The Fourth Grade Music Curriculum is a creative and active learning experience that provides a means of self-expression for young learners. Fourth Grade music classes will incorporate a wide variety of teaching techniques that center around an active understanding and use of rhythm, melody, harmony, form, timbre, and self-expression.   All music classes are designed with the NJ Arts Standards as well as the National Music Standards at its core and will develop skills that include how to perform, listen, describe, sing, create, move to, read, and write music.  Each lesson will draw from the approaches to music learning/instruction that are described below:

• The Orff approach is a way of introducing and teaching children music on a level that they can easily comprehend. Musical concepts are learned through singing, chanting, dance, movement, drama, and the playing of percussion instruments. Improvisation, composition, and a child's natural sense of play are encouraged.

• The Kodaly Method uses a child-developmental approach to sequence the introduction of skills strongly focused on ear training and sight singing. Children are first introduced to musical concepts through experiences in listening, singing, and movement. After the child becomes familiar with a concept, he or she then learns how to notate it. Concepts are constantly reviewed and reinforced through games, movement, songs, and exercises.

Students will also explore music in relation to its historical and cultural context, children's literature, and singing games to reinforce musical concepts learned.  

Fourth Grade Concepts may include:

• Continued Development of the Singing Voice

• Rhythm and Meter

• Review of Absolute Pitch Names, Treble Clef, etc.

• Treble Clef Note Reading

• Review Dynamics and add New Terms

• Eighth, quarter, half, whole, dotted quarter, dotted half, sixteenth, syncopa, rests 

• Melodic patterns that use solfege syllables, low la, low so, do, re, mi, fa, so, la, high do 

• Tonal center – home tone do and la 

• Canon, Drone

• Rhythmic and Melodic Composition

• Proper mallet playing technique, ostinati, bordun, broken bordun, cross-over bordun

• Elements of Form

• Instruments of the Orchestra