Submitted by Tami Mangusso, Aurora, Colorado
Idea posted August 26, 2003
I've created a template in Word that I use to make my year-long plans (Please note: A sample of this table is available for download below in PDF format.). The table consists of six columns and two rows. The headers I use are Month, State Standard, Core Content, Skills/Activities, Assessments, and Resources. This table is similar to what the classroom teachers use to make their year-long plans. (It's how I got the idea for my table.) Below this table I have a box called Essential Questions. This is where I point out the key elements for the month. It helps the non-music person understand the focus for the month. We have site visits from the bigwigs, and they come into the classrooms and sometimes stop in on the specialist. I always have the month's outline and the lesson plans available for them to look at as they visit my room.
I will share one month for 2nd grade:
- Month box: September
- Standard box: Students sing a varied repertoire of music alone and with others (Standard #1). Students listen to, analyze, and describe music (Standard #6).
- Core Content box: Steady beat, verses to a song, four ways to use the voice, call and response
- Review notes: quarter note (ta), quarter rest (sh), eighth note pair (ti ti), and SQUILT (Super Quiet Uninterupted Listening Time)
- Skills/Activities box: clap or play a steady beat on unpitched instruments to various styles of music; say name to a steady beat; learn to read verses to a song in a music score: "Songtime" (Share the Music); demonstrate voices: speaking, shouting, singing, calling; sing a call and response song: "Kye Kye Kule"; echo clap rhythms; SQUILT: "Hush Little Baby" by Bobby McFerrian and Yo Yo Ma.
- Assessment box: classroom observations, small group observations, class discussion
- Resource box: Share the Music, Kodály Approach Bk 1, Music K-8 magazines, other supplemental resources to be determined by the teacher
- Essential Questions box: What is a steady beat?, What is a verse to a song?, What are the four ways I can use my voice?, What do a quarter note, quarter rest, and eighth note pair sound like?, What does the music make me think about?