Deconstructing K-5th Grade Music Standards

It can be overwhelming having objectives, deciding what quarter to teach them in, lesson planning to teach the objectives, and knowing if you’re doing it “right.”  Deconstructing music standards is something I used to feel super stuck with.  It’s actually one of the many things you don’t learn how to do well before becoming an elementary music teacher, which is why I wrote my book Make a Note: What you Really Need to Know About Teaching Elementary Music.  In this blog post (and on episode 176 of The Elementary Music Teacher podcast), I break down step by step how to deconstruct a music standard to help you move forward in your music classroom.

 

How to Deconstruct a Music Standard

The first thing I want to do is to help you deconstruct a standard with a step by step framework.  This is the exact way I went about this in my music classroom and how I’ve deconstructed standards in my HARMONY membership site. Think of it like backwards planning.

Long term, think about what your students need to know, how you’ll assess them, what objectives you want to cover how the overall content will be broken into smaller chunks, the teaching process, and then finally the lesson planning itself.

1. Look at your standards first.  Whether you’re using National, state, or even district standards, this should be the very first thing you do.  Your standards may have already broken down how to teach the objectives into each quarter or they might look a little more vague.
2. Now that you have the standards in front of you, it’s time to access the curriculum map you use.  You can create your own, use one provided to you from Teachers Pay Teachers, or even one provided to you by your district or the curriculum you’re using.  This is the scope and sequence that will tell you when to teach the objectives to different grade levels for each 9-weeks.
3. Think back to your training and professional development opportunities of what each grade level needs to learn.  If you’re stuck on this part, that’s why going by a curriculum map with a scope and sequence is so helpful.
4.  Go to your resource list of songs and activities you created in a Google doc.  In podcast episode 157, I talked about how to create this list.  This episode was based around a lesson planning workshop I put on this summer.  By accessing your free guide below, you’ll be notified any time I host another workshop.
5. Know what objectives you want to teach and create lesson plans around that.  For example, if you’re wanting to teach steady beat to Kindergarten, you’ll go to your list of songs or activities and choose a lesson that will reinforce that concept.
6. Think about where your students are and where you want them to go.  For example, if you’re starting at a school that hasn’t had a music program for several years, you won’t be teaching 5th grade standards to your 5th grade students.  You’ll need to deconstruct the standards even further for your students and will cover 1st-4th grade standards while teaching relevant 5th grade music content.
7. In a Google sheet or planner, keep track of what lessons you’ve taught so you can go back and take out or add in new content as needed. You can go have a running list that can change based around what your students need.  Every class will be learning content at a different pace.

In podcast episode 176, I go into more detail about each of these steps 1-7.

 

 

Let’s Deconstruct a 3rd Grade Standard Together

1. Based around the curriculum map I’ve created in my HARMONY membership, here are just a few of the objectives I want 3rd grade students to know in the 1st 9 weeks:
   1. Experience playing and singing rhythms using ostinatos
   2. Begin learning meter 2/3 and 3/4
   3. Focus on dotted half, whole, and sixteenth notes
   4. Learn same/different/similar phrases
2. After looking at the objectives, I decide how I want my students to learn these concepts.  I open a Google doc and write out each week of the 9 weeks.  I then decide how I want to divide the objectives into the entire 9 weeks.  For example, I decided that the “experience playing and singing rhythms using ostinatos” objective would be taught from weeks 1-3.
3. I’ve organized a list of songs and activities on a separate Google doc that’s categorized by 9 weeks, grade level, objectives, and resources I’ll pull from.  If I’m teaching that first objective, I’ll look at the songs or activities listed under the ostinatos section and will choose the lesson from that list.
4. I keep in mind that while focusing on a main concept or learning objective, there will of course be other objectives I will be covering throughout the school year as well.  I’ll stay flexible when it comes to planning and know that adjusting and adapting as I go is key.
5. From my list of songs and activities, I choose the song “Good Morning” that I arranged.  I chose this activity because it covers the objective I’m wantint to teach, is an age appropriate song, and also has a movement activity I can do with the song on a different date.
6. Students will learn the melody, and then will also learn a melodic and rhythmic ostinato.  The melodic ostinato alternates between the pitches sol-mi, has a quarter note rhythmic pattern, and goes “mor-ning, mor-ning, how are you (rest)”.  The rhythmic ostinato goes snap snap snap (rest), pat-pat pat-pat pat (rest), clap clap-clap clap clap, snap snap snap (rest).  I explain the teaching process in a lot more detail in episode 176.  
7. I then focus my attention on the “I Can” statements for the objectives I’m teaching.  For this standard, the ‘I Can” statement might be “I can play and sing ostinatos” or something along those lines.
8. Then, I think about assessments and will look ahead at how many more weeks I’ll be covering this objective.  That will help me decide how I want to create assessments that will test for higher order thinking skills.
9. Know that nothing is set in stone and if you need to go over the objective or concept for a longer period of time or you get through it quicker than expected, that’s okay!  Every 3rd grade class won’t necessarily be in the same place and this is perfectly normal.  This is where having a living Google doc comes in handy.

 

Long range and backwards planning takes a lot of work up front, but once you do it, its’ done and then you’re able to plug and play the activities to meet the objectives your students need to learn.

Or, you can sign up for my HARMONY membership where I’ve already done all of the hard work for you! 

 

Have you struggled with deconstructing your music standards? 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.