Mission, Vision, Competencies, Standards, and Benchmarks

Benchmarks
By close of grade 6, Lower School students will:
Lower Elementary Music:
‣ Sing on pitch/perform on an instrument, given individual talents, with steady tempo and in
rhythm using clear diction and tonal clarity, presenting appropriate posture.
‣ Identify and perform songs representing genres and styles from diverse cultures and
historical periods including songs from varied Christian tradition.
‣ Improvise simple rhythmic and melodic ostinato accompaniments.
‣ Improvise simple rhythmic variations and simple melodic embellishments on
familiar melodies.
‣ Use a variety of sound sources including electronic resources when
performing/creating music.
‣ Create music to accompany dramatizations.
‣ Identify standard symbols and terms used to notate 1) rhythm, 2) pitch, 3) meter, and 4)
dynamics in simple musical examples.
‣ Describe personal preferences for specific musical works and styles.
‣ Identify simple musical forms when presented aurally.
‣ Respond rhythmically through movement to specific musical examples.
‣ Demonstrate respect and appreciation for a performance as an audience member.
‣ Use singing, dancing, acting, and playing to explore music literature.
‣ Exercise Christ-centered choices in musical selections.
‣ Practice criteria that affect quality and effectiveness of performance.
Vocal Music:
‣ Sing with good breath control, expression, and technical accuracy at a level that includes
modest ranges and changes of tempo, key, and meter.
‣ Sing music written in one or two parts.
‣ Perform music that glorifies God and represents diverse genres and cultures using
expression appropriate for the work.
‣ Improvise short melodies, unaccompanied and over given rhythm accompaniments.
‣ Relate the elements of music used to achieve unity and variety, tension and release, and
balance in musical compositions.
‣ Sight read simple melodies in treble clef.
‣ Recognize and incorporate into performance basic standard notation symbols for pitch,
rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
‣ Identify specific musical events when listening to music.
‣ Exercise evaluative criteria that affect quality and effectiveness of musical performances
and compositions.
‣ Exercise Christ-centered criteria when listening to and selecting for singing vocal music.
‣ Describe the functions music serves, roles of musicians, history of composers, history of
vocal and instrumental music, and various careers in music.
‣ Use print and electronic resources to gather and present information related to topics in
the study of music.
Instrumental Music:
‣ Perform on an instrument accurately either alone or in small and large ensembles using
good posture, playing position, breath control, and tone.
Back to Table of Contents