Welcome to Music!Gretchen Teel

Gretchen_Teel@aspva.us

Students at Nottingham…

• Attend music once per week for a 50 minute class

• Will learn to read, write, play, create, and move to music

• Receive grades in music• Can keep track of their musical studies

through the use of Blackboard (Ms. Teel’s Music Notes)

Creating…

Moving…

Playing…

About Ms. Teel…• I hold a masters in Music Education and certification in

the Orff Schulwerk music education methodology• My philosophy of teaching is to provide every student

with the skills to understand, describe, and perform music.

• Through various singing, playing, and movement activities I want every student to discover their own individual musical potential while having fun!

• I follow the Arlington County music curriculum along with the Silver Burdett Making Music textbook series, Orff Schulwerk materials, and various other resources.

Kindergarten students will:

• Sing in groups and alone, exploring a variety of songs about various topics and cultures

• Develop a strong sense of steady beat

• Perform on classroom unpitched percussion instruments

• Move to the beat and melody in a variety of ways

• Develop a beginning musical vocabulary

First Grade students will:

• Sing alone and in groups, about various topics and cultures

• Read, understand, create, and perform rhythm patterns that include quarter note, quarter rest, and eighth notes

• Perform accompaniment patterns on both pitched and unpitched instruments

• Move to music in a variety of ways• Develop a strong sense of steady beat as well as

dividing the beat

Second Grade students will:

• Sing alone and in groups using various forms (verse/refrain, call/response, etc.)

• Read and notate melodic patterns using solfege syllables

• Recognize and identify melodic motion• Sing songs from various cultures• Add half note, dotted half note, and whole note to

rhythmic vocabulary• Perform pitched accompaniments• Identify and recognize various orchestral instruments

Third Grade students will:

• Sing in tune with clear tone quality in unison and 2-part ensembles

• Play melodies on pitched instruments using the pentatonic scale and the first five pitches of the major scale

• Play melodies on the soprano recorder• Improve and create short melodies• Move to music in various meters and forms• Add half rest, dotted half rest, whole rest, and sixteenth

notes to rhythmic vocabulary• Understand musical values such as rehearsals and

appropriate listening and audience habits

Fourth Grade students will:

• Sing a varied repertoire of music• Play melodies on instruments using major and pentatonic

scales• Understand musical phrasing in singing, movement, and

playing instruments• Read and notate melodies on the treble staff• Begin studying various composers and their time in music

history• Add eighth rest, sixteenth rest, and various rhythmic

combinations to rhythmic vocabulary• Understand meter and time signature, chord symbols,

and some categories of musical style• Expand expressive vocabulary• Describe and evaluate musical performances

Fifth Grade students will:

• Sing a varied repertoire of music• Play melodies using major, minor, and pentatonic

scales• Understand musical phrasing, various voice

types/registers, the subdivision of the beat, and various musical forms

• Continue studying various composers and their time periods

• Expand rhythmic and expressive vocabulary• Perform various rhythmic values in various meters• Begin studying basic music theory

More Musical Opportunities…

3rd grade students will learn recorder as part of their studies

4th and 5th grade students have the opportunity to participate in the Nottingham Chorus

All Nottingham Chorus members are eligible to audition for the Arlington Honors Chorus

Technology in the Music Classroom

Thanks to our Nottingham PTA, the music classroom has an interactive SmartBoard. Lessons for all grade levels integrate use of the SmartBoard technology and software.

Ms. Teel makes use of Notebook software, Quicktime/MediaPlayer, Roxio recording software, Sibelius, and various websites that add to our musical resources.

Classroom Rules and Expectations

All students are expected to know and follow the Nottingham Student Oath

Behavior Referrals may be issued in music class

Positive Referrals may also be given!Individual classes also work toward filling

in the music notes on their ‘Staff Charts’ to earn a Music Choice Day

How do Music Grades Work?

Kindergarten students receive grades after the 2nd and 4th grading quarters

1st and 2nd grade students receive one grade (P/N) each quarter

3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students receive two grades (one for achievement and one for effort) each quarter

Please see the syllabus for more detailed grading information

Looking for more information?

All students are enrolled in Ms. Teel’s Blackboard course (Ms. Teel’s Music Notes). Information about individual grade level classes and chorus will be posted and updated on a regular basis.

You can also find a copy of Ms. Teel’s class syllabus on Blackboard as well as the Nottingham Website.