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CURRICULUM K-5
I am currently teaching K-4 music and will be adapting my curriculum to match specific district curriculum guidelines. This document for K-5 music is based on previous positions in New York City and Connecticut.
I develop curriculum based on a school’s organic personality, existing scope and sequence, and specific expectations. Components are scrutinized and modified each year to maximize instructional effectiveness and student engagement.
I develop curriculum based on a school’s organic personality, existing scope and sequence, and specific expectations. Components are scrutinized and modified each year to maximize instructional effectiveness and student engagement.
KINDERGARTEN
In Kindergarten, students experience a rhythmic and tonal language upon which future skills and concepts will be built.
Opposites in music are explored, specifically loud/soft, fast/slow, high/low. The ability to feel steady beat is fundamental, and movement is emphasized. Singing games employ the Kodaly approach, introducing many songs composed primarily of sol, mi and la. Simple arrangements are played on Orff instruments and a variety of rhythm instruments.
In the spring, students read sol, mi and la hand signs. They are eventually introduced to a 2 line modified staff on which they notate high and low pitches (sol and mi). Rhythmically, students are able to read quarter notes, quarter rests and 8th notes.
FIRST GRADE
First Grade students delve deeper into reading the language introduced in Kindergarten. Verse and refrain structure, common in folk and pop songs, is highlighted. Students develop aural and visual identification of common orchestral instruments.
Singing games continue in the 1st grade, often accompanied by Orff and rhythm instruments. Students become more comfortable reading quarter notes, quarter rests and 8th notes, then half notes, half rests, whole notes and whole rests are added. Re and do hand signs are introduced (both low and high do), and students read and write printed notation on mi, sol, and la.
Verse and refrain structure is emphasized along with simple AB and ABA forms. Prominent orchestral instruments are studied, culminating in the recognition of instruments and themes in “Peter and the Wolf”.
SECOND GRADE
Second Graders are introduced to vocal harmony by singing in rounds. Call and Response form is studied.
Students perform in 2-part canon (rounds) through chant, instruments and singing. Increasing emphasis is placed on singing expressively with dynamics. Rhythmic reading advances in difficulty, and Orff arrangements become more complex. Fa and ti hand signs are introduced, completing the diatonic scale: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. Students read and write printed notation on do, re, mi, sol and la. Pitch letter names are introduced near the end of the school year as students receive preparatory recorder orientation, learning the fingerings for G, A & B.
Call & Response form is studied from a variety of cultural settings around the world.
THIRD GRADE
Third Graders begin to play the recorder, synthesizing previously learned pitch and rhythm notation as they read musical scores. Students sing in 2-part harmony, and the Rondo form is studied.
Students learn the “nuts and bolts” of written notation as we increasingly use full musical scores for recorder and Orff ensembles. Time signatures, bar lines and measures organize the information as musical vocabulary increases.
Prior experience with 2-part rounds progresses into straightforward 2-part harmony. While the Rondo form is emphasized, a variety of musical styles are explored with a specific focus on the music of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”.
FOURTH GRADE
Fourth Graders learn to read and play an increasing number of pitches on the recorder. Music reading skills are also applied to vocal scores, helping students learn more complex vocal selections. Theme and Variation structure is explored through listening and composing.
Students sing recorder selections with pitch letter names before playing them. As their instrumental skills progress, the simultaneously developing sight-singing skills are applied to exciting 2 and 3 part vocal selections.
Theme and Variation structure is explored with a specific focus on Mozart’s “Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’,” which uses the same melody as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Students sing the French song referenced by Mozart, analyze and sing all five verses of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” write an original verse of their own, read and play the melody with two simple variations on the recorder, then compose and perform their own recorder variation.
FIFTH GRADE
Fifth Graders continue to develop healthy vocal technique, singing increasingly complex choral arrangements. Recorder study progresses and becomes more individualized. Students participate in Music Memory, a study with a culminating competition in the style of “Name That Tune.”
Proper choral techniques develop as students continue to sing in head voice (light and high) and chest voice (speaking voice range). Cambiata, or the changing voice, is discussed in preparation for Middle School.
