For more information, including descriptions of each video, please go to the Videos and Recordings page.

The Goodbye Song - I end every elementary school music class by playing the Goodbye Song from the show "The Bear in the Big Blue House."  Once it's safe to do so, I'll be playing it on piano and singing it with our students!

In-School Playlist - These are videos or recordings I shared to start class - typically one per week - and are listed chronologically from the beginning of the school year.

Recommended Family Viewing & Listening - Fun for the whole family, with educational value snuck in

Line Rider - Fun videos that kids love with line riders synced up to great music

Harvard's THUD - Videos for Boomwhacker Ensemble

Imani Winds - NYC-based wind quintet that changed chamber music and brought diverse performers and composers center stage

Doclé Reed Quintet - The Chicago-based group that Mr. LaMonica runs and performs in, pronounced  "dah - CLAY"

Percussion - Awesome percussion ensembles that will change what you think drumming means!

The following resources will aid students with their development of Music Literacy.  There are games, activities, videos, and PDFs, providing a wide assortment to suit every musician in our school.

This section is under development.  For now, please reach out to Mr. LaMonica with any concerns about how to help our students in their development of music literacy!

My job as a music teacher is to provide all Union School students with the knowledge, skills, and experience to successfully pursue music in any future capacity - maybe in a band for hobby, as a professional orchestral performer, or anything in between - by maintaining high standards of learning goals and providing enough strategies for every critical concept to help all students to grow as musicians.

My role as an educator is to foster a love of music in all of my students by creating a classroom in which every student feels welcome and included, in regards to both the environment and the content.

My mission as a community member (albeit one from Ashford!) is to use music as a means to bring our students together.  More than any other school subject, music requires constant teamwork and co-dependence paired with confidence and personal responsibility.  All of our musicians will learn to listen to, respond to, and communicate with their peers as a unified, empathetic musical community.

The national standards for music are that students learn to "create, perform, respond, and connect" to-and-through music.  The Connecticut Music Educators Association clarifies that those four steps are the components of Music Literacy.

Here at Union School, all of our classes will consistently incorporate these state and national standards into our four content areas!

Students will develop age-appropriate levels of understanding required to enjoy and actively participate in making music, whether as a hobbyist, amateur, professional, or anything in between.  Music Literacy encompasses... 

(1) Note-Reading (reading and writing notes on staves with G Clef and F Clef), 

(2) Rhythm (reading, writing, repeating, and performing rhythms in varying degrees of complexity and counting musically with forward direction),

(3) Music Theory (understanding the construction of intervals, scales, chords, melody, and more to understand composers' intentions and to more effectively communicate with audiences), and

(4) Phrasing (making logical decisions for musical performance based on meter, rhythm, harmony, and motive).

Music Literacy usually occupies around 10 minutes of class time for elementary school and around 15 minutes of class time for the middle school.  For the elementary school, Music Literacy is taught through habit-based learning routines, where students will repeatedly cover the same specific concepts throughout the year using movement patterns, artsy and creative activities, and call-and-response repetition in order to solidify foundations for future learning.

National Standards:  Music Literacy involves creating music, performing rhythms, and responding to written and heard music, all with the intent of using literacy to connect with the music, performers, composers, and audiences.

Students will learn about the role of music in history and culture here in the United States and throughout the world.  For the middle school, this will include learning about the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras, Afro-Cuban Drumming (focusing on the countries of Guinea, Ghana, and Cuba), orchestras and jazz bands, and Latin American dance music.  For the elementary school, this will include learning about orchestras, American folk music, and the parallel development of music and dance.

National Standards:  Musical Context involves performing different types of music and corresponding dances, actions, etc., responding to the historical, artistic, and cultural impacts on music, and connecting to cultures and peoples through contextual awareness.

Technology is an absolute necessity, and the skills developed from this curriculum will assist students throughout their education and lives, both in and out of music.  Students will learn to use a combination of three programs, all of which are free and compatible with Windows and Apple computers.  Alternate programs may be utilized for iPads or Chromebooks.

MuseScore:  MuseScore is free and frequently-improved software used to write music.  This program will help students develop their Music Literacy skills while providing a fun and expressive creative outlet.  Sample projects include structured approaches to 12-bar blues solos, animal-inspired mini compositions, and songwriting.

Audacity:  Audacity is free software used to record, edit, convert, and share audio.  This program will allow students to develop skills for layering and syncing of music, sound effects, and/or spoken word.  First projects will include recording individual words and then creating sentences.  Advanced projects will include layered percussion ensembles.

DaVinci Resolve:  DaVinci Resolve is an absolute powerhouse of a program for video editing, especially for free software.  This program will allow students to develop critical video skills they will need in any education or career setting.  Sample projects will include multi-angle views of basketball players dribbling, passing, and shooting, percussion ensembles, and school spirit videos.  In addition to its easy user interface, this program was chosen because of its security, privacy, safety, and monitoring capabilities.  Parents, please let me know if you have any concerns about your child(ren) using this software.

National Standards:  Music Technology involves creating projects and media, and connecting to other students through collaborative work.

The culmination of the knowledge and skills developed from Music Literacy, Musical Context, and Music Technology will lead to incredible growth in our students' Musical Application & Performance.  Students will perform in Boomwhacker Bands, Drumlines, Afro-Cuban Drumming Circles, optional choral and instrumental ensembles, and more.  

National Standards:  Application & Performance involves creating music together, performing together, responding to each other, and connecting to music, performers, composers, and audiences.

COVID-19 ADJUSTMENT:  This school-year, in-person performances will most likely not be feasible.  Worry not!  Mr. LaMonica is looking into other ways to showcase our students.

Every class with our middle school students begins with the same procedure:

(1) Sticky Note:  Students read a word that is written on a staff on the board.  On their sticky note, they write down their name, the date, and the word on the board.

(2) Materials:  Students grab the materials needed for class, which are listed on the board.  (Always their binder and pencil, and on Thursdays, laptops.)

(3) Rhythm Cards!  A 5-minute timer is set once the majority of students are finishing up with their sticky notes.  Students grab a pile of rhythm cards, which all have the same directions:  "Circle the two notes with incorrect labeling, then label the rhythm correctly."  For each card completed correctly, students receive one point.  When the middle school cumulatively reaches a benchmark score (1,000 points, 2,250 points, 3,750 points, etc.), they earn a movie night!