Grade 1 Music

Artistic development at ACS is guided by the National Core Arts Standards. In the Elementary division, these standards are taught in Drama and Dance, Music, and Visual Arts (Art) classes. The standards are divided into 4 key areas: Creating, Performing/Presenting/Producing, Responding, and Connecting.

The focus for Elementary Music at ACS is to continue to develop units of instruction and assessments for our four Artistic Processes: (1) making meaningful expression such as performing on an instrument or singing (​PERFORMING),​ (2) expressing personal ideas by composing or improvising music (​CREATING​), (3) responding to music such as critiquing the work we hear (​RESPONDING​), (4) interpreting symbolic expression by different disciplines, cultures, and history (​CONNECTING​). The integration of technology with music-specific digital tools is ongoing to enhance the learning opportunities for all students, “Communicate effectively for a given purpose” and “Recognize and respect other cultural context and points of view”.

All students will develop knowledge of the varied career pathways that can be accomplished while participating in core music.

All students will prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

As a means of having a uniform teaching approach and methodology for core music, grades KG1 - 5, the music curriculum program created by Dr. John Feierabend will be utilized. A national leader in music education, Dr. Feierabend is ProfessorEmeritus of Music Education at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and is a past President of the Organization of American KodályEducators.

First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond[​ 1] is Feierabend’s text for Pre-K through the end of 1s​ t grade. Its focus is developing singing and movement skills, and it is rich in traditional folk music. The design encourages students to be “tuneful, beatful, and artful” (p.10). He suggests the following “musical workout:”

1.​2.3.4.

​Pitch Exploration

Song Fragments (echo/call & response songs)Simple Songs

Arioso (Child-created Tunes)

5. SongTales (songs that tell a story)6. Movement Exploration

7. Movement for Form and Expression8. Movement with the Beat

This methodology, the Pre-K/Kindergarten and Grade 1 Core Music Units of Instruction include three strands—Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful.[1]​ Feierabend, John. ​First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2003.

Click ​Music At-a-Glance for the National Core Arts Standards for MusicClick ​National Core Arts Standards ​to learn more about the Arts Standards. Click here to view the What We Learn - Grade 1 infograph. Click here for this year's ES Music Curriculum Overview

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand what it means to be...

• Tuneful - How we use our voice

• Beatful - Feeling the pulse/beat

• Artful - Creative exploration in music

Students will understand that...

• Singing and playing an instrument are means of communication, capable of expressing feelings and emotions that surpass the spoken language.

• Humans are born with an instrument for making music-the voice.

• Playing an instrument allows a musician to express musical ideas that exceed the range, timbre, and dynamics of the voice.

• The depth of musical knowledge one possesses impacts how, and to what degree, one analyzes, describes, and evaluates music.

• The music to which one has been exposed influences one’s musical preferences.

• People listen to music for a variety of reasons (e.g. to be energized, to gain focus, to enhance or alter a current emotional state, to entertain).

• Listening to music evokes emotions, whether or not one has chosen to listen to it.

• Music connects us to the past, present, and future

Essential Questions

Students will consider...

Performing

• Why do we sing? (Lesson 2/3)

• In what ways is singing easier than playing an instrument? In what ways is playing an instrument easier than singing?

• How does having an audience impact the performers? Is the audience an essential component of a performance?

• How is making music in a group different than making music by oneself?

• In what ways is making music by oneself more fulfilling than making music with a group?

• In what ways is making music with a group more fulfilling than making music by oneself?

Responding

• Why do we listen to music?

• Why do we like the music we like?

• How can we be open to liking music we do not understand?

• How does familiarity with a piece of music affect how we respond?

Connecting

• Why is some music timeless?

• How does my artistic work connect to other subjects I study?

Skills

Students will be able to...

