One of the big concepts I'm working on for my students is Curriculum Mapping throughout the grades that I teach (k-6). What things do I want them to learn each year, and what things should they know based on the national standards for music education. Although this is an ongoing project, and this is my first year in this position, I feel like I am getting a pretty good idea of how I want the students overall music curriculum to look like throughout their time here at Snyder Elementary.
When developing the curriculum a few questions came to me that I needed to answer.
1.) What are the most important aspects of music I want them to learn? With there being an infinite amount of music out there it is important to figure out the most important things for the students to take with them. They can then use those skills to go more in depth with their knowledge of music, if they want to.
2.) What are the most important life lessons I want to help them learn? In other words, how will the way I run my class, classroom management, help to shape these students into productive citizens? For starters giving 3rd-6th grade journals that they have to maintain, and take care of makes them responsible for something when they walk through my door. By giving them goals, and guidelines to work through, such as my noteworthy news (
Noteworthy News review) this will help the students be held accountable for their actions in the classroom.
3.) How do I get the students to retain the information that I am trying to get across? Repetition, repetition, repetition! In a class where I go 7 days without seeing kids (and that's if there are no holidays, breaks, or snow days) it is key to review information every single class! This is done through learning focus strategies such as the use of Bell Ringers, Essential Questions, and Review at the end of class. It amazes me every day to see how much the students remember just by doing these simple things.
4.) How can I make that information become transferable to their other classes? Sometimes the students don't realize what they're doing when they're doing it! However, 3rd-6th grade have journals that I grade, so they're working on their writing skills, critical thinking, spelling etc. And the younger kids we do different things, like letter recognition with kindergarten, or simple math (1+1 quarter note + quarter note), singing songs about frogs, and talking about the life cycle of the frog. These are all things that, hopefully, will transfer into their other classes as well.
And finally, 5.) How does learning my subject pertain to the students in their everyday lives? This is the great part! Music is EVERYWHERE! No matter where you go in all aspects of life there is music. I challenge you to find one day when you hear no music! Music is on the tv, on the radio in the car or on the school bus, in movies, commercials, walking around the mall, grocery shopping, music is truly everywhere! It's time to celebrate the fact that we hear music all the time, and that we can all learn some truly great lessons from music. Lessons such as working together in a team, if one person plays a wrong note, or sings a wrong word it throws the whole group off. If one person can't keep a steady beat then the whole group may fail. The important lesson of working in a team is easily learned in music, and that is a lesson that students will take with them one day when they enter a workforce, military, or have a family.
The following slides are examples of a PowerPoint that I have created for use at Valentines day that will grow with the students based on their learning ability in music. I'm currently in the middle of making different PowerPoint's that will grow with the students as they go through the Elementary school. Most of which will be in this style.
Here are some examples of the different levels:
Kindergarten- Part of their curriculum is to learn songs by rote. This helps to full fill national standard #1 (for a list of the national music standards please go to
National Standards)
First Grade- Part of their curriculum is to get them starting to read notation and playing instruments (National Standards #2, #5). In this slide students use rhythm instruments, such as tambourines hand drums, and rhythm sticks, and keep a steady beat while reading the beginning notation (hearts)
By Second grade it is important to get the students to not only continue with reading beginning notation, but for the students to start to understand the different lengths of the notes.
In third grade stick notation comes into play. This is the first step to getting the students to read the true rhythms of the music! An extension idea is to give the students popsicle sticks and allow them to make their own rhythms and clap them along with the song. They can make simple ostinato patterns to play while the rest of the class is singing "Love Somebody" this is beginning of composing music as well with encompasses National Standard #4
Fourth grade students are reading real notes and learning to count those notes as well. Basic music notation is taken a step further and builds the students vocabulary by adding things such as time signatures.
By 5th grade students will be learning to solfege the notes on the staff. Starting with a 3 line staff and working up to the 5 line staff. Accompanying the slides will be the use of the solfege hand symbols as well.
Finally by 6th grade the students should be able to build upon all of these skills and play the notes on a 5 line staff by use of bell sets, or other pitched percussion instruments.
These are only part of the 19 slides that accompany the full powerpoint. If you are interested in using the whole PowerPoint please visit my site at
teacherspayteachers
