Grade Level Instruments & Curriculum Overview
Kindergarten
Concepts include: loud and quiet, keeping a steady beat, moving to music, same and different, learning to read and perform rhythms like quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes.
Instruments: piano, boomwhackers, drums, xylophones, other percussion
1st grade
Concepts include: loud and quiet, same and different, keeping a beat review from kindergarten in addition to recognizing instruments by sight and sound, making connections between music and literature, reading and performing more rhythmic values, performing in front of peers, and learning solfege.
Instruments: piano, boomwhackers, drums, xylophones, other percussion
2nd grade
Concepts include: Moving and responding to music, beginning to use solfege to learn pitches on the treble clef, making connections between music and literature, learning and performing more complex rhythms, learning practicing and critical thinking skills, and performing in front of peers.
Instruments: piano, boomwhackers, drums, xylophones, other percussion
3rd grade
Concepts include: reading pitches on the treble clef, learning to practice and refine playing for performance, performing in front of peers, providing and receiving constructive feedback, recognizing instruments by sight and sound, and making connections to literature.
Instruments: Recorder (in Trimester 2), piano, boomwhackers, xylophones, and other percussion
4th grade:
Concepts include: continuing to read and interpret notes and symbols on the treble clef and in sheet music, reading other notation styles, learning about musical structure and theory, learning about form and the "anatomy" of a song, connecting to music in their lives outside of school, making connections between music, history, and literature, and practicing independently.
Instruments: Ukulele (in Trimester 2-3), piano, boomwhackers, xylophones, and other percussion
5th grade:
Concepts include: continuing to read and interpret more notes and symbols on the treble clef and in sheet music, reading other notation styles, making connections between music, history, and literature, learning more complicated music theory concepts and "anatomy" of a song, learning more about different composers, practicing and refining music independently for performance, and preparing other necessary skills for middle school music.
Instruments: Ukulele (in Trimester 2-3), piano, boomwhackers, xylophones, and other percussion