Students in 5th Grade have the privilege to come to the music room 2, and sometimes 3 times a week! One 30-minute session for General Music, one 45-minute session for Chorus, and one 45-minute session for Band or Orchestra.

Key Concepts in 5th Grade General Music:

• Experiencing music through listening, singing, reading, playing, and performing movement activities.
• Continued study of musical rhythms: quarter note, eighth note, 16th note, half note, whole note, dotted quarter note, dotted half note, rests
• Further emphasis on and usage of solfege hand signs
• Further exploration of instruments in the orchestra, reading musical notation
• Performing pieces on percussion instruments: (hand drums, xylophones, Orff percussion, tambourines, shakers, boomwhackers, etc)
• Musical composition through written staves and music technology websites
• Ukulele Unit: learning basic chord progressions to play various pop songs, performing in small groups and with the class
• Djembe Drum Unit: learning about the history of the djembe drum, how to play various rhythmic patterns using 3 sounds: bass, tone, and slap; solo playing, playing in small groups, and playing in a large drum circle
• Rap Music Composition Unit: learning about the history of hip hop, the importance of the genre in today's culture, poetic elements used to create a rap song, adding music to the lyrics, and performing for the class

Participating in 5th Grade Chorus:

All 5th Grade students across the district of Newton participate in a large ensemble for Chorus. This time is an allotted 45-minute block during the week where all classes come together on risers in the music room and sing. For more information, click on the Chorus tab.

Participating in 5th Grade Band or Orchestra:

All 5th Grade students across the district of Newton have the option to continue learning an instrument in band or orchestra. Students come together as an ensemble to rehearse once a week for 45-minutes in a pull-out system. For more information, click on the Instrumental tab.