MASSAPEQUA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ELEMENTARY GENERAL MUSIC CURRICULUM
SUMMER 2009
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Jill Czarnecki
Kathleen Dyckman
Gary Loock
Thomas Tucker
Janice Vacchiano
Jeanine Yako
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Christine Lupetin Perrino - President
Maryanne Fisher - Vice President
Thomas Caltabiano - Secretary
Timothy Taylor - Trustee
Jane Ryan - Trustee
ADMINISTRATION
Charles V. Sulc, Superintendent
Alan Adcock, Assistant Superintendent for Business
Lucille F. Iconis, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education
Susan Woodbury, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education
Thomas J. Fasano, Ed.D., Assistant to the Superintendent for
HR & General Admin.
Robert Schilling, Executive Director for Assessment, Student Data
and Technology Services
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Course Description and Rational 3
Curriculum Map 4
Element 1 – Rhythm 5
Element 2 – Melody 6
Element 3 – Harmony 7
Element 4 – Expression 8
Element 5 – Form 9
Element 6 – Timbre 10
GRADE 1 11
Assessments 18
GRADE 2 21
Assessments 33
GRADE 3 39
Assessments 47
GRADE 4 51
Assessments 60
GRADE 5 68
Assessments 75
GRADE 6 80
Assessments 87
Course Description and Rational
The purpose of this General Music Curriculum is to give the elementary student a strong knowledge and understanding of musical elements. These include rhythm, melody, harmony, form, timbre and expression. To learn this material, students need to experience and engage in music in variety of ways, including playing, singing, analyzing, creating, performing, and listening.
Proper and early exposure to music is crucial in the development of a child’s education. Music helps students to become better listeners. Additionally, it develops their ability to think and process information in a different manner. Music introduces and reinforces the creative process. Students learn to process information, and then use that information to create works of art or appreciate and perform the creative output of others.
Elementary General Music is one area of music education that affects every student in Massapequa. A large majority of our students will further their music education and become members of the band, orchestra, and/or chorus programs, but every student takes elementary general music. General Music therefore has an obligation to introduce our students to music in a sequential manner. This philosophy is the basis of this curriculum.
Curriculum Map
Element 1
Rhythm
Grade / Rhythm / Meter / Temposteady beat / strong beat / fast/slow
unsteady beat / weak beat / faster/slower
1 / changes in tempo
quarter & eighth notes
quarter rests
Add: / Add: / Add:
half and whole notes / distinguish between / fermata
2 / half and whole rests / duple and triple meter
beat verses rhythm
Add: / Add: / Add:
dotted half note / time signatures / accelerando
3 / 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 / ritardando
Add: / Add: / Add:
dotted quarter note / conducting 2/4, 3/4 and / vocabulary
4 / eighth rest / 4/4 patterns / Andante
4 sixteenth / Moderato
Allegro
Add: / Add: / Add:
triplets / time signature 6/8 / vocabulary
5 / Largo
Presto
Add: / Add: / Add:
varied sixteenth note / changing meter / vocabulary
6 / patterns / Adagio
syncopation
Element 2
Melody
Grade / Melody / Note Readingsol, mi, add la / high/low
with Kodaly Hand Signals / iconic representation
1 / steps, skips, same / of melody
melodic contour / line and space notes
high/ low / staff
Add: / Add:
re, do / direction of melody on
2 / mi re do pattern / staff, Treble Clef
letter note reading
notation
Add: / Add:
melodic repetition / Bar line, repeat sign,
3 / unison / measure, time signature
pentatonic / Treble Clef
mi - sol pattern
Add: / Add:
ti, fa and octave do / ledger line above & below
4
Add: / Add:
whole and half steps / sharp, flat, and natural
5
Add: / Add:
using solfege: sing major / key signature
6 / sing major & la -based / Bass Clef
minor scale
Element 3
Harmony
Grade / Harmony/Texture / Singing Skillsone sound/more sounds / pitch matching
accompaniment/ no / echo singing
1 / accompaniment / unison, call and response
read and perform sol, mi
