AIMS of MUSIC Education

I wrote our AIMS statement in 2008 to articulate a framework of sorts from our curriculum development process in North Chicago.

Overall there are two broad understandings of music education that have been articulated by the National Standards for Arts Education:

• Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside of the arts (#8)
• Understanding music in relation to history and culture (#9)

To achieve understanding, we engage in activities and build skills in Performance, Composition, and Analysis.

Performance is the traditional element of music education, however, I believe the composition and analysis elements are what grab kids that wouldn't otherwise be grabbed by a traditional music education.

Performance

At the heart of music learning process is performing. Students need opportunities to perform, alone and with a group, vocal and instrumental music from a variety of historical periods and cultures. This goal aligns with the following national standards in Arts Education:

• Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music (#1)
• Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music (#2)
• Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments (#3)

Composition

Performance helps students create a sound concept of good singing and playing. With a solid sound-concept, students can next begin to practice music reading and writing. The process of reading and creating music allows student a better understanding of the parts of music for using in analysis.

• Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines (#4)
• Reading and notating music (#5)

Analysis

Analyzing means breaking music apart into its parts in order to understand the whole. Only students with a solid background in performance and composition can effectively break music apart for better understanding. This goal aligns with the following national standards in Arts Education:

• Listening to, analyzing, and describing music (#6)
• Evaluating music and music performances (#7)

Curriculum Summaries

We don't have recent written curriculum documents for music in North Chicago, so I took my aims document and sketched in some more grade specific objectives.

Kindergarten – Graduating students will be able to:

Kindergarten and first grade focus on steady beat and pitch, however, I also augment the instrument study with guest musical artists and lots of short video clips of famous instrumentalists.

• Move with steady beat to rhythms with shorter duration note values, (25.a),
• Read and notate simple songs with quarter note, eighth note pair patterns,
• Sing a variety of simple songs with good pitch in English and Spanish,
• Make music with a group of their peers using common practices,
• Recognize by sight and sound basic classical music instruments, and (26.a.1c)
• Describe basic musical styles like lullabies and marches. (25.b)

First Grade – Graduating students will be able to:

• Move with a steady beat to rhythms with longer duration note values,
• Read and notate simple songs with half notes and whole notes,
• Sing a variety of simple songs with dynamic changes and expression in English and Spanish,
• Sing and perform instruments with a group of their peers using common practices,
• Recognize by sight and sound all of the standard classical music instruments, (26.a.1c)
• Describe basic musical ensembles band, orchestra, and choir and their appropriate uses in society and culture.

Second Grade – Graduating Students will be able to:

NOTE: I am in the process of revising this because we have been much more successful in recorder study than listed below.

• Sing music with more complex rhythmic structures using sixteenth notes and dotted-rhythms using Spanish, Latin, and English,
• Read and notate simple music on a recorder using G, A, B, and First grade rhythms,
• Group instruments by common traits and attributes into instrument families,
• Explain the different elements and structures in ballet performances, and
• Describe the roll of Gospel and Spiritual music in African-American community and the larger history of music.

Third Grade – Graduating student will be able to:

We spend considerable time continuing our recorder study and diving more deeply into composition.

• Read and notate music on a recorder using a full-range of pitches and rhythms,
• Sing and translate simple music in Spanish, Latin, and French, and more involved music in English,
• Sing and play music that uses more discriminating expressive elements involving dynamics and tempo
• Analyze simple classical forms to describe rhythm variations, rounds, string quartets, and symphonies, and
• Differentiate instrumental music into symphony and string quartets.

Fourth Grade – Graduating student will be able to:

We have not successful implemented the piano studies (4-5) portion of this plan. The kids especially enjoy the jazz portion of the program.

• Read and notate simple music for vocal performance using a full-range of pitches and rhythms,
• Sing and translate music in two-parts in Spanish, Latin, French, German, and English,
• Play simple musical examples on the piano, and
• Compare and contrast early American popular music styles and performers.

Fifth Grade – Graduating students will be able to:

The popular music study has been extremely successful at connecting with kids, especially our look at artists like Elvis and The Beatles.

• Read and notate music for vocal performance using a full-range of pitches, rhythms, and expressive elements,
• Sing and translate music in two or more parts in Spanish, Latin, French, German, and English,
• Play more involved examples on the piano, and
• Compare and contrast modern popular music styles and performers.

Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS)

I took the ideas from my study of PBIS to create a program catered to the unique needs of the music room.

Program Aims

This document represents as simple approach as possible for maintaining a safe, high achieving, and respectful music classroom. Additionally, the behavior management system must be simple to use, provide actionable student data, and provide a method for auditing numbers and outcomes.

The Situation

Classes attend music lessons two to three times a week for 25 minute sessions. As a result, there is very little time to deal with students who distract the class, lose focus, or endanger.  There are very few situations when students forcefully threaten other students or teachers.  The biggest problems are negative attitudes that can distract other students and create an environment harmful to learning.

PBIS Framework

The PBIS Framework encourages teachers to proactively identify positive student behaviors in different situations, actively teach and recognize these behaviors, and keep careful track of infractions in order to provide interventions against future problems. To help understand the environment, PBIS recommends breaking the teaching environment down into different areas where there are clearly defined positive behaviors and outlining them in the Behavior Matrix (See Appendix). Using this matrix, we will be able to identify students that are achieving positive behavior and recognize them for it.

Tier 1 Interventions

I am focusing on Tier 1 interventions this school year. I also have classroom rules that define the lowest common boundaries of behavior (no touching), whereas PBIS works to build positive behaviors. Kids that misbehave are dealt with quickly and effectively while also reinforcing positive behavior.

Interventions can be supports for both positive or negative behavior.  We want to both support positive behavior, and take action against problems. Tier 1 interventions should meet the needs of nearly 80% of the kids in the class.

The Tally Board (Tier 1) – We will create a large tally board on music room board. Classes will receive up to 5-points towards a recognition event (probably a short movie) for demonstrating positive behavior. The tally board will also create a bit of positive rivalry between the classes.  Classes receive 1 point for meeting all of the positive behavior criteria for each section of the matrix.

Timeout (Tier 1, K-1) – Students will be separated from their classmates by temporarily moving them to a different chair for a chance to watch other students who are being successful in class.

Short Reflection (Tier 1, 2-5) – Students that are caught not meeting expectations will be given a short reflection assignment based on their problem or issue. This written reflection should be completed the same day and returned to the music teacher.

Positive Music Behaviors Matrix

	Entrance	Warm-ups	Singing / Instruments	Listening / Watching Activities	Art Activities	Dismissal
K1	Enter quietly. Sit in an assigned seat.	Everyone participates. Silent stretching. Everyone tries to sing the warm-up.	Good singing voice. Good posture. Stay still.	Sit quietly. Pay attention to the speaker or movie. Ask questions at the end of the event.	Make a line to get your supplies. Take only as much as you need. Work at your chair. Clean-up after yourself.	Wait to be called. Fix your chair. Line up quietly.
2-5	Make a line to pick up supplies.		Take care of your music. Ask questions at the end of the song.			Wait to be called. Fix your chair. Check your belongings. Line up quietly.