When children have had successive years of well planned and delivered general music instruction and have actively participated in these experiences, the outcome can be very substantial in terms of their skill level, knowledge, and competency with reading/writing, singing, performing, moving, composing/improvising, and listening to music. Thus, in a 25-minute K music class, you could expect to change activities 5 times to maximize the attention span and learning capabilities of the students. Hence, 5-year-olds can typically be expected to focus for 5 minutes on singing or moving before they “need” to change activities. A basic “rule of thumb” in designating time to each component is to use one minute of time per activity equal to one year of age of the children. The general music learning experiences should include singing, moving, listening, performing, composing/improvising, and reading/writing (literacy) music in each class meeting. None of these should be ignored at any grade level, but rather enhanced in order to demonstrate a higher level of sophistication with each successive grade. It is based on the premise that general music is comprised of the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, and form to which all other musical elements are related. This project is offered as a model or template from which to plan a sequential, meaningful curriculum with fundamental learning experiences for all children. You are encouraged to do some soul-searching in this process and to view other curricula in order to present the best possible curriculum for your program and your students. This is healthy! We should be asking ourselves questions about planning, philosophy, and delivery in order to remain current and effective. If you decide to take the time to work through this process, you will undoubtedly find that you will begin to question the reasons that you deliver curriculum in a certain way. This page is designed to help the educator to formulate, rethink, and refine curriculum to meet the particular needs of his/her students. After reviewing these curricular models, you can begin to work through the process of drafting or refining your curriculum with the following. Certainly, you will want to see The National Standards for Arts Education (MENC, 1994). It would be quite beneficial to familiarize yourself with the curricula offered through your state education departments as well as those presented in the texts. The major general music textbook series provide outlines of curriculum scope and sequence which can be adapted for entire programs. It is designed to provoke thought about the rationale for planning and delivering curriculum, ultimately focusing the philosophy, goals, objectives, lessons, activities, and assessment measures so that each part is directly related to and reflective of every other part of the document. Lawrence, KS page is created to facilitate curriculum development for practicing educators and preservice teachers in the general music setting. Associate Professor, Music Education/Music Therapy
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