Curriculum Development

Incorporating the National Standards for Arts Education into curriculum design and mapping

National Standards for Arts Education

• Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
• Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
• Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
• Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
• Reading and notating music
• Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
• Evaluating music and music performances
• Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
• Understanding music in relation to history and culture

When planning goals, content and lessons, I have maintained a practice of deciding what skills my students need to hold on to when they leave my care, what skills they may have when they come to my classroom, and how best to build their skills during my time with them. Within a given school year, I have incorporated instruction for each of the nine national standards into my planning. I have included three significant examples of curriculum mapping for band and orchestra as implemented in my teaching.

Curriculum Map: Band Grades 4-6

Curriculum Map: Band Grades 6-8

Curriculum Map: Orchestra Grades 6-12

Incorporating chamber music into the school band program.

The Instrumentalist Magazine, published article