Discovering the East of China: Chinese Music in Elementary School

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

3, 4, 5

Overview

Students will identify Chinese instruments and perform a lullaby.  They will learn about Chinese musical elements, such as programmatic music and pentatonic scale.  The lesson includes four sections. 

Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 3 - Music

AE17.MU.3.7

Demonstrate and explain how the selection of music to perform is influenced by personal interest, knowledge, purpose, and context.

UP:AE17.MU.3.7

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Bar lines
  • Measures
Melody
  • Pitch set: Low So, Low La, High Do
  • Treble clef reading (Mi, Re, Do)
  • Middle C to high G
  • Ledger lines
Harmony
  • Partner songs
  • Rounds
  • Ostinati
Form
  • Theme and variations
  • Coda
  • D.S. al coda
  • Repeat sign
  • Fermata
Expression
  • Phrase/ phrasing
  • Pianissimo (pp), fortissimo (ff)
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Orchestral instruments: 4 families
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (Bb3 - Eb5)

Essential Questions

EU: Performers' interest in and knowledge of musical works, understanding of their own technical skill, and the context for a performance influence the selection of repertoire.
EQ: How do performers select repertoire?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Sing a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm and pitch and expressive qualities individually and with others.
  • Sing, move and respond to music from diverse cultures.
  • Sing, move and respond to age-appropriate music of various composers.
  • Play a variety of classroom instruments with proper technique.
Creating
  • Improvise and compose short compositions using a variety of classroom instruments and sound sources.
  • Create new words for familiar songs.
Reading/ Writing
  • Read, write and perform using two-eighth through whole note values including rhythms in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 meter.
  • Read, write and perform extended pentatonic melodies.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.
  • Develop criteria and use it to critique their own performances and the performances of others.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 4 - Music

AE17.MU.4.7

Demonstrate and explain how the selection of music to perform is influenced by personal interest, knowledge, context, and technical skill.

UP:AE17.MU.4.7

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Conducting patterns in
  • Syncopation
Melody
  • Pitch set: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, Ti
  • Treble clef reading (La, So, Mi, Re, Do)
  • Middle C through High B
  • Create melodic sequences
  • Half-step
  • Whole step
Harmony
  • Canons
  • Chord components
  • Chord progression (I, V)
  • Crossover bordun
Form
  • Phrasing: antecedent and consequent
  • D.C. al coda
  • Fine
Expression
  • pp through ff
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Orchestra instruments within the 4 families
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (A3-E5)

Essential Questions

EU: Performers' interest in and knowledge of musical works, understanding of their own technical skill, and the context for a performance influence the selection of repertoire.
EQ: How do performers select repertoire?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Sing, move and respond to music from world cultures and different composers.
  • Sing a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm, pitch and expressive qualities individually and with others.
Creating
  • With limited guidance, Improvise and compose short compositions using a variety of classroom instruments and sound sources.
Reading/ Writing
  • Read, write and perform using rhythm patterns that include syncopated rhythms, in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 meter.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.
  • Use student developed criteria to critique their own performances and the performances of others.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 5 - Music

AE17.MU.5.7

Demonstrate and explain how the selection of music to perform is influenced by personal interest, knowledge, and context, as well as their own and others’ technical skill.

UP:AE17.MU.5.7

Vocabulary

Rhythm
Melody
  • Pitch set: Do-centered diatonic
  • Treble clef reading (choral octavos)
  • Grand staff
  • Bass clef
  • Accidentals
  • Major scale
Harmony
  • Part singing/ playing
  • Chord progression (I, IV, V)
  • Arpeggio
  • Descant
  • Level bordun
Form
  • Rondo form
  • 12-Bar blues
Expression
  • Vibrato
  • Tremolo
  • Reggae
  • Blues
  • Timbre: soprano, alto, tenor, bass
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (Ab3-F5)

Essential Questions

EU: Performers' interest in and knowledge of musical works, understanding of their own technical skill, and the context for a performance influence the selection of repertoire.
EQ: How do performers select repertoire?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Sing a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm and pitch, appropriate expressive qualities, proper posture and breath control.
  • Sing intervals on pitch within a major diatonic scale.
  • Perform melodies on recorder while reading standard and/or iconic music notation.
  • Perform, on instruments, a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm and pitch, appropriate expressive qualities, proper posture and breath control.
  • Sing partner songs to create harmony.
  • Sight-read and prepare a performance.
Creating
  • Demonstrate appropriate use of legato and staccato in a song.
  • Create a personal playlist and explain why each piece was selected.
  • Improvise, compose and arrange music.
  • Use technology and the media arts to create and perform music.
Reading/ Writing
  • Read, write, and perform rhythms in 2/4, 3/4.
    • 4/4. and 6/8 meter signatures using whole notes through sixteenth notes, including dotted notes.
  • Read, write and perform diatonic melodies and the major scale on the treble clef staff.
  • Identify tempo markings such as allegro, presto, largo, and andante.
  • Identify ledger-line notes A, B, and C above the treble clef staff.
  • Identify whole and half steps of the major diatonic scale in printed music.
  • Recognize the difference between major and minor tonalities.
  • Write program notes to accompany performances.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Discuss melodic and harmonic elements used in a piece of music.
  • Explain how a performer performs a piece of music differently when he/she knows the social, cultural, or historical background of the piece, (e.g., How does knowing the history of the American Civil Rights Movement affect the performance of "We Shall Overcome?"
  • Demonstrate appropriate audience etiquette at live performances.
  • Write performance reviews of performances.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

Smithsonian

License Type

Custom
https://folkways.si.edu/discovering-east-china-elementary-school/lullaby-vocal-…

Custom License Type (URL)

https://www.si.edu/termsofuse

Comments or Notes

PDF of lesson plan https://folkways-media.si.edu/docs/lesson_plans/FLP10050_east_china.pdf

 

Approved Date

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