Recorder selections increase in difficulty with advanced options for students who desire to play more difficult literature. Music Memory is an in-depth study of sixteen composers and musical selections from various style periods: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary and sometimes Jazz. A culminating grade-wide competition invites students to “Name That Tune” based on audio excerpts.
In Kindergarten, students experience a rhythmic and tonal language upon which future skills and concepts will be built.
Opposites in music are explored, specifically loud/soft, fast/slow, high/low. The ability to feel steady beat is fundamental, and movement is emphasized. Singing games employ the Kodaly approach, introducing many songs composed primarily of sol, mi and la. Simple arrangements are played on Orff instruments and a variety of rhythm instruments.
In the spring, students read sol, mi and la hand signs. They are eventually introduced to a 2 line modified staff on which they notate high and low pitches (sol and mi). Rhythmically, students are able to read quarter notes, quarter rests and 8th notes.
FIRST GRADE
First Grade students delve deeper into reading the language introduced in Kindergarten. Verse and refrain structure, common in folk and pop songs, is highlighted. Students develop aural and visual identification of common orchestral instruments.
Singing games continue in the 1st grade, often accompanied by Orff and rhythm instruments. Students become more comfortable reading quarter notes, quarter rests and 8th notes, then half notes, half rests, whole notes and whole rests are added. Re and do hand signs are introduced (both low and high do), and students read and write printed notation on mi, sol, and la.
Verse and refrain structure is emphasized along with simple AB and ABA forms. Prominent orchestral instruments are studied, culminating in the recognition of instruments and themes in “Peter and the Wolf”.
SECOND GRADE
Second Graders are introduced to vocal harmony by singing in rounds. Call and Response form is studied.
Students perform in 2-part canon (rounds) through chant, instruments and singing. Increasing emphasis is placed on singing expressively with dynamics. Rhythmic reading advances in difficulty, and Orff arrangements become more complex. Fa and ti hand signs are introduced, completing the diatonic scale: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. Students read and write printed notation on do, re, mi, sol and la. Pitch letter names are introduced near the end of the school year as students receive preparatory recorder orientation, learning the fingerings for G, A & B.
Call & Response form is studied from a variety of cultural settings around the world.
THIRD GRADE
Third Graders begin to play the recorder, synthesizing previously learned pitch and rhythm notation as they read musical scores. Students sing in 2-part harmony, and the Rondo form is studied.
Students learn the “nuts and bolts” of written notation as we increasingly use full musical scores for recorder and Orff ensembles. Time signatures, bar lines and measures organize the information as musical vocabulary increases.
Prior experience with 2-part rounds progresses into straightforward 2-part harmony. While the Rondo form is emphasized, a variety of musical styles are explored with a specific focus on the music of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”.
FOURTH GRADE
Fourth Graders learn to read and play an increasing number of pitches on the recorder. Music reading skills are also applied to vocal scores, helping students learn more complex vocal selections. Theme and Variation structure is explored through listening and composing.
Students sing recorder selections with pitch letter names before playing them. As their instrumental skills progress, the simultaneously developing sight-singing skills are applied to exciting 2 and 3 part vocal selections.
Theme and Variation structure is explored with a specific focus on Mozart’s “Variations on ‘Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman’,” which uses the same melody as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Students sing the French song referenced by Mozart, analyze and sing all five verses of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” write an original verse of their own, read and play the melody with two simple variations on the recorder, then compose and perform their own recorder variation.
FIFTH GRADE
Fifth Graders continue to develop healthy vocal technique, singing increasingly complex choral arrangements. Recorder study progresses and becomes more individualized. Students participate in Music Memory, a study with a culminating competition in the style of “Name That Tune.”
Proper choral techniques develop as students continue to sing in head voice (light and high) and chest voice (speaking voice range). Cambiata, or the changing voice, is discussed in preparation for Middle School.
Recorder selections increase in difficulty with advanced options for students who desire to play more difficult literature. Music Memory is an in-depth study of sixteen composers and musical selections from various style periods: Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary and sometimes Jazz. A culminating grade-wide competition invites students to “Name That Tune” based on audio excerpts.