Beginning in mid-March, 5th grade music students will be working on a unit about improvisation using barred orff instruments.  Students will be identifying the vocabulary words improvisation, I chord, IV chord, V chord, and call and response.  Then they will get to compose and improvise their own instrumental parts to accompany a song and perform it with a group in front of the class.  This unit directly addresses Standard E-1.a Demonstrate and compare and contrast harmonic changes in songs (e.g. major vs. minor, blues, chord progressions, etc.); Standard E-1.b Demonstrate learned melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic patterns using expressive elements;  Standard C-1.a Create and document a melodic and/or rhythmic composition with accompaniment to present a chosen style or mood; Standard C-1.b Generate and improvise musical ideas over an accompaniment (e.g., 12-bar blues, changing chord ostinati or other accompaniment, vocal ostinati); and Standard T-1.c Harmony: Identify, perform, or respond to extended harmonic patterns (e.g., I-V, V-I, I-IV-V-I).