Music Education Begins Early

At GISD, we are proud to once again have music education at all of our elementary schools. Music education is extremely important for children as it helps develop fine motor skills, creates opportunities for collaboration and teamwork, and lends itself to learning other subject areas through song. Children can also benefit emotionally from exploring songs with meaningful messages and learning skills that improve their self-esteem.

Music class begins at Edison Elementary with Ms. Julia Gray and is all about singing, dancing, and playing! Every child belongs, whether it’s playing instruments together to sound like a rainstorm, moving scarves along to a song played by an orchestra, or singing a song together in a circle. Our kids get many opportunities to collaborate with one another as well as use their own creativity. Pre-K students spend a lot of time singing familiar songs and learning new ones, all while staying active and moving. Kindergarten focuses on “comparatives”- fast and slow, loud and soft, high and low, long and short, etc. These concepts are wonderful for student-led activities, and children love recognizing and applying them to their favorite songs and games. First graders develop their musical literacy skills by learning to read rhythms and notes by speaking, singing, and playing various instruments.

At Chalmers Elementary, Mrs. Karleen King’s students build on the foundation that Ms. Gray created at Edison. In 2nd grade, the students learn half note and half rest, along with single eighth notes. Students have already learned the pitch/ solfege named So, Mi, and La, so they are introduced to the solfege low Do and Re. In 3rd grade, students learn the sixteenth note pattern along with whole notes and whole rests. They continue filling the major scale, teaching low So, low La, and high Do and analyze music by identifying the form, meter, and dynamics. In 4th grade, students learn advanced rhythms associated with sixteenth notes. They also learn dotted notes and are introduced to the pitch Fa and Ti and discuss the meter of 3. Students in 3rd and 4th grade are invited to audition to be in the Chalmers Show Choir. This past December, they sang Christmas Carols at multiple nursing homes and will have two more performances in the spring semester. “While learning in my classroom, we sing, say, dance, and play instruments,” King said. “When you enter my classroom, you will see students engaged, smiling, and having fun!”

Music at Gainesville Intermediate is all about honing the skills taught in previous grades and preparing students for either band or choir in 6th grade. At the beginning of the year, music teacher Claire Makowski focuses on rhythm by using songs to make their ability to read rhythm rock solid. You will often see this through the drumming skills utilized in a class by artists that students know, such as Bruno Mars or Imagine Dragons. These 5th graders work together to create incredible music and help each other learn each of the different sections. As the year progresses, students are introduced to reading music that transfers to the Orff Instruments. Through this process, 5th graders utilize their rhythm practice from the first half of the year to work together to create songs using multiple instruments at the same time. Lastly, throughout the year, 5th graders are encouraged and shown how to create their own music, whether it be a simple rhythm song, to songs that they can play for their classmates.

Music education at Gainesville Intermediate is extremely important for our students to create healthy social skills, learn how to express their emotions, and continue to develop collaboration and teamwork skills. Music is something that, most of the time, is a team effort, and not one student can do alone. Students practice each day how to work with others and learning how to lift each other up creates a lifelong skill. Students also learn how to express themselves through music helps instill healthy habits for the future.