Curriculum for grades K-4 during Long Term Substitute Position

2nd/3rd

Singing activities- Group singing in a variety of styles with guitar accompaniment. Songs include
Here Comes the Sun, Lean on Me, Feeling Groovy, What a Wonderful World, Shake it
Off, Float On, Blackbird, The Man in the Mirror.
Instrumental activities- Playing instruments in time in a variety of rhythms. Xylophone
accompaniment for Here Comes the Sun includes playing notes that correctly align with
structural harmonies while repeating a rhythmic ostinato. Rhythm reading/drum circle-Students
play at different percussion stations that have unique rhythms to play. Stations are layered until
the whole class is performing a beat. Xylophone melody to Blackbird-students learn the
pitches of the notes they are singing in the melody. They then are directed to play these notes
on the xylophone. Drum accompaniment to Nakamarra-students switch between playing in
4/4 time and 3/4 time. Boomwacker activity- students organize given boomwackers into
melody of Twinkle twinkle little star and perform in a group.
Listening activities-Listening to Samba music from Brazil, watching Fantasias Rite of Spring
students listen and watch film. They were required to draw a picture from each stage in the film
(geohistorical, mycobacterial, evolution of fish, and dinosaurs.) Students had to write sentences
describing how the music matched the mood of the movie for each section. Student also
watched various cartoons and videos featuring jazz and classical music.
Composition activities-Writing lyrics to make a group song. Students voted of what subject to
make a song about. They were then split into groups and required to write songs in an
AABBCCDD rhyme format. Songs were performed in class students were given the option to
perform songs on their own, to have sings assistance from the teacher, or chose to have the
teacher perform the song solo.
Dancing activities- Freeze dance, free dance time. Students are given opportunities to explore
movement with music in both guided and unguided manners.

K/1

Singing activities-Students sing songs in various styles and meters. Brontosaurus song, The
North Wind, The Rattlin Bog Here Comes the Sun, Lean on Me, The Man in the Mirror,
Original and variant versions of Take Me out to the Ball Game, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,
The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Bingo, Solfeggio activities-singing the tonic and dominant triads.
Instrumental activities- Rhythm Stick dictation- students listen to rhythms played on rhythm
sticks and replicate. Drum playing to accompany a reading of Chicka Chick Boom BoomStudents a read rhythmic lines from the poem and replicate the lines on drums. Drum
accompaniment of Nakamarra,-students switch between playing in 4/4 time and 3/4 time.
Xylophone accompaniment of The Rattlin Bog students play a pedal tone and keep the beat
of the song. Drum accompaniment of Lean on Me,-Students keep the beat of the song during
the verses and sing the chorus. Xylophone improvisation to accompany a reading of Rosies
Walk-students improvise pentatonic melodies the match the mood of each page. They are led
by the teacher with guitar accompaniment.
Listening activities- Scribble music-students listen to music with eyes closed and try to capture
the texture of the music by designing lines on a piece of paper, watching Fantasias Rite of

Spring, students drew pictures of what they saw in the movie. Listening to Samba music from
Brazil. Listening and watching both jazz and classical music cartoons.
Miscellaneous activities-Rhythm telephone- students were given a secret rhythm pattern and
were required to pat the rhythm on each others back. The goal was to pass the rhythm around
the class without making any mistakes. Instrument identification- Two teams of students sat
back to back looking at piles of instruments. Students were selected to play an instrument from
the pile. The other team listened and tried to guess what instrument what being played but the
other team.
Composition activities- Writing lyrics-Students were given students were given examples of folk
songs with new lyrics written. They were then guided to rewrite the lyrics to a song previously
covered in class.
Dancing activities- Freeze dance, free dance time, scarf dancing. Students are given
opportunities to explore movement with music in both guided and unguided manners.

4th grade

Singing activities- Group singing in a variety of styles with guitar accompaniment. Songs include
Here Comes the Sun, Lean on Me, Feeling Groovy, What a Wonderful World, Shake it
Off, Float On, Blackbird, The Man in the Mirror.
Instrumental activities- Playing folk songs on recorder. Students play through a packet of songs
and complete material at a rate that was achievable at their individual rate. Xylophone
accompaniment for Here Comes the Sun includes playing notes that correctly align with
structural harmonies while repeating a rhythmic ostinato. Rhythm reading/drum circle-Students
play at different percussion stations that have unique rhythms to play. Stations are layered until
the whole class is performing a beat. Drum accompaniment of Nakamarra,-students switch
between playing hand drums in 4/4 time and 3/4 time. Guitar playing-students learned basic
chords on the first four string on the guitar. The students strummed the guitar to a consistent
beat while attempting to accurately switch between chords.
Composition activities-Writing lyrics to make a group song. Students voted of what subject to
make a song about. They were then split into groups and required to write songs in an
AABBCCDD rhyme format. Songs were performed in class students were given the option to
perform songs on their own, to have singing assistance from the teacher, or have the teacher
perform the song solo.
Dancing activities- Freeze dance, free dance time. Students are given opportunities to explore
movement with music in both guided and unguided manners.
Listening activities-Listening to Samba music from Brazil, watching Fantasias Rite of Spring
students listen and watch film. They were required to draw a picture from each stage in the film
(geohistorical, mycobacterial, evolution of fish, and dinosaurs.) Students had to write sentences
describing how the music matched the mood of the movie for each section. Student also
watched various cartoons and videos featuring jazz, classical music and various world music
genera including flamenco and gamelan music.