Curriculum development in the music room is already happening every day. Yes, you’re a curriculum developer and designer whether you know it or not. When you lesson plan, plan for units, prepare for programs, and use assessments, you’re a curriculum developer. But, maybe you’re wondering “if you’re doing it right” or aren’t sure the steps to take when you sit down to plan both long and short term.
In this blog post, and on episode 231 of The Elementary Music Teacher podcast, I’ll talk about 4 ways you can incorporate curriculum development in the music room. Oh yeah, and make sure to sign up to attend the “How to Design Curriculum for your Elementary Music Classroom” workshop that’s coming up soon.
Goals
When incorporating curriculum development in the music room, the first step is to focus on the goals. What are you wanting your students to achieve and what is the goal of the lessons you’re creating? When you think about this, instead of just teaching a particular lesson, you’ll focus on the goal of the lesson. Is the goal for students to grasp a concept? Is the goal for them to master a skill? Or is the goal for them to wrap up a unit in a final lesson? Every lesson comes with different goals attached to them.
Methods
Just like when planning using an instructional model, various methods are explored when thinking through planning out a lesson or unit in curriculum design as well. If the goal of a lesson is for students to grasp a concept, what method will you use to help them do that? Of course, this will look differently for students in 1st grade verses students in 5th grade. The methods in the music room include anything you do as an activity. This might include singing, playing instruments, using body percussion, doing various movement activities, composing, etc. Of course, more than one method can be used to teach a concept, so sometimes it’s about choosing what you want to do and just starting there.
Materials
Now that you know the goals and the methods behind the lessons you’re teaching, what materials will you need to teach with? If you’re using instruments, don’t just think about the type of instruments you’ll need, but where you’ll put them in the music room. If you’re needing to use scarves for a movement activity, how will you hand the scarves to students and what do they do once they have them in their hands? If you’re wanting to use Chromebooks in the music room for a lesson, how are the computers getting to you? Knowing ahead of time what you need and how you’ll use the materials is something to think through when lesson planning.
Assessment
Of course, assessment is a huge part of incorporating curriculum development in the music room. Once you’ve taught a lesson, how will you check for student understanding? Assessment shouldn’t just be something tacked onto the end of a lesson. This is something that is ongoing and should be embedded throughout the lesson. Go all the way back to your goals. If your goal is for students to master a skill, how will you assess them to check for this? Just like lessons looking differently each class period, assessments will as well. Sometimes you’ll use more formal assessments and sometimes more informal. But, the main goal is for you to assess on an ongoing basis.
Do you already incorporate curriculum development into your music room? Tell me about it in the comments below or share your thoughts on social media as you share this post. I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it too.
P.S. Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher? Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!
Also…I wrote a book called “Make A Note: What You Really Need To Know About Teaching Elementary Music” to help music teachers move forward in your teaching career. You can get your copy here.