la patterns
Add: / Add:
Ostinato / solo singing
2 / Bordun / read and perform sol, mi
and mi, re, do
rounds
Add: / Add:
Unison vs. Solo and Group / two part canon
3 / singing
Add: / Add:
Partner Song / partner songs
4 / Major/minor
2 part Harmony
Add: / Add:
Chord Changes / two part harmony
5 / I, IV, V / Blues Scale
Add: / Add:
3 part Harmony / 3 part harmony/ canons
6 / hearing SATB / canons
Element 4
Expression
Grade / Dynamics / Articulationloud/soft / concept of legato
getting louder / staccato
1 / getting softer / glissando
Add: / Add:
piano / tie
2 / forte
Add: / Add:
Crescendo / slur
3 / Decrescendo
mp
mf
Add: / Add:
pp / accent
4 / ff / music vocabulary:
staccato
legato
Add: / Add:
subito / marcato
5
Add: / Add:
6 / mezzo di voce / diction
Element 5
Form
Grade / Form / Major Works / American Repertoiresame/different / Nutcracker / America (My Country Tis of Thee)
echo / Surprise Symphony / Star Light, Star Bright
1 / concept of a phrase / Twinkle, Twinkle
Little Sally Water
Farmer In the Dell
Add: / Carnival of the Animals / This Land is Your Land
call and response / Peter and the Wolf / God Bless America
2 / question and answer / There was an Old Lady
cumulative songs / Bow Wow WOW
AB; ABA / I'll be Working On the Railroad
Add: / The Young Person's / America the Beautiful
solo/ chorus / Guide to the Orchestra / Oh Susanna
3 / canon / Beethoven's 9th / Rocky Mountain
round / Clementine
verse/ refrain / Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Add: / 1812 Overture / Star Spangled Banner
Introduction / Danse Macabre / You're a Grand Old Flag
4 / Coda / Erie Canal
D.C al fine / Tideo
1st and 2nd ending / Dry Bones
AABA
Add: / March of the Toreadors / Fifty Nifty
theme and Variation / Auld Lang Syne
5 / Rondo / Vive L Amour
Zum Gali Gali
76 Trombones
Add: / Firebird Suite / Battle Hymn of the Republic
12 bar blues / Bruckner's 7th / When Johnny Comes Marchin Home
6 / Fugue / Simple Gifts
The Water Is Wide
Element 6
Timbre
Grade / Timbre / Instrument Skillsparts of the voice: / Perform eighth and quarter
sing, speak, shout, whisper / notes
1 / Perform sol -mi patterns
work on steady beat
repeats
Add: / Add:
Orchestra and Band / perform by rote simple
2 / Instruments / accompaniment patterns
Classroom Instruments. / Read/perform sol la mi
patterns on classroom
instruments
Add: / Add:
Woodwinds, String, Brass / Read and perform mi - re - do
3 / Percussion / patterns
(see attached for Recorder
Calendar)
Add: / Add:
Alto; Soprano / Read and perform
4 / voice categories / pentatonic
A capella
Add: / Add:
the concept of voice / Read and perform
5 / categories Tenor; Bass / melodic patterns from
C major scale
vocal styles / Add: while singing
Read and perform melodic
6 / pattern middle C through
Treble Clef
and Harmonic patterns
GRADE 1
ELEMENT ONE: Rhythm Meter, Tempo
Rhythm: Introduction to Steady Beat
Introduction to Rhythm
Introduction to Quarter Note
Introduction to Quarter Rest
Introduction to Eighth Note
Meter: Discuss Strong Beat and Weak Beat
Tempo: Introduction to fast and slow; getting faster/slower
Introduction to changing tempos
Objective: By the end of 1st Grade students will have a basic understanding of beat, rhythm, meter and tempo. Students will be able to find, feel and perform steady beat; they will be able to identify and perform quarter note, rest and eighth note; they will be able to identify whether the music is fast, slow or changing tempos.
State Standards:
1b. Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Sing songs and play instruments, maintaining tone, quality, pitch, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics”
1c. Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Read simple standard notation in performance and follow vocal or keyboard scores in listening.” Rhythm, meter, tempo
3b. Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: “Describe the music in terms related to basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc.”
Technology:
Music Ace 2
Smartboard
Differentiated Instruction:
Aural: Listen to the rhythm, meter, and tempo being performed.
Visual: Read the rhythm, meter, and tempo on the board.
Kinesthetic: Students will find various ways to perform rhythm;
Pat, clap, snap, etc.
