Natalie Smith

My most important goal is to instill a love of music in your child. The music curriculum is quite diverse. Some of the activities we will be doing throughout the school year will be: singing, listening to music of various genres, creating rhythms and melodies, and learning to read basic music notation

In Kindergarten & First Grade, we move!

We use movement to define expression in music, determine pitch, and acquire a solid base knowledge of beat and rhythm.

We also sing a wide variety of songs to instill a love of new music and begin to define what music is, what it can be, and how we create it.

In Second Grade, we begin to recognize inspirational stories of famous composers, learn to work cooperatively in small groups, discover the language of notation, the families of instruments, and perform instrumental music.

In Third Grade, we discover the joy and trials of playing a recorder as well as delving into the study of instruments of the orchestra and band. We also take a close look at Musical Theater to see what is involved in the creative process of a school Musical production.

*National Music Education Standards*

1.       Singing, alone and with others; a varied repertoire of music

2.       Performing on instruments, alone and with others,

          a varied repertoire of music

3.       Improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments

4.       Composing and arranging music within specific guidelines

5.       Reading and notating music

6.       Listening to, analyzing and describing music

7.       Evaluating music and music performances

8.       Understanding relationships between music, the other arts,  and disciplines outside the arts

9.       Understanding music in relation to history and culture