Elementary Music/Music Technology Blog

This past year our school started a 5th grade instrument class where all 5th graders were required to learn an instrument for a year. Since I initiated this new program, and I am a woodwind tripler (clarinet, saxophone, and flute), the students could choose to learn one of those three instruments. Those three instruments were also a nice progression from recorder, which they had been studying in our general music classes since third grade. Here are some of my reflections from how the 1st year went:

• Scheduling: The 5th grade general music teacher is also a “quasi” administrator, so she needed more time in her schedule for administration duties. Due to this, the 5th grade general music classes, which meet 3X a cycle, were going to be reduced to 2X. I did not want to see that happen, so I proposed the idea for a 5th grade instrument class-where I would teach the class on the students’ 3rd music class per cycle. This made me rethink my own schedule and I was able to work it out so that all of my other general music classes (PreK-grade 3) still met with the same amount of time. Therefore, it was not hard to convince administration to have the 5th grade instrument class because it did not add anymore time to the schedule.
• Curriculum: As all teachers do, I had an idea, created lesson plans, and then scrapped them all once I had 17 clarinets, flutes, and/or saxophones in front of me-all at various levels, some with embouchure and finger issues, and some with instrument problems. Each 5th grade class would have a mixture of instruments from 8 saxophones (oh, my ears!), 5 clarinets, and 4 flutes, to 7 clarinets, 5 flutes, and 6 saxophones. It was difficult to teach the entire group. Therefore, I taught each day as it came and used Pearson’s Standard of Excellence, along with my own materials, to help the students to achieve success.
• Instruments: The school did provide the instruments for the students with an agreement signed by the parents about what would occur if the instrument needed to be repaired or if the instrument ended up missing. The funding for this came from the school. The students would have the instruments for a year and then give them back in June. I would then clean them out thoroughly and have them ready for the 09-10 5th graders.
• Who got to play what: At the end of the school year, I have the incoming 5th graders audition each instrument. They write down their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices. Over the summer, I calculate the choices and compare them to the amount of saxes, clarinets, and flutes that we have, and assign the instruments. For the first three classes, I will have students who want to switch their instruments because they cannot immediately produce a sound as quickly as the student next to them. However, last year, I encouraged and assisted these students and they continued on the original instrument that they chose.
• Results: Students responses by the time I left on maternity leave were: “I like this class. Do we have to stop and go to math?” “I love my instrument! Do I have to give it back?” “I did not think that I could play this instrument when I first tried it in September.” “I liked having Smart Music test me on my song.” (I used Make Music’s Smart Music for assessments throughout the year).
• Reflection: I am excited to teach this class again for the 09-10 school year. I know that since I will have a new crop of students, my lessons will probably be quite different to fit their various needs. In addition, since I am planning on staying throughout the entire school year (no maternity leave in my near future:), I will be able to see how the program begins, progresses, and finishes. With that, I will be able to assess the program more accurately and begin to create a curriculum that would be an outline for the class for years to come. All in all, I really adored what I saw this year and am thrilled that my school supports this class so that all students will get to experience learning a band instrument at some point in their elementary schooling.