• Identify, demonstrate, and differentiate between the four different ways of using the voice— speaking, singing, shouting, and whispering

• Echo song fragments and rhymes

• Explore pitch using vocal sliding activities (glissandi)

• Sing songs/say rhymes while maintaining a steady beat

• Hear sounds that are high and low, loud and soft, and fast and slow

• Listen and respond to teacher-performed “song tales"

• Make connections between music they hear in class and music/activities in their daily lives

I Can Statements

Creating

Imagine

1. How do musicians create?

   • I can create different words to a song.

   • I can create rhythm patterns

Plan and Make

1. How do musicians make musical choices?

   • I can create different words to a song.

   • I can create rhythm patterns.

Evaluate and Refine

1. How do musicians improve their creations?

   • I can revise my plan for a composition.

   • I can revise my plan for an arrangement.

Present

1. When is creative work ready to share with others?

   • I can perform my composition.

   • I can perform my arrangement.

Performing

Select

1. How do musicians select music to perform?

   • I can select two pieces of music to perform.

   • I can explain why I selected two pieces of music to perform.

Analyze

1. How does understanding music help us improve our performance?

   • I can tell same and different.

   • I can describe the different between beat and rhythm.

Interpret

1. How do performers interpret music?

   • I can choose how to interpret a piece of music.

Rehearse, Evaluate and Refine

1. How do musicians improve their performances?

   • I can revise my plan for a composition.

   • I can revise my plan for an arrangement.

2. What is the purpose of beat?

   • I can keep a steady beat.

   • I can track the beat.

3. Why do we sing?

   • I can sing a solo.

   • I can match my teacher's voice.

4. How can we sing well?

   • I can sing a solo.

   • I can match my teacher's voice.

5. Why do we make music?

   • I can create different words to a song.

   • I can create rhythm patterns.

   • I can sing a solo.

6. Why do we move to music?

   • I can do a circle dance.

   • I can move in many different ways.

Present

1. When is a performance ready to be performed?

   • I can perform for others.

Responding

Select

1. How do people choose music in which they'd like to listen?

   • I can explain what I like about a piece of music.

2. How does understanding music change how a listener responds?

   • I can explain why I like a piece of music.

   • I can discuss what I hear in a piece of music.

   • I can analyze how musical elements affect the performances of musical pieces.

Analyze

1. How does understanding the structure and context of music inform a response?

2. How do dynamics and tempo change a piece of music?

   • I can tell between fast and slow.

   • I can tell between loud and quiet.

Interpret

1. How do we tell what a musician or composer means?

   • I can discuss what I think a piece of music is about.

Evaluate

1. How do we judge the quality of a piece of music or performance?

   • I can justify my evaluation of a performance.

No Anchor Standard Available

1. Why do we write down music?

   • I can write rhythm patterns

   • I can write melodic patterns

2. Why do we read music?

   • I can read rhythm patterns

   • I can read melodic patterns

3. How does and audience change how a musician performs?

   • I can show good audience behavior.

Connecting

1. How do musicians make connections to creating, performing and listening?

   • I can make connections to creating, performing and listening.

2. How do the other arts and subjects change how we create, perform and listen to music?

   • I can connect music and art.

   • I can connect music and language arts.

   • I can connect music and math.

   • I can connect music and science.

3. How does our daily life change how we create, perform and listen to music?

   • I can describe how sound and music is used every day.

4. How are patterns in music similar to those in other subjects?

   • I can connect music and art.

   • I can connect music and language arts.

5. How are music and culture related?

   • I can sing songs from around the world.

6. How can music and technology work together?

   • I can discuss how musicians can use technology.

   • I can discuss how composers use technology.

Skills

Students will be able to...

• Perform/respond to music by using age appropriate movements and movement themes (based on suggested movement repertoire)

• Perform a variety of age-appropriate folk dance movements and folk dances while singing

• Recognize patterns in movements and their connection to musical form

• Make connections between movements and dances to other disciplines (math, language arts, social studies, geography, P.E., art), cultures and their daily lives