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Curriculum Information What Exactly Do We Do In Music Class? The short answer to this question is that in music class we sing, play instruments, and learn about how music works. But there's more to it than that - music at Independence is based on the Francis Howell Elementary Music Curriculum, revised and adopted by our school district in the 2001-2002 school year. Our district's music curriculum reflects Missouri's Show Me Standards, and the National Standards for music education. Our Elementary Music Curriculum is based on students learning eight main concepts: 1. Rhythm - for Ex.: beat, rhythmic notation, playing rhythmic patterns on instruments, time signatures, improvising rhythms 2. Melody - for Ex.: matching pitch, relationship of pitches to each other, types of melodic movement, playing and singing melodies, improvising/composing melodies 3. Harmony - for Ex.: performing accompaniments, learning to sing and play rounds, melodies with an ostinato, echo harmony, partner songs, counter-melodies, simple harmonic theory 4. Properties of Sound - for Ex.: dynamics, expression, distinguishing between types of singing voices, families of instruments, tone quality 5. Texture and Form - for Ex.: recognizing sounds that are the same or different; form (structure of songs/compositions), solo vs. group, types of form: AB, ABA, rondo, sonata 6. History and Culture - relationship of music to society, function of music, multicultural music, music of famous composers, music of American composers, musical styles 7. Dance - movement activities, showing form of music with movement and dance, expressive movement, role of dance in culture, dance and movement vocabulary 8. Theatre - pretending, communicating meaning of songs, response to music, stage directions, theatre vocabulary, stage directions, character analysis, performance evaluation These eight concepts are geared towards students increasing in skill level in each of the eight areas. The curriculum model designed to increase skill level throughout all conceptual areas as students get older is also known as a spiral curriculum. If you'd ever like to see a copy of our district's elementary music curriculum, just ask Mr. Gibbs or Mr. McDade - we have copies in our rooms. For more information on curriculums in the Francis Howell School District, go to the Francis Howell School District web site: www.fhsd.k12.mo.us Our curriculum is also designed to align with the Missouri Show Me Standards for Fine Arts. Our curriculum is designed to allow students to attain these five goals of the Missouri Show Me Standards: 1. Artistic Perception - demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of the fine arts through varied forms of expression. 2. Creative Expression - create or perform in various art forms within specific guidelines. 3. Historical and Cultural Context - understand various works within the historical and cultural context in which they were created. 4. Aesthetics, Analysis and Criticism - analyze, critique and evaluate works in the arts. 5. Connections, Relations Integrations - connect and apply what is learned in each art form to other arts and disciplines. For more information on Missouri's Show Me Standards, go to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education web site: www.dese.state.mo.us In addition, our curriculum seeks to reflect the National Standards for Music Education, developed by the largest organization of music teachers in America, Music Educators National Conference. The National Standards state that in music classes, students should be involved in the following activities: 1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music 2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines 5. Reading and notating music 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music 7. Evaluating music and music performances For more information on the National Standards and Music Educators National Conference, go to the Music Educators National Conference web site: www.menc.org Two methods/approaches commonly used in many elementary classrooms are the Kodaly method and the Orff-Schulwerk approach. Elements of both the Kodaly method and the Orff approach are integrated into the Francis Howell Elementary Music curriculum, and are used at Independence Elementary. To find out more about Kodaly or Orff, click on the links below. Click on the links below to find out more about what we do in music at each grade level. Click on the flag below to take you to the Home page.
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