As part of our mission to facilitate inspiring and rigorous art education in Mariposa County, we are committed to developing high quality curriculum and resources for classroom teachers and teaching artists. Once these resources are ready, they will be shared on this page.
For more information, please contact Andra Kovacs, our Director of School Programs and Strategic Initiatives – kovacs@mariposaartscouncil.org
‘Express Yourself’ Music Curriculum
This curriculum focuses on inspiring students to use music to express themselves and giving them the skills and vocabulary to do so. From the start, students will be in control of the music they create and perform.
Beginning students select and arrange pre-prepared musical elements to create unique compositions that reflect their preferences. As they move through the grades, students will learn to create the individual elements (rhythms, melodies, harmonies, etc.) from which they are able to construct their own compositions with specific meaning.
By focusing on creativity and self expression, these lessons increase student engagement, inspire curiosity and encourage social emotional learning alongside technical development.
‘Express Yourself’ consists of grade-specific slide decks containing eight lessons and associated resources for TK/Kindergarten through 8th Grade. Each slide deck begins with a brief video introduction to the lessons. Click the curriculum title to access the slide decks and download resources.
| Grade | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| TK / Kindergarten | 1, 2, 3, 4 | Students create sounds with their hands, feet and voices and learn that music is made up of organized sequences of sound. |
| 1st | What’s That Sound? | Students learn to to identify various instruments by their sound and describe how their various tones and textures make them good for playing different types of music. |
| 2nd | Getting the Band Together | Students learn how musical recordings are made up of several instruments playing at the same time as a band or ensemble. |
| 3rd | Building a Song | Students learn how how songs are made up of several parts that are different, but related to each other. |
| 4th | Get Rhythm | Students learn how musicians arrange percussive sounds to create unique rhythms. |
| 5th | In Perfect Harmony | Students learn how multiple musical notes are played at the same time to create chords with different harmonic characteristics. They will be able to describe how musicians use these harmonies to convey specific ideas and emotions and create some harmonies of their own. |
| 6th | Unchained Melody | Students learn how to put together sequences of musical notes to create memorable melodies. |
| 7th | Found Sounds | Students learn how to create musical compositions using sounds made by objects in their classroom or other environment. |
| 8th | Last Night a DJ Saved my Life | Students learn how DJ’s put together playlists of music to create and sustain a particular atmosphere, either at a party or on the radio. |
