Students will identify, define and use basic standard and instrument specific notation for pitch with a focus on fluency. The objective of Note Reading Olympics is to assess and improve note reading skills. Students aim to identify as many notes as possible in 60 seconds. Students are able to achieve four levels based on difficulty: Olympic Trials, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Olympic Legend. The resources in this document are specifically designed for orchestra, but the lesson could be adapted for any music discipline.

The music room just became a working professional music studio and live performance venue, complete with a full complement of composers, performers, audio engineers, promoters, stage managers, and a stage crew! Students will work collaboratively to develop understandings of the many careers associated with the performing arts, while composing and premiering an original music work.

Students will look at the difference between abstract, non-representational, and representational work before creating their own piece of art. The work of art they create will be a depiction of their own emotions while listening to different types (genres) of music. Students will choose from available media and create a work based on their own emotional response to the musical selections.

In this plan, students will research, discuss, and present ways in which music was used to effect change during various historical periods or events. This particular plan will use the American Civil Rights Movement, South African Apartheid, America’s participation in Vietnam, and current events as examples.

There is a mystery in the music room and students will solve it by working together. In these three short activities, students will actively listen to the order in which instruments perform, work to create a “Blob Opera” quartet, and identify which type of ensemble matches the description. If they get all three secret codes, the music room might just be saved!

Students will explore aspects of Native American history and identify essential elements of traditional Native American dance. Students will identify aesthetic and cultural elements of traditional Native American dance through readings and embodied learning.

Students will demonstrate the creative process by composing an eight-measure composition using the E major pentatonic scale. Notes used include B and C# on the 2nd string and E, F#, and G# on the 1st string. These melody notes will be played using the index and middle finger. Warm-ups and repertoire to prepare students in the key and compositional style are included as resources.

In this lesson, students will learn to identify different note and rest values and how these come together to form short rhythmic patterns. Students will perform rhythmic patterns on their selected instrument using the ‘Rhythm Randomizer’ tool.

During this lesson, students will work in teams to plan, construct, and test a functional miniature golf sculpture while they explore topics related to collaboration, design thinking, and peer critique. A focus on specific art production skills such as armature building and rendering objects using paper mâché will be explored. The finished artwork will be peer reviewed for creativity, craftsmanship, and challenge. 

Students will record themselves and use a provided rubric to evaluate growth in their playing. This lesson can be used with individual or ensemble performances.

Watch a portrait of a student come to life with the student’s own composition and performance through technology! Students will perform and record a musical greeting using their name and create access to their performance through a portrait with QR codes and websites/applications such as Flipgrid and/or ChatterPix Kids.

Students will explore the contemporary technique of Pixel Art- using exaggerated pixel size to emulate the low-resolution aesthetic of Late 80’s/early 90’s video games. Using a free image-editing and animation application, student can create their own pixelized version of an everyday inanimate object and then animate their image.

This plan introduces rhythm guitar chart reading using open and barre chords. Students will review how to read basic chord charts in order to accompany songs and perform with ensembles.

This lesson will introduce students to proper posture, rest position, and playing position for their instrument. Students will demonstrate understanding of these concepts and their ability to teach them to others.

This plan will introduce students to 12-Bar Blues progressions that include Slow Change, Quick Change, and Turnaround options. Students will use the Blues Scale to improvise over the 12-Bar blues progressions.

Students will use creativity, critical thinking skills, and collaboration to develop and produce podcasts that inform and educate listeners on various musical topics.

Students will research and plan for creating art while learning to visualize landscapes three-dimensionally.  Students will explore and experiment with three-dimensional paper techniques and depict elements in foreground, middle ground and background.

Students will learn that artists honor their heroes by creating portraits of them. Students will first brainstorm who is a hero in their life (answers can be specific names, jobs, or even animals).  Then students will create a work of art that memorializes the heroic qualities of this important person. 

Students will be introduced to different aspects of theatre design and collaborate in groups as production teams. Each team will create and present a theme statement, a production concept, mood board(s), and basic technical designs for a work of dramatic literature. This unit could also be adjusted to work as a culminating activity for the course.

Students will be introduced to different aspects of theatre design and collaborate in groups as production teams. Each team will create and present a theme statement, a production concept, mood board(s), and basic technical designs for a work of dramatic literature. This unit could also be adjusted to work as a culminating activity for the course.