PK-12 Curriculum Overview (Part 1)

Overview:

At my current teaching position, I am responsible for teaching all of the elementary music classes, as well as all of the junior high and high school band and choir classes. While this can be quite a challenge, it is also a great opportunity to develop musicianship from the earliest levels of instruction.

The goal of any curriculum is to provide a foundation for making educational decisions on "when" to teach "what". A curriculum is a framework, or skeleton, of the educational process - not the entire building itself. In other words, a curriculum needs to be an ordered generalization of subjects, skills, and concepts that leads to "comprehensive musicianship."

This curriculum plan covers all music classes in preschool through high school, including band and choir at the junior high and high school levels, and elementary music. The elementary music is split into three levels: PK and K, 1st and 2nd grade, and 3rd and 4th grade. The secondary music classes are split into two groups: band and choir.

Preschool and Kindergarten:

Young students come from many backgrounds and may or may not have had musical experiences before entering school. The goal of beginning elementary music classes is to acculturate the students to authentic, high-quality musical experiences. Acculturating means to expose the children to music of various styles and to provide opportunities for them to assimilate and understand music through listening, moving, singing, and playing instruments. At this level, there is less focus on formal evaluation of skill and understanding. Instead, the focus is on allowing the child to experience music and to begin developing musical skills such as audiation (hearing and understanding in the mind), rhythm, pitch, and movement, while also providing the child with culturally appropriate musical experiences through singing and listening to folk songs and other types of music.

1st and 2nd Grade:

Intermediate elementary music students should continue to focus on culturally appropriate musical experiences while beginning to develop more complex musical skills. These skills include performing music with multiple parts, singing accurately and with good tone, and performing rhythms accurately. Concepts include basic music theory such as understanding pitch and rhythm through solfege and rhythm syllables, as well as being introduced to musical notation for these concepts. The intermediate music classes should continue to expand on the variety of repertoire that was experienced in beginning music classes through listening, singing, moving, and playing instruments.

3rd and 4th Grade:

Advanced elementary music students are expected to develop important skills and understand important concepts for individual musicianship, as well as continuing to experience a broad variety of music. At this level, students are introduced to the recorder as a way to practice reading notation. Singing skills should also continue to be developed, including the reading of musical notation. More difficult skills and concepts are introduced at this level, focusing on both ensemble skills and individual skills. Ensemble skills may include dancing, performing two-part songs, and following a conductor. Individual skills include reading notation, performing rhythms and pitches accurately on instruments, and singing accurately with a good tone. Advanced elementary students continue to experience a variety of music from different genres such as classical, folk, popular, jazz, and music from other countries.