ELEMENT TWO: Melody and Note Reading/Notation
Melody: Introduction to melody and melodic contour; high/low, up/down
Introduction to pitches Sol, La, Mi
Note Reading/Notation:
Introduction to the staff
Line Notes and Space Notes
Iconic representation of Melody
High and Low
Objective: By the end of 1st grade, students will have a basic understanding melody as well as of the staff and how it works. Students will be able to identify high pitches and low pitches; they will be able to identify the contour of the pitches, up/down/same; they will be able to identify line notes and space notes. Students will be able to perform and identify the pitches Sol, La and Mi vocally, aurally and with Kodaly hand signs.
State Standards:
1b. Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Sing songs and play instruments, maintaining tone, quality, pitch, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics”
1c. Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Read simple standard notation in performance, and follow vocal or keyboard scores in listening.”
3b. Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: “Describe the music in terms related to basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc.”
Technology: Music Ace 2
Smartboard
Differentiated Instruction:
Aural: Listen to the melody and describe what they hear
Visual: Read the melody on the board or Smart board and describe what they see.
Kinesthetic: Students will perform the melody vocally and on Orff instruments. Students can trace the melody in the air with hands or scarves. Students can use their bodies and hands to demonstrate where the pitches are.
ELEMENT THREE: Harmony and Singing Skills
Harmony: Introduction to harmony; one sound vs. more than one sound;
Accompaniment vs. no accompaniment
Singing Skills:
Pitch matching
Echo singing
Unison
Call and Response
Read and perform Sol, Mi, and La patterns
Objective: By the end of 1st grade, students will have a basic understanding of
harmony; They will be able to differentiate between music with one
sound and music with more than one sound; They will be able to identify
when there is or is not an accompaniment. By the end of 1st grade, students will have acquired basic beginning singing skills; They will start to match pitches, specifically Sol, Mi and La; They will read and perform Sol, Mi and La patterns; They will also begin to echo sing as well as sing in unison and with call and response.
State Standards:
1b. Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Sing songs and play instruments, maintaining tone, quality, pitch, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics”
1c.Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Read simple standard notation in performance, and follow vocal or keyboard scores in listening.”
3b. Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: “Describe the music in terms related to basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc.”
Technology:
Music Ace 2
Smartboard
Differentiated Instruction:
Aural: Listen to the music and describe the sounds they hear.
Visual: Read the melody on the board or smart board and describe what they see.
Kinesthetic: Students can use their bodies and hands to perform singing patterns.
ELEMENT FOUR: Expression: Dynamics and Articulation
Dynamics: Introduce loud and soft
Introduce the concept of getting louder and getting softer
Articulation: Introduce the concept of Legato, Staccato and Glissando
Objective: By the end of 1st grade, students will have a basic understand of Dynamics
and Articulation. Students will be able to identify loud sounds and soft
sounds; They will be able to tell when music is getting louder and/or
getting softer; They will begin to identify with the concepts of legato,
staccato and glissando.
State Standards:
1b. Creating, Performing, and Participating: “Sing songs and play instruments, maintaining tone, quality, pitch, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics”
3b. Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: “Describe the music in terms related to basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc.”
3c. Discuss the basic means by which the voice and instruments can
alter pitch, loudness, duration and timber.
Technology: Music Ace 2
Finale
Smartboard
Differentiated Instruction:
Aural: Listen to the music and describe the sounds they hear.
Visual: Students will be able to look at pictures of instruments and objects and describe the sounds they make in terms of levels of loud and soft.
Kinesthetic: Students will perform the various dynamic levels and articulations on various pitched and unpitched instruments.
ELEMENT FIVE: Form and Major Works
Form: Introduction to phrase
Introduction same vs. different
Introduction to echo
Major Works:
Introduce Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite
Introduce Haydn’s Surprise Symphony
Objective: By the end of 1st grade, students will have a basic understanding of the
concept of form. They will begin to develop and grasp the feeling of
phrases in music; They will differentiate between things that sound the
same and different; They will begin to investigate echo. By the end of 1st
grade, students will be familiar with the composers Tchaikovsky and
Haydn; They will listen to and become familiar with The Nutcracker
Suite and Surprise Symphony.
State Standards:
3a. Through listening, identify the strengths and weaknesses
of specific musical works and performances, including their
own and others.
3b. Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: “Describe the music in terms related to basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc.”