Student Profile

The goal of this music curriculum is to provide students with a comprehensive

understanding of music and its value. Music is a communicative collection of sounds or
omission of sounds that serve as a tool for experiential phenomena and continues to
permeate throughout our history. These experiences have a prominent and profound
impact on society. Therefore, in a successful environment of learning, there are a number
of things that students will experience and gain from music education:
• Students will know what it means to have a residual experience with music that
yields such meanings as only music can.
• They will have such an intense experience with music that it opens their minds to
thoughts of purpose, why we are here, and where we are going.
• They will both reflect on the form of music and engage in the practice of music.
Students will engage in creative musicianship, and be encouraged to consider
new, unchartered musical dimensions.
• They will have a comprehensive understanding, exploration, and engagement
with all musical roles.
• Students will develop their own informed opinions of various musics, as well as
reasoning for such judgment throughout the educational process and beyond.
• Finally, they will understand how music can impact the social constructs of
society and how music can be used as a tool for changing many aspects of the
world.
Students can and should gain all of these things – and more – from music
education. Such experiences will facilitate an opportunity for students to develop a
lifetime connection to music that will impact their lives and the lives of those around
them. Therefore, the IRIS unit plans are driven by the goal of developing the
musicianship found in every young person. The IRIS music program is a cross-curricular
platform that places a primary emphasis on literacy and linguistics while also
incorporating connections to other disciplines such as math, science, social studies, and
the arts as a whole. While literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, the Common
Core State Standards Initiative also emphasizes speaking, listening, and command of
language as necessary for literacy. In other words, for the purposes of the music class,
literacy is listening, speaking (or singing/playing instruments), reading, and writing
(and/or composing). From this foundation we move on to deeper analysis in each unit
It should be noted that the curriculum presented here is meant to serve as a guide,
not a mandate. Teachers are the greatest judges of what strategies work best for their
students. Furthermore, while the curriculum provides a framework of goals that correlate
with College/Career Readiness Standards and National Core Arts Standards, the
resources/technology integration provided are suggestions, not requirements.
Lastly, the curriculum is designed to cover all of the core arts standards. This
includes not only perform, but also create, respond, and connect. It is our hope that these
lessons will help performance ensembles to engage in all four domains of the standards as
well as provide guidance for those who may use a portfolio model to measure student
growth.
Unit 1 emphasizes the importance of students’ connections between music and other art
forms. In turn, students are encouraged to create their own musical ideas and share them
with one another. The goal of the unit is for students to become acclimated to sharing
their own musical ideas and receiving feedback that will encourage their musical process.

Unit 2 focuses on the ability of students to analyze what they see and hear. Students are
using higher-level thinking skills through comparing/contrasting music and ensembles.
They are also refining their ability to provide appropriate feedback to one another that
will enhance the overall musical experience.

Unit 3 is meant to encourage students to think about their emotional responses to music.
The words, “persuasive music,” occur frequently throughout this unit. Building on the
foundations of students connecting music to other mediums and analyzing/evaluating
music, this unit encourages students to move beyond their initial thinking about the music
they hear. In other words, students are encouraged to analyze how music moves humanity
to take action in various ways. In many ways this unit is also the most open to variation,
as students are given a choice between composing a persuasive piece, playing one, or
analyzing one.

Unit 4 is designed to draw performance ensembles beyond the compositions and toward
the composers themselves. Students will have the opportunity to research a composer of
the past as well as meet a composer of the present. This unit has been created to provide
students with an understanding of music as a profession.

Unit 5 is developed as a comprehensive unification of the history of music. Students are

encouraged to witness how music of the past impacts music of the present. Through this
set of lessons, students are encouraged to see themselves as part of a rich history of music
that continues to be made every day.

It should be noted that these unit plans do not emphasize instrumental technique,
aural skills, or specific theory apart from certain vocabulary words pertinent to that topic.
The reasoning for this is that once again, every ensemble is different in their technical
focus. Therefore, this curriculum is designed for students to engage in the musical
process with respect to analysis, cognition, emotion, creation, meaning, interdisciplinary
connection, and history.