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Music

Music class at Shannon Park provides students with opportunities to actively engage with a wide variety of musical genres and traditions. District 196’s curriculum for elementary music aligns with the national music standards of Create, Perform, Respond, and Connect. Students take part in music class one or two times a week for fifty minutes.

 

 

Image of Henry Rieffer

Grade Level Highlights

  • Kindergarten music focuses on the concepts of musical opposites– High & Low, Loud & Soft, Fast & Slow. Students work on developing singing voices and learning foundational skills on classroom instruments through play and exploration.
  • In First Grade students focus on developing pitch-matching skills and begin reading and writing music using various methods of notation. Students refine skills on our instruments and learn the solfege pitches Mi, Sol, and La. We look forward to sharing what our students learn in music class at our Family Music Night in February.
  • In Second Grade students expand their solfege knowledge to include the pentatonic scale. Students use their knowledge of solfege to learn instrumental parts and create their own music. We look forward to sharing our students’ achievements at our Music Showcase in January.
  • In Third Grade students continue to work with solfege, learning the entire major scale. Students take a deep-dive into the world of orchestral music, learning about each of the instrument families and taking a field trip to see the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall. Students learn to play chords and melodies on the ukulele, and perform songs using their voices and instruments at our Music Showcase in May.
  • In Fourth Grade students take a big leap in our instrumental music, by learning to read traditional notation and playing the recorder. Students progress through a modified version of the Recorder Karate curriculum, earning “belts” along the way. We look forward to sharing our students’ musical skills at our Music Showcase in May.
  • In Fifth Grade students explore the world music technology, more advanced choral repertoire, and instruments of the modern rock band. Students take a field trip to Rosemount High School to perform music with their Concert Choir, and have the opportunity to share that music with families at our Music Showcase in January. Students learn to be critical consumers of music and continue to develop their skills for a lifetime of music.