National Standards for Music Education

How The Radio Hour meets the National Standards

  1. Students will sing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of songs.
    Singing the melodies of the themes in the Call Charts
    Singing the Blues (individual project)
    Singing in the hallway as they leave class (it does happen!)

  2. Students will play, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of instrumental music.
    Playing harmonica daily allows students to develop a sense of pitch
    Playing harmonica daily develops the self discipline of practicing
    Giving weekly benchmarks keeps students moving forward
    Playing the harmonica gives the opportunity for lifelong music learning.
    Styles studied
    Blues
    Rock
    Traditional
    Free improvisation

  3. Students will improvise melodies, variations and accompaniments.
    Playing harmonica
    Theme and variations (Mary Had A Little Lamb)
    Blues riff background for individual project (Da,Da,Da,Da)

  4. Students will compose and arrange music.
    Singin‘ The Blues (individual project)
    Compose song about Jazz or Rock(individual project)
    Advanced students(performance group experience) make combo arrangements for final project backgrounds

  5. Students will read and notate music.
    Students start harmonica by reading tab.
    Advanced students are directed to reading standard notation.

  6. Students will listen to, describe and analyze music.
    Call Charts (40% of classroom activities)
    Call Chart critiques ( individual project)
    Comparative essay ( individual project)
    Discuss the similarities and differences between artists and their music of the same era
    Discuss the similarities and differences between artists and their music of different eras (Which era used more pink? Which era had symmetrical song patterns? Why do some songs use more multi layered functions?)

  7. Students will evaluate music and music performances.
    Singin’ the Blues (Individual projects)
    Follow rubric (in student workbook) to evaluate performance
    Compare individual song themes
    Discussion of styles of improvisation ( pattern development, repetitive, free)

  8. Students will make connections between music, other disciplines and daily life.
    Cuttin’ a Rug (group project)
    Learn steps
    Plan choreography
    Practice routine
    Perform with class assessment following rubric (student workbook)
    Broadcast sponsor ( making a commercial for the radio broadcast)
    Choosing the proper background to create the right impression
    Creating a jingle for the product

  9. Students will understand music in relation to history and culture.
    Unit Powerpoint presentations ( By Era)
    Identifies stylistic elements in relation to cultural diversities.
    Identifies stylistic elements in relation to national and world events.
    Call Charts give visual examples of
    Styles of arrangements by period
    Styles of instrumentation by period
    Styles of improvisation by period

From National Standards for Arts Education. Copyright © 1994 by Music Educators National Conference (MENC). Used by permission. The complete National Arts Standards and additional materials relating to the Standards are available from MENC -- The National Association for Music Education, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, VA 20191.