence, loud/quiet, and same/different
Establish good vocal tone production for singing
Differentiate between different vocal qualities (speak/sing/whisper/shout)
In addition to these goals, our weeks will be filled with themed activities to match the season and provide support in establishing confidence with numbers, letters, months, days of the week, and more.
Around the start of November songs for the musical will be introduced and we will learn the songs and movement slowly until March!
First grade music is where we begin to refine and define concepts learned and experienced in Kinder music. Much like Kinder music, themed activities for the seasons, holidays and life around us will be a part of our weekly/monthly lessons.
In addition to concepts learned and experienced in Kinder music, in first grade music we will:
Demonstrate pulse, beat, and rhythm as group and individually
Identify the quarter note pulse as "ta" and visualize it in stick notation
Identify the eighth note rhythm as "titi" and visualize the stick notation
Identify silence as a rest and visualize the quarter rest notation
Identify and experience Sol, Mi, and La scale tones and hand symbols
Develop mallet technique and demonstrate as simple bordun on barred instruments
Identify a musical phrase and basic form (AB or ABA), and repeat
Identify and classify the unpitched percussion instruments by sight and sound
Experience and define 4 levels of body percussion (snap, clap, pat, stamp)
Around the start of November songs for the musical will be introduced and we will learn the songs and movement slowly until March. First graders will have more opportunity for leadership and larger roles in their musical!
In second grade music we will expand upon our learning from first grade by expanding our musical vocabulary and literacy. We will begin to work in small groups and in pairs, as well as learn simple folk dances and dance techniques.
In addition to concepts learned and experienced previously, we will:
Demonstrate quarter note and half note pulse
Identify alternative notation for eighth notes
Identify a tie, and two tied quarter notes as a half note, label it with its notation, and label a half rest
Identify Do and Re scale tones and hand signals and perform patterns using Do, Re, Mi, Sol, and La
Demonstrate instrumental ostinatos and experience vocal ostinatos
Demonstrate simple broken borduns on barred instruments
Identify parts of form: phrase, coda, ABC
Identify bar line, double bar line, measure, forte, piano, accent, and barred instruments: xylophone/metallophone/glockenspiel
Define tempo and recognize 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures
Around the second week of school songs for the musical will be introduced and we will learn the songs in class for our 2/3 show. For the first time, second grade students will have the opportunity to take on a dancing role in the musical!
In third grade music we will have more opportunities to show leadership and independence in class. We will add to our music vocabulary, music literacy, and have opportunities to improvise! Using the barred instruments and learning new folk dances will be a regular part of third grade music.
In addition to concepts learned and experienced previously, we will:
Demonstrate the quarter note, half note, dotted half note, and whole note pulse in music
Identify and label the whole note and whole rest and their notation, the dotted half note and it's notation, and sixteenth notes and their notation
Label and experience the Question-Answer technique and canon/rounds
Label the staff, and the treble clef lines and spaces
Identify high Do, Fa, and low La and Sol tones and hand signals
Distinguish between Major and minor tonalities, and crescendo and decrescendo
Demonstrate crossover borduns on the barred instruments and conducting in 2 and 3 time.
Demonstrate score reading and 2-part score reading
Identify and label interlude, rondo form, and fermata
Identify the orchestral string and percussion families
Around the second week of school songs for the musical will be introduced and we will learn the songs in class for our 2/3 show. Third graders will have more opportunity for leadership and larger roles in their musical!
The big highlight of 4th grade music is a year-long study of the recorder. Each student will be assigned an individual recorder to use throughout the year and keep through 5th grade and possibly beyond!
In addition to concepts learned and experienced previously, we will:
Identify and experience syncopated rhythms
Label the eighth rest and it's notation as well as the triplet figure and a "pick-up" (anacrusis)
Experience and identify accelerando/ritardando, and pianissimo/fortissimo
Visualize 6/8 time
Review treble clef lines and spaces and experience B, A, G, E, D, and high C on the recorder
Experience countermelody and scales, and label sharp and flat
Identify the Ti tone and hand signal
Demonstrate a moving bordun on barred instruments and experience the I-V chord progression
Identify A' in form, experience 12-bar blues and additive form, and label D. C. al Fine
Identify the recorder, and orchestral woodwind and brass families
In late fall the musical will be introduced and we will prepare for the 4/5 musical after the Winter Break. For the first time, fourth grade students will have the opportunity to take on a solo singing or instrumental role in the musical!
The big highlight of 5th grade music is a year-long study of the ukulele. Each student will be assigned an individual ukulele to use throughout the year. On average, we study ukulele every other class!
In addition to concepts learned and experienced previously, we will:
Identify dotted quarter note and mixed sixteenth note rhythms and notation
Experience mixed meter (5/4 & 7/8) and demonstrate conducting in 4
Experience mixolydian and dorian modalities
Label countermelody and descant
Label I-V, I-VII, and I-IV-V chord progressions
Experience 3-part score reading
Label 1st and 2nd endings and Theme and Variations form
Demonstrate musical expression
Identify mezzoforte and mezzopiano
Explore found sounds
In late fall the musical will be introduced and we will prepare for the 4/5 musical after the Winter Break. Fifth grade students will have more opportunity to take on leadership throughout the musical and beyond!