March 2023

With report cards just around the corner, I thought a more detailed update would be in order. Look for the specific grade level below to check out what we've been doing in the music room!

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Kindergarten
In the Kindergarten music classes we have been learning a variety of songs to perform together. Learning to sing and play music empowers students with a variety of skills, including listening, responding, memorization, matching, movement, and creativity.

For example, when we learned the song “This Little Light of Mine,” students first practiced listening to and copying the words. Next, they practiced keeping a steady beat to the song using rhythmic instruments. Finally, they learned a simple dance to go along with the song, providing them with an opportunity to respond to the sound through movement.

Expression through movement has been a key component of the kindergarten music classes. During each class we spend time listening to music and students are encouraged to copy dance movements provided to them while also coming up with their own dance movements.


1st Grade
In the first grade music classes we have been learning a variety of songs to perform together. Learning to sing and play music empowers students with a variety of skills, including listening, responding, memorization, matching, movement, and creativity.

For example, when we learned the song “The Bear Went Over the Mountain,” students first practiced listening to and copying the words, including the mimicking of animal sounds. Next, they practiced following tempo changes throughout the song, which helped them further work on their listening and responding skills while also honing their rhythmic skills. Finally, they were encouraged to come up with their own words to the song, giving them an opportunity to create something new as a class.

Listening has been a key component of the first grade classes, which helps them train their ears to distinguish sounds while also helping them improve their concentration abilities and capacity for responding to the world around them—an important transferable skill to use in the classroom as well as in other social environments. One of the ways they have been practicing their listening skills is by listening to a variety of sounds and trying to identify what made the sound, with an emphasis on growth in their skills rather than perfection. 


2nd Grade
In the second grade music classes we have been learning a variety of songs to perform together, empowering students with a variety of skills, including listening, responding, memorization, matching, movement, and creativity.

For example, when we learned the song “Here Sits a Monkey,” students first practiced listening to and copying the words, which enabled them to sing along. Next, they practiced keeping a steady beat on rhythmic instruments, such as the hand drum, the tambourine, and maracas. Finally, they were given space to create their own words to the song and come up with their own dance movements, giving them the opportunity to create something new as a class.

Listening has been a key component of the second grade classes, which helps them train their ears, improve their concentration abilities, and be more effective team players—all important transferable skills to use both in and outside of the classroom. One way they have practiced this skill is through an activity we call “Open Mic.” This is where students take turns performing a song, doing a dance, telling a story, or any other creative performance, and the rest of the class practices being a respectful audience—with voices off, eyes forward, ears listening, and with calm bodies. This activity plays the dual role of also encouraging students to take creative risks by sharing their emerging skills with their peers. 


3rd Grade
In the third grade music classes students have been engaging in a variety of activities that encourage them to create their own music by exploring the organization of sound. These activities empower students with a variety of musical skills, including rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation, along with further transferable skills such as listening, responding, movement, and creativity.

For example, students participated in an activity called “The Sound Machine” where they drew plans for an imaginary instrument and then, using a variety of real instruments, created what they imagined the instrument might sound like.

To further help them grow in their musical abilities,  students moved beyond rhythmic instruments and began learning to play melodic instruments, starting with the recorder. The recorder is a woodwind instrument that requires breath control, fine motor skills, and memorization of how to play individual notes (or pitches). Learning the recorder also helps students to practice reading basic music notation by identifying pitches and rhythms on the music staff.

Listening has been a key component of the third grade classes, which helps them train their ears, improve their concentration abilities, and be more effective team players—all important transferable skills to use both in and outside of the classroom. One way they have practiced this skill is by identifying musical instruments by the sounds they produce. Students listen to brief samples of music and try to identify the instruments being played using audio clues.


4th Grade
In the fourth grade music classes students have been engaging in a variety of activities that encourage them to create their own music by exploring the organization of sound. These activities empower students with a variety of musical skills, including rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation, along with further transferable skills such as listening, responding, movement, and creativity.

For example, students participated in an activity called “The Square of Sounds” where they were presented with a series of squares, each representing one beat of sound. Students were tasked with notating a sound in each square, so that when it was all played together, it created a complete musical composition. For many students, this was their first opportunity to write their own musical composition!

Students also began learning to play the recorder, a melodic woodwind instrument that requires breath control, fine motor skills, and memorization. Learning the recorder has helped students practice reading basic music notation by identifying pitches and rhythms on the music staff.

Listening has been a key component of the fourth grade classes, which helps them train their ears, improve their concentration abilities, and be more effective team players—all important transferable skills to use both in and outside of the classroom. One way they have practiced this skill is by identifying musical instruments by the sounds they produce. Students listen to brief samples of music and try to identify the instruments being played using the audio clues provided.


5th Grade
In the fifth grade music classes students have been engaging in a variety of activities that encourage them to create their own music by exploring both the organization of sound and the communication of ideas. These activities empower students with a variety of musical skills, including rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation, along with the transferable skills of  listening, responding, movement, creativity, and self-expression.

For example, students engaged in an activity called “The Musical Game of Feelings” where they were tasked with expressing emotion through sound. They were given a list of six feelings (happy, sad, excited, tired, afraid, and angry) and a list of six musical instruments (ukulele, piano, tambourine, xylophone, maracas, and drum). Students matched feelings with instruments by rolling dice and were challenged to express those feelings using the sound of the assigned instruments. Though some of these pairings were challenging, students were creative in coming up with interesting ways to express themselves through nonverbal communication.

Students also began learning to play the ukulele, a string instrument that requires both fine motor skills and memorization. While the ukulele can be played both as a melodic and a chord instrument, we have been using it to learn about and practice playing chords—sets of pitches played simultaneously to accompany a melody.

Listening has been a key component of the fifth grade classes, which increases their ability to understand others and be more empathetic—all important transferable skills to use both in and outside of the classroom. One way they have practiced this skill is by listening to music from different cultural backgrounds. This practice offers students the opportunity to expand their musical and cultural horizons to become more aware of the perspectives of others and better understand the world around them. 


6th Grade
In the sixth grade music classes students have been engaging in a variety of activities to help them explore both the organization of sound and the communication of ideas. These activities empower students with a variety of musical skills (including rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and instrumentation), along with a myriad of transferable skills (including listening, responding, movement, creativity, and self-expression).

For example, students began writing their own musical compositions using the “RAFT” method, which provides a useful outline to help students engage with any writing project. RAFT is an acronym that stands for Role (Who is writing the piece?), Audience (Who is this piece written for?), Format (What is the format of this piece?), and Topic (What is this piece about?). For this assignment, the role and format were preassigned (their role was themselves and the format was a song), but they were free to choose their own audience and topic. This freedom provided students with an opportunity to express themselves both verbally and nonverbally through the creative use of organized sound.

Students also began learning to play the ukulele, a string instrument that requires both fine motor skills and memorization. While the ukulele can be played both as a melodic and a chord instrument, we have been using it to learn about and practice playing chords—sets of pitches played simultaneously to accompany a melody.

Listening has been a key component of the sixth grade classes, which increases their ability to understand the world and be more empathetic—all important transferable skills to use both in and outside of the classroom. One way they have practiced this skill is by listening to music from different cultural backgrounds. This practice offers students the opportunity to expand their musical and cultural horizons to become more aware of the perspectives of others and better understand the world around them.