Specialty Spotlight: Lower Grades Music
Lower Grades Music with Ms. Autumn
The City of Fountains lower grades (1-4) music curriculum is designed to give the children the gift of musical experience. Classes sing in preparation for school festivals and in celebration of seasons and holidays and also engage in playful folk songs and dances. We share musical games of group communion according to their developmental stages. Classes engage in listening and improvisational exercises and students start to compose simple songs early on.
Grade 1: Whimsical musical storytelling; introduction to the wooden interval flute through games and story.
Grade 2: Transition to the wooden pentatonic flute; exploration of call and response singing.
Grade 3: Continued work with the pentatonic flute; introduction to the diatonic scale through partner and group singing.
Grade 4: First experience with a stringed instrument (lyre); transition to the diatonic flute, singing rounds, and harmonies.
Grade 3 also begins work with imaginative notation which deepens into a basic understanding of notation and timing in Grade 4 alongside learning to work with fractions. The lower grades music experience sets the stage for Grades 5-8 where they will play stringed instruments in orchestra with Ms. Grace.
The Magic of Music: A Teacher’s Superpower 🎶✨“Teaching music provides me with the opportunity to share my deepest passion with the world and I get to spend my day singing songs, using instruments, and playing musical games...it is THE BEST job! I love watching students be inspired by music, especially in those moments when something new clicks and they get it, and feel it, and I get to see them experience the gifts of joy that music can bring. Music also has a beautiful way of bringing students out of their shell and I love seeing their confidence grow as they learn and practice new songs, and this confidence shines during our showcases when they perform for their families. Music classes are full of laughter, singing, dancing, and all kinds of active music-making; they're just simply fun. If I were asked what my superpower is, I would say that it is teaching music!” ~Ms. Autumn
