Rationale:

Whenever and wherever humans have existed, music has existed also. Since music occurs only when people
choose to create and share it, and since they have always done so and no doubt always will, music clearly must
have important value for people.
Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education, 2000

Music provides a unique experience and thus, a unique contribution to intellectual development.
This is what sets music education apart and makes it exceptional. Music provides peak meaningful
experiences and aesthetic experiences that help to create excited learners.

Every child, every student should have the opportunity to study music.

Students discover music through active music making. Activities in the music program should
develop the musical skills of performing, listening and analyzing, and creating. Students will learn the
structure of music through the study of basic musical concepts, such as: pitch, rhythm, dynamics,
form, and timbre.
Goals:

Students will know the structure of music; pitch, rhythm, dynamics, form, and timbre.

Students will demonstrate skills in the musical actions of performing, listening and analyzing, and
creating.

Students will become more musically independent.

Students will learn and be exposed to music from various cultures and styles.

Students will gain respect for others.

Students will develop their creative and critical thinking skills.

Students will be able to transfer their knowledge to chorus and music in the middle school.

Students will value music as a part of their lives and continue to have meaningful participation in
music.
Nature of the music class:

Kindergarten- general music 30 minutes every other week

First Grade- general music once a week for 40 minutes

Second Grade- general music once a week for 40 minutes

Third Grade- general music once a week for 40 minutes

Fourth Grade- general music once a week for 40 minutes and chorus once a week for 40 minutes

Fifth Grade- general music once a week for 40 minutes and chorus once a week for 40 minutes
Broadmeadow School Music Program
Heather Tryon heather_tryon@needham.k12.ma.us 781-455-0448 Ext. 333
www.heathertryonmusic.weebly.com
Curriculum
Kindergarten The kindergarten student will primarily focus on discovering and developing the
singing voice. They will sing alone and in a group. Students learn to hear and feel the beat. Simple
rhythm patterns and concepts of fast/slow, loud/soft, and same/different are taught through activities in
singing, music games, and playing simple rhythm instruments.
First Grade Students focus on discovering and developing the singing voice. Students learn
the basic elements of music, including the concepts of the beat, fast/slow, loud/soft, high/low, and simple
rhythm patterns using quarter and eighth notes and quarter rests. Students will begin to learn specific
pitch relationships through the use of solfege syllables (i.e. do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do). Patterns (same/
different) can be seen in notation and heard by ear. Students sing in a group as well as solo. In STEAM
Music 1, students will explore music and patterns.
Second Grade Students continue in their development and discovery of the singing voice.
Second graders practice and expand on the basic reading skills learned in first grade, adding the use of
the half note, use of bar lines, simple meters, ! time, form (AB and ABA), dynamic markings p and f,
and longer solfege patterns. They sing in groups and solo. In STEAM Music 2, students will create
music, drama, and movement for a performance of The Three Little Pigs.
Third Grade Continued reading skills include the dotted half note, whole note, 3/4 meter,
longer rhythmic and melodic phrases and patterns, first and second endings, layering of texture. Third
graders sing solos, in small groups, and together. Students begin singing in rounds. All third graders
study musical concepts while learning how to play the soprano recorder. Students have the choice of
beginning string lessons on the violin, cello, or viola. In STEAM Music 3, students will explore drama
and create skits based on math word problems.
Fourth Grade Fourth grade students can take introductory lessons on the flute, clarinet,
saxophone, trumpet, trombone, or percussion instruments, as well as participating in a string or band
ensemble. Students continue to expand their musical reading skills during general music. Students will
study syncopated rhythms along with studying the music and history of African American Spirituals.
Students work together in groups on small composition projects, such as creating music for a poem. All
fourth graders sing in chorus, practicing simple harmony with descants, partner songs, and rounds. A
large unit focus is on the orchestra instrument families, with a trip to the Boston Symphony.
Fifth Grade Students may continue with band and string instrumental ensembles. All students
sing in the fifth grade chorus and perform two-part harmony. Jazz, harmony and texture, opera, and
composition are examples of units studied in general music class. Students are actively involved in
many lessons centered on Orff instrument playing and drumming ensemble. Fifth grade general music
students also compose and perform a song in AABA form and create a rap song using GarageBand in the
technology center.
All grade levels use the Share the Music series of textbooks,
including beautiful recordings on CD.