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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

This is the year music becomes something students make, not just hear. Students sing, clap, and play simple instruments, and they start matching what they hear with how it feels. They make up little musical ideas of their own and practice sharing them with the class. By spring, students can perform a short song or rhythm and say what they liked about a piece of music.

  • Singing
  • Rhythm and beat
  • Making up music
  • Listening
  • Performing
  • Talking about music
Source: Massachusetts Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks
Year at a glance
How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.
  1. 1

    Exploring sound and voice

    Students start the year by listening closely to music and making sounds with their voices and bodies. They notice loud and soft, fast and slow, and begin to copy simple rhythms.

  2. 2

    Making up their own music

    Students invent short tunes, tap out patterns, and add sounds to stories or pictures. They learn that their own ideas can turn into a piece of music.

  3. 3

    Practicing and shaping a song

    Students pick songs to work on and practice them over time. They try a song a few different ways and choose what sounds best before sharing it.

  4. 4

    Performing for others

    Students sing and play for classmates, often as a group. They learn what it feels like to start together, stay together, and finish a song in front of an audience.

  5. 5

    Talking about music

    Students share what they notice and feel when they hear a piece of music. They connect songs to holidays, families, and stories from different places.

Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Kindergarten.
Connecting

  • Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art

    MU:Cn10.k

    Students connect a song or musical activity to something real in their own life, like a memory, a feeling, or something they've seen or done.

  • Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural

    MU:Cn11.k

    Songs and music come from somewhere. Students begin to notice how music connects to family, community, and the world around them.

Creating

  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work

    MU:Cr1.k

    Students come up with their own musical ideas, like inventing a rhythm to clap or a short melody to hum.

  • Organize and develop artistic ideas and work

    MU:Cr2.k

    Students pick their favorite sounds or rhythms and arrange them into a short musical idea, making choices about what sounds good together.

  • Refine and complete artistic work

    MU:Cr3.k

    Students revisit a song or rhythm they made up, adjust anything that sounds off, and decide when it feels finished.

Performing/Presenting/Producing

  • Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation

    MU:Pr4.k

    Students choose a song or musical piece to perform and start thinking about how they want it to sound.

  • Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation

    MU:Pr5.k

    Students practice a song or rhythm until they can perform it clearly for an audience. The focus is on getting better through repetition, not just getting it done.

  • Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

    MU:Pr6.k

    Students perform a song or play a rhythm for an audience, putting feeling into the music so listeners can tell a story or mood is being shared.

Responding

  • Perceive and analyze artistic work

    MU:Re7.k

    Students listen to a short piece of music and share what they notice, like whether it sounds fast or slow, loud or quiet, or happy or sad.

  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work

    MU:Re8.k

    Students listen to a short piece of music and share what they think it sounds like or how it makes them feel, using their own words.

  • Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

    MU:Re9.k

    Students listen to a song or performance and say what they liked about it and why. They start to notice what makes music sound good.

Common Questions
  • What does music class look like this year?

    Students sing songs, clap and tap steady beats, play simple instruments like drums and shakers, and move to music. They also start making up short musical ideas of their own and listening to what other people created.

  • How can I help with music at home?

    Sing together in the car, clap the beat to a favorite song, or tap a rhythm on the table and have students copy it. Five minutes of singing or dancing each day builds the ear and the steady beat that music class is working on.

  • Does a student need to read music or play an instrument?

    No. Reading notes and playing a real instrument come later. Right now the focus is singing in tune, keeping a steady beat, and noticing things like loud and soft or fast and slow.

  • What does a successful end of the year look like?

    Students can sing a short song from memory, keep a steady beat, and tell the difference between high and low or loud and soft sounds. They can also make up a simple pattern, share it, and say something they like about a song they heard.

  • How should I sequence music skills across the year?

    Start with steady beat, the singing voice, and simple call and response. Add high and low, loud and soft, and fast and slow in the middle of the year. Save longer pieces, small group performances, and talking about music for the spring.

  • Which skills usually need the most reteaching?

    Steady beat and matching pitch take the longest. Plan to revisit both in almost every class through short games, echo singing, and movement, rather than teaching them once and moving on.

  • My child says they cannot sing. What should I do?

    Keep singing with them at home in a low pressure way. Most students at this age are still learning to match pitch, and it sorts itself out with practice. Pick songs in a comfortable range and let them join in on just a few words at first.

  • How do students share what they have made?

    Performances are short and informal: singing for the class, playing a rhythm on a drum, or showing a movement they invented. Students also start saying what they were trying to show and what they think of other students' work.