Music

Music at Sisters Elementary School gives every student opportunities to create, perform, listen, move, and develop a lifelong appreciation for music. Students visit the music classroom two to three times each week, where instruction is centered on the Quaver Music curriculum and a philosophy of relationships first, music second. Learning balances musical literacy, creativity, and performance while building the skills students will need for future musical opportunities, including band and choir at Sisters Middle and High School.

The Quaver curriculum aligns with the National Core Arts Standards and develops learning through four interconnected areas: Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting. As students progress through elementary school, musical concepts are revisited and expanded so that early experiences with beat, voice, movement, and instruments gradually develop into reading notation, understanding melody and harmony, performing on a wider variety of instruments, and exploring music history and cultures from around the world.

Have questions? Please contact Sisters Elementary School for more information or assistance.

Building the Foundation

In Kindergarten, music begins with exploration. Students discover the steady beat, experiment with their voices, move to music, play classroom percussion instruments, and experience nursery rhymes and folk songs. These playful, active experiences help children develop listening skills, coordination, musical awareness, and confidence participating with others.

In First Grade and Second Grade, students begin giving names and symbols to the musical ideas they have experienced. They refine steady beat, are introduced to basic rhythmic notation and solfège, and continue using movement as an important part of learning. Their instrumental experiences expand to include classroom percussion, boomwhackers, and Orff instruments. By second grade, students work with a wider range of note values, expand their solfège skills, and begin learning about the instruments of the orchestra.

Growing as Musicians

By Third Grade, students begin reading music with greater independence. They expand their understanding of rhythm and tempo, learn additional note values and rests, and are introduced to reading the treble clef staff. Students perform using solfège and Curwen hand signs, explore melody, and add keyboards to their growing instrumental experiences. Music history and world music also help students recognize that music reflects different people, places, cultures, and periods of time.

In Fourth Grade, students build upon those skills by strengthening their understanding of the treble clef, melody, rhythm, and notation while being introduced to harmony. Instrumental experiences broaden to include ukulele, along with Orff instruments, boomwhackers, and classroom percussion. Students continue exploring music history and world music while becoming increasingly capable and confident performers.

As students move into the upper elementary years, their musical learning brings together rhythm, melody, notation, tempo, timbre, chords, harmony, and instrumental performance. The SES program also introduces experiences with instruments such as recorders and stringed instruments, helping prepare students for the more specialized music opportunities available as they move into middle school.

Performing & Connecting

Performance is an important part of learning music. SES students have opportunities to prepare music for school and community experiences, grade-level productions, and classroom performances. Older elementary students may also have opportunities for additional choral experiences through the SOS (Sisters Outlaw Singers) Choir, extending musical learning beyond the regular school day and connecting students with other young musicians.

These experiences help students understand that music is both personal and shared. Performing together requires listening, practice, cooperation, courage, and responsibility, and gives students the opportunity to experience the joy and sense of accomplishment that comes from creating something together.

The K-5 Journey

Across the elementary years, the progression is intentional: beat and movement develop into rhythm and notation; musical exploration grows into melody and harmony; and early experiences with voice and instruments develop into increasingly confident creating and performing.

By the end of fifth grade, our goal is for students to have a strong foundation of musical knowledge and experience, confidence expressing themselves through music, and an appreciation for music that extends beyond the classroom. Whether students continue into band, choir, or other musical experiences or simply carry a love of music with them, SES helps establish a foundation for music to remain part of their lives.