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Round Valley Arts Curriculum

I. ARTISTIC PERCEPTION

Students sing together and continue to learn how music communicates without words. As they sing, listen, play, talk, and write, they increase their musical awareness of:

1.      Four musical elements (Listening to segments and whole recordings, students identify these elements, and give examples.)

·        Melody

·        Rhythmic patterns

·        Harmony (two or more notes sounding simultaneously)

·        Form (call-and-response, repeated chorus, verse-chorus structure, Iyrics that rhyme in patterns)

2.      Expressive and topical themes and functions (Listening to music, students list the themes and functions heard.)

·        Themes in songs (happy, sad, angry, thoughtful, love, animals, growing up)

·        Functions of music (dance, ceremonies, work, storytelling)

3.      Instrument groupings for orchestra, band, chamber orchestra: brass, percussion, chamber, and symphonic.

4.      Vocal groupings for choir/chorus.

Students observe a short concert, or demonstration, of one or more instruments by a visiting musician or older student.

Students use these terms:

II. CREATIVE EXPRESSION

Students experience the social pleasure of singing together. They sing songs they know and like, and learn new songs related to familiar places, activities, and situations, developing skills through:

1.      Singing-learning songs by imitation and example.

·        Folk songs.

·        Created lyric lines which relate to contemporary times.

2.      Playing school-made instruments from found objects.

·        Invent a sound track for a favorite story.

·        Explore ways sounds can be altered.

·        Make an instrument produce tones of varying color by striking, plucking, bowing, or holding the instrument differently.

3.      Moving to music.

·        Square dancing

·        Folk dancing

4.      Listening-exploring basic music notation.

·        Draw melodic contour of simple melodies.

·        Match the melodic contour of what is heard with a written version of the example.

5.      Performing participate in simple performances of new skills for classmates and families.

III. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT

Students expand knowledge of music and cultural histories of families and the community. They attend performances, observe demonstrations of musicians and hear recordings. They listen to, sing, talk, and write about:

1.      a broad range of American music, including folk songs, brass bands, popular music, jazz, classical, bluegrass, ethnic and regional music,

2.      famous composers such as Stephen Foster, Chopin, and Beethoven,

3.      orchestral music such as Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite,"

4.      their favorite musicians, their parents' and grandparents' favorite musicians; they write reports using record jacket notes, magazine articles, etc., as well as their own critical evaluations,

5.      ways music is made in Mendocino County.

IV. AESTHETIC VALUING

Students continue to reflect on making and listening to music, talking and writing about:

1.      the difference between a live performance and a recording,

2.      dynamics, balance, style, tempo, rhythm, and mood of a piece of music (a critique),

3.      how classroom performance can be improved,

4.      which musical composition should be selected as "music-of-the-month."

V. CONNECTIONS, RELATIONS, APPLICATIONS

Students understand relationships between the arts and with disciplines outside of the arts by:

1.      having access to practice and composition computer hardware with appropriate supporting software and instructions,

2.      being introduced to the physics and mathematics inherent in the production of musical tones,

3.      creating melody and words that will enhance studies of history and literature,

4.      experiencing music through the use of technology, including CDROM, video, CD, etc.