1 Week

2-4 Weeks

Opening Week
Syllabus and letter to parents
Rules and Expectations

Reading and writing music

Construction of staff
Recognizing of notes
Understanding Rhythmic
Notation

How does a musician act?

What is music and how does it affect our lives?

Is music a language?
How does music help us express ourselves?
Why do we notate music on a staff?

Community Service

Human Ingenuity

Collection of signed return
letters to parents
A: Knowledge and Understanding

Use of student-generated mnemonic devices
Accuracy of note recognition
Following instruction
Demonstration of rhythm (clapping)
A: Knowledge and Understanding
B. Application

2-4 Weeks

2 Weeks

The Instrument Families and their Members

Demonstrate all wind, percussion, and string instruments to students.

Students select their preferred instrument.

Obtaining Instruments

Students contact local music stores and inquire about rental prices.

Students who need school instruments are provided with them.

Why does music make us feel happy/sad?

Can sound have color?

What is my musical "voice"?

Human Ingenuity

Community Service
Environment

Can the students identify the instruments and their familes?
Does the student show natural ability on any one instrument?
The student will understand what causes instruments to have their own "color"
A: Knowledge and Understanding 
B. Application 

Collection of signed letters to parents.

Was the student efficient in their dealings with the music stores?
B. Application 

2-4 Weeks

3-6 Weeks

Intro to Basic Technique

Students learn correct position and embouchure
For their specific instrument.

Students learn to produce proper tone.

Note Acquisition

Students use their new musical literacy to produce different notes.

What are fundamentals?
Why are they important?

What makes notes sound different from one another?
Do high notes and low notes "feel" different?

Human Ingenuity

Human Ingenuity

Did the student produce a good tone?
Are the feet on the floor?
Embouchures should reflect good practice habits.
A: Knowledge and Understanding
B. Application

Is the student recognizing the notes visually?
Are they listening to the feedback their ears give them regarding the correctness of each note?
A: Knowledge and Understanding
B. Application

3-5 Weeks

Rhythm Acquisition

Notes of different lengths, and the silences between them are examined

Songs are learned.

What is the most important element of music?
Is rhythm in speech important?

Human Ingenuity

Tone should be improving.
Students will apply counting to their skill set, making the notes sound like songs.
Are the tunes recognizable when interpreted by the student?
B. Application
C: Reflection and Evaluation

2 Weeks

3-5 Weeks

6 Weeks

Musical Terms

Italian expression markings for tempo, volume, emotion and form are examined.

These are applied to the students' performances of songs. 

Polyphony

Simple harmony and polyphonic playing.

.

Polyrhthmic Development

The playing of independent rhythms by different instrument families simultaneously is examined

How does music help us express ourselves?

Why does it make us feel happy / sad?

Why are musical terms in Italian?

What is harmony?

What is dissonance?

Is music more interesting or less interesting when it is complex?

How do I listen to others and play independently simultaneously?

Human Ingenuity
Health/ Social

Human Ingenuity

Community Service
Environment

Students will demonstrate understanding of expression through enhanced performance.

Students will recognize a stronger emotional impact in each other's performances.
A: Knowledge and Understanding
B. Application
D. Artistic Awareness and Personal Engagement

Students will experiment with playing two or three notes together to form chords.
Students will demonstrate an ability to play independent lines that interact with other lines being played simultaneously.
A: Knowledge and Understanding
B. Application

Students will demonstrate an ability to count and play rhythms independently of other rhythms being played.
B. Application
D. Artistic Awareness and Personal Engagement