All New Bridges students receive arts classes every day at school. Each child has music, art, drama and movement classes throughout the week through which they learn to be creative and to express themselves.
In creating the music program at New Bridges, I have combined elements of the Kodaly methodology, Orff-Schulwerk approach, and my own experience as a musician as well as a music teacher to design a unique curriculum to teach the whole child aligned with the New York City Blueprint for the Arts and the National Core Arts Standards. The cumulative curriculum builds upon each student’s previous year of experience at New Bridges. Music is a time for each student to learn using their DRIVE values:
Through the DRIVE values, students learn to be the best musicians individually and as ensemble members working together.
The music curriculum incorporates following five strands of the NYC Blueprint for the Arts:
- Music Making
- Music Literacy
- Making Connections
- Community and Cultural Resources
- Careers and Lifelong Learning
In addition, the music curriculum incorporates the four standards of the National Core Arts Standards:
Each strand and standard is also embedded into the curriculum with differentiation based on grade, class, and student.
As of the 2014-2015 school year, the 3rd graders at New Bridges are officially members of the Carnegie Hall Linkup Program. This year, students will participate in The Orchestra Moves, a music curriculum through which students learn to sing and play an instrument in the classroom and perform with a professional orchestra from their seats at a culminating concert! More details about this concert will be released in Spring 2015, so stay tuned!
Kindergarteners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders will learn about songs and cultures from the Carnegie Hall Musical Explorers Program. This inventive program builds basic music skills in the classroom as children learn songs from different cultures and reflect on their own communities. During the 2014-2015 season, students explore Haitian, Mexican, Argentine, classical, jug band, and Yiddish folk music styles.
Outline of New Bridges Elementary Music Curriculum
- Students will understand how to use their voices and develop the ability to express themselves through music.
- Students will learn formal music notation to compose rhythms, play instruments and sing.
- Students will respond to musical pieces and connect music they hear to the world around them
Pre-K – Introduction to music terms, notation, and Kodaly Solfege hand signs. Singing melodies and call/response songs. Basic performance protocol. Create handmade instruments.
K – Introduction to music terms, notation, and Kodaly Solfege hand signs. Singing melodies and call/response songs. Composing rhythms. Basic performance protocol. Create handmade instruments.
Grade 1 – Expanding knowledge of music terms and notation. Singing melodies and call/response songs. Composing rhythms. Basic performance protocol. Working as an ensemble to sing and play Orff instruments, handbells, and boomwhackers.
Grade 2 – Expanding knowledge of music terms and notation. Singing melodies and rounds. Composing rhythms. Expanding performance protocol. Working as an ensemble to sing and play boomwhackers. Learning how to play recorders individually and as an ensemble.
Grade 3 — Expanding knowledge of music terms and notation. Singing melodies and harmonies. Composing rhythms. Expanding performance protocol. Working as an ensemble to play recorders and then violins individually and as an ensemble.
To learn more specifics about a day in the life of a New Bridges student in music class, check out All Grades, Music Vocabulary and your child’s individual grade: Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade.