Grade Level Standards ✏️
Grade Level Standards ✏️
TK-K
Learn through hands-on exploration of sound and rhythm. Learn to identify different musical elements such as beat, rhythm, and pitch. Sing, and create simple musical accompaniments. Understand basic music dynamics through easy to memorize songs and movement based activities. Learn how music can be used to tell stories and express emotions. Exposure to music from a variety of genres and cultures.
1st Grade Understand pitch, rhythm, & tempo using easy to memorize songs & movement. Understand simple musical forms and identify common instruments. Understand & generate musical ideas, such as simple melodic and rhythmic patterns. Learn to identify and describe simple musical forms. Make personal connections to music in their lives and the lives and cultures of others. Understand simple rhythmic patterns and musical terms. Explore and demonstrate dynamics (soft & loud) as well as tempo (fast and slow). Explore the expressive qualities of music.
2nd Grade
Introduction of more complex rhythmic patterns through movement and percussion. Create simple melodies and rhythmic patterns. Exploring different musical ideas. Demonstrate understanding of musical concepts like tempo, dynamics, and articulation. Learn to describe music and identify melodic patterns. Identify different instruments visually and aurally including: wind, string, brass, and percussion instruments. Learn about conveying intent through expressive qualities such as voice, tempo and other dynamics. Make personal connections to music in their lives. Explore the value of music in different cultures.
3rd Grade
Introduction of basic music notation, improvisation, and simple musical compositions. Generate musical ideas such as rhythms, melodies, and simple accompaniment patterns. Learn to identify melody, rhythm, harmony, and timbre in music. Recognize the four families of orchestral instruments. Understanding of how different instruments produce sound. Learn basic musical forms. Sing age-appropriate songs from memory, including rounds, partner songs. Play rhythmic and melodic ostinatos on classroom instruments. Improvise rhythms and melodies, explaining the connection to their purpose and context. Explore and generate musical ideas, such as rhythms and melodies. Identify the various uses of music in daily life and in different cultures. Sing and play simple singing games from various cultures. Learn how expressive qualities like dynamics, tempo, and timbre are used by performers to convey feelings. Explore a variety of musical selections.
4th Grade
Compose and notate short melodies & rhythmic patterns. Sing a varied repertoire of music, including: rounds, descants, and ostinatos. Play melodies & accompaniments on classroom instruments. Demonstrate awareness of expressive qualities that convey intent such as: dynamics, tempo, and timbre. Evaluate musical works. Describe and demonstrate connections between music & societal, cultural, and historical contexts. understand how expressive qualities, like voice quality, dynamics, and tempo, are used in personal interpretations to reflect a creator's expressive intent. Explore diverse musical styles & genres, artistic perception, creative expression, & the ability to connect personal experiences & cultural context. Compose simple melodic & rhythmic patterns.
5th Grade
Develop further understanding of elements such as rhythm, melody, harmony, form, dynamics, and timbre through singing & playing instruments. Understand how to play in an ensemble. Learn to read and interpret musical notation, develop performance technique, and understand how to present music effectively. Learn to connect music to other subjects, such as history, literature, and mathematics. Explore how music has influenced different cultures and time periods. Explore various musical styles, including: classical, folk, jazz, blues, popular, and world music. Understand the power of music to communicate ideas and emotions.
California Department of Education