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K-5 Scope and Sequence

We use a combination of the Kodály method and Orff-Schulwerk in music class every day.
We use a spiral curriculum in music class, meaning we are constantly scaffolding upon past knowledge and there are no "cut-and-dry" units. Once we learn a concept, we will continue to regularly practice that concept throughout the rest of the K-5 scope and sequence while building on high levels of musicianship.
See below for what students will learn by the end of each grade level in music.
Ss xylos.jpg

Kindergarten

  • Steady beat and reading symbols for beat

  • Our four voice types (calling, speaking, whispering, singing)

  • Finding our singing voices and singing a minor 3rd range in tune

  • Contrasts found in music (loud vs. soft, fast vs. slow, high vs. low, same vs. different)

  • Exploring the different sounds created by our classroom instruments, learning proper playing technique, and using body percussion

  • Echoing short melodic and rhythmic phrases

  • Responding to music through visual art and movement

  • Directed listening to a varied repertoire for different instruments, sounds, and musical concepts

  • A vast variety and large repertoire of folk songs from around the world that are paired with singing, instruments, games, and movement, and always connected directly to musical concepts

1st Grade

  • Rhythm: quarter notes (ta), eighth notes (ti-ti), rest, and repeat sign

  • Melody: sol, mi, and la on the staff

  • Playing and improvising on the xylophones and unpitched percussion

  • Continuing with more musical vocabulary, including learning the instruments of the orchestra

  • Directed listening to a varied repertoire for different instruments, timbres, and musical concepts

  • A vast variety and large repertoire of folk songs from around the world that are paired with singing, instruments, games, and movement, and always connected directly to musical concepts

2nd Grade

  • Rhythm: half notes (two-oo), half rests, whole notes (who-o-o-ole), whole rests

  • Melody: do and re on the staff

  • Exploring duple versus triple meter

  • Performing accompaniments on our xylophones

  • More musical vocabulary

  • Directed listening to a varied repertoire for different instruments, sounds, and musical concepts

  • A vast variety and large repertoire of folk songs from around the world that are paired with singing, instruments, games, and movement, and always connected directly to musical concepts

3rd Grade

  • Rhythm: sixteenth notes (takadimi)

  • Melody: high do on the staff (extended pentatonic scale)

  • Performing more difficult accompaniments on our xylophones

  • Improvising on our classroom instruments and begin to play in our pentatonic scale

  • Being able to identify instruments of the orchestra

  • Performing in different textures (small group, large group, etc.)

  • Duple versus triple meter

  • Begin to sing using ostinati and in rounds

  • Beginning listening journals to respond verbally to musical sounds

  • Learning new music vocabulary and furthering musical literacy

  • A vast variety and large repertoire of folk songs from around the world that are paired with singing, instruments, games, and movement, and always connected directly to musical concepts

4th Grade

  • Rhythm: syncopation (ti-ta-ti)

  • Melody: low la on the staff (introducing minor mode)

  • Performing more difficult accompaniments on our xylophones

  • Improvising on our classroom instruments and begin to play fluently in the extended pentatonic scale

  • Performing in different textures, including in canon and rounds

  • Continuing exploration with duple versus triple meter

  • Begin to learn absolute pitch names on the staff with our treble clef

  • Applying all of our rhythms and melodic elements by beginning recorders

  • Learning new music vocabulary and furthering musical literacy

  • A vast variety and large repertoire of folk songs from around the world that are paired with singing, instruments, games, and movement, and always connected directly to musical concepts

5th Grade

  • Rhythm: eighth-sixteenth combos (tiri-ti, ti-tiri), dotted quarter-eighth (tom-ti)

  • Melody: low sol on staff (extended pentatonic and I-V chord progression)

  • Performing more difficult accompaniments on our xylophones

  • Improvising on our classroom instruments and play fluently in the several different pentatonic scales

  • Performing in different textures, including in canon and partner songs

  • Continuing exploration with duple versus triple meter

  • Continue practicing absolute pitch names on the treble clef staff

  • Learning different meters

  • Beginning our journey through Western music history

  • Learning new musical vocabulary and furthering musical literacy

  • A vast variety and large repertoire of folk songs from around the world that are paired with singing, instruments, games, and movement, and always connected directly to musical concepts

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Kindergartners pose at our annual
all-school sing-along

1st graders work hard on building
rhythmic patterns containing ta and ti-ti

2nd graders play singing games in the courtyard outside of the music room

3rd graders use the SMART Board to arrange rhythmic patterns containing sixteenth notes to play on their drums

4th graders collaborate with each other to practice playing their recorders

5th graders build and learn to play dulcimers with Ross Sutter, an artist-in-residence

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