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Unit 1: The Beat is Steady
Throughout the world, people sing, move and respond to music. In kindergarten our primary focus for the first part of the year will focus on each student's ability to sense and/or respond to a steady pulse, or beat. Students will listen to and move to a steady beat. They will experiment with new concepts through spoken word, singing, moving, dancing, playing instruments, creating and improvising sounds and movements.
Unit 2: Soft and Loud
Changing the dynamic level, or intensity of the sound, is a powerful means of personal expression. In this unit, students are encouraged to express themselves through changes in the loudness and softness of sounds. Students will learn that sounds can be soft, sounds can be loud, and sounds may express thoughts, feelings, and moods.
Unit 3: Tempo
Throughout the day, our hearts beat at different rates of speed. Similarly, the beat in music may move at different rates of speed, or different tempos. The activities in this unit invite students to experience and explore faster and slower tempos in music.
Unit 4: Questions and Answers
Most of us have an innate desire for form and order. In similar ways, musicians use form to organize musical ideas. The form of most children’s songs is similar to the way in which questions and answers are used in everyday conversation. Generally, the first musical thought, or phrase, sounds incomplete, and the second musical thought sounds complete. Experience with question and answer form provides a firm foundation for understanding and appreciating all forms of musical expression.
Unit 5: Rests in Music
In this unit, students will learn that music may have silences, or rests. Students will experience and explore the use of rests in music and discover that rests can be expressive.
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