10 Curriculum Planning
Martina Vasil
Frazee’s Three Project Model Plan
Jane Frazee is a veteran Orff teacher who designed and tested out a curricular model in several classrooms over several years. The main idea of this plan is less is more. Use less material, but return to it over the course of several lessons.
First, consider the 36-week school year. Trim it down to 30 weeks to accommodate inevitable schedule interruptions, such as school-wide assemblies, field trips, and school closures.
Next, plan 10 projects that last three weeks each.
- Week 1 is making music
- Week 2 is creating music
- Week 3 is extending and reflecting upon the music created
Each project focuses on a single rhythmic or pitch elements that students should be able to demonstrate, play with, and describe. Movement is an inherent part of all projects and additional musical elements are explored as needed, naturally.
In planning the 10 projects, become with the outcomes you want (be mindful), carefully select repertoire that will lead to those objectives (artful), and provide students with opportunities to play with the material chosen (playful).
Frazee (2012) intended for the Project Model Plan to be used in grades 2–7, although it can extend to older grades. The reason it does not extend to PreK–1 is because those grades should be focused on experiencing and playing with music, not reading yet (refer back to Chapters 2–3). Mr. McDowell’s curriculum is based on the Project Model Plan (see Chapter 3).
Organize by Musical Elements
Another way teachers organize their curriculum is by musical elements (Barbe, 2011). Although all elements are experienced throughout the school year, you may choose certain months or quarters to specifically focus on each key concept. Barbe (2011) offers these concepts:
| Beat | Tempo |
| Vocal Technique | Form |
| Timbre | Melody |
| Instrument Technique | Meter |
| Rhythm | Harmony |
| Dynamics |
For example, if your school year is organized into four quarters, you might do this for third grade:
First Quarter. Vocal technique, timbre, instrument technique, and beat.
Second Quarter. Rhythm (identify and play half note), dynamics (identify and play crescendo, decrescendo, mp, p, mf, f), form (identify and play introduction and coda; introduce rondo)
Third Quarter. Meter (move and play in duple and triple meter), melody (identify, play, and sing mi, re, do and sol la), and instrument technique (introduce various bordun patterns on the barred instruments)
Fourth Quarter. Tempo (identify and play accelerando and ritardando), harmony (play partner songs and rounds)
Organize by Instruments
Some schools have small spaces and so the curriculum is partially organized in units according to the instruments that will be used. For example, one month may be using the barred instruments so you can have them set out all the time and another month may be all about the keyboard. Ms. Reynold’s tends to organize her curriculum that way because of her small classroom.
Inspirations for Curriculum
Some teachers like to follow a theme for their curriculum. This can be something the school dictates, and sometimes it is just something you decide for yourself. For example, your school may decide to embed Social Emotional Learning (SEL) into all curricula. It will be up to you on how to integrate SEL into your music curriculum. Another example is one year I chose a mountain theme for my K–8 curriculum. I gathered a wide range of repertoire related to mountains and then organized according to the Project Model Plan. Currently at my Montessori School, I follow a theme every fall since I see the same students every year in mixed age classrooms. In 2019, all the repertoire was from countries in Africa because we were doing The Lion King, Kids in the spring. Last fall, my focus was primarily on a musical skill (ukulele playing) and student-preferred music (popular music). This fall, my focus is integrating SEL into the curriculum PreK–6 (and continuing ukulele grades 1–6).
Planning for a Program
Depending on where you get your first job, there may be an expectation of 1–2 performances a year. Depending on the size of your school, your performances might be just one grade level or all grade levels. At my Montessori School, which has less than 100 students, I am expected to do a Fall Program in November (PreK–6) and a spring musical in May (a Broadway Kids production). In planning my Fall Program, I know that I have about 12 weeks to get my students ready for a performance, all while providing them with an enriching curriculum that is more than just memorizing music for a program. I do backwards planning, in that I think about what the theme of the performance will be and then think about how students can show musical understanding through singing, playing, moving, and creating. I use the Project Model Plan, but I focus on 2–3 rhythm or pitch elements per class to maximize my time. For example, in a 30-minute class, I may start with a short warmup that emphasizes movement, rhythm, or melody. Then we do 15 minutes on ukulele and 15 minutes on playing an instrumental piece, singing, moving, or creating.
Here is Lexington Montessori School’s Autumn Program 2022. I just made a Powerpoint this year (no paper program).
See my 2023 Night of Music LMS. Grades 1–6 did The Lion King, Kids (the first time we tried to do it was spring of 2020, so you know how that went). I did songs from countries in Africa again with PreK, but all different material from 2020.
Curriculum Books
There are many curriculum books that you can purchase if you are feeling very uncertain what to teach when. See West Music’s list here.
I have heard great things about Purposeful Pathways and Game Plan. Personally, as a new teacher, I loved using pieces from The New England Dancing Masters and the Shenanigans three-volume folk dance CD set. I also pulled a lot of material from attending workshops and doing my Orff Levels training.
Ms. Holmes suggests finding curricula used in your district or ones that match your teaching style. She recommends MusicPlayOnline. It has lesson plans pre-built for everything. While it is important to individualize your teaching, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Please be wary of online curriculum like Quaver. Don’t use it as a crutch for good teaching. It is useful as a supplement, but don’t let it become the teacher, which is quite easy to do with everything programmed in it. I’ve seen it happen and it isn’t good teaching when the screen is doing all the work.
References
Barbe, J. (2011). Strategies for success: Building an elementary music program. Beatin’ Path Publications, LLC.
Frazee, J. (2012). Artful-playful-mindful: A new Orff-Schulwerk curriculum for music making and music thinking. Schott.
Vasil, M. (2013). Review of the book Artful-Playful-Mindful: A New Orff-Schulwerk Curriculum for Music Making and Music Thinking, by J. Frazee. Orff Echo, 45(4), 55–56. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.268609