Music Curriculum
Northern Illinois District
Grade 5
XXV. Elements of the Arts (Music Theory – Listening/ Describing)
State Goal: Know the language of the arts.
Why This Goal Is Important: Through observation, discussion, interpretation and analysis,
students learn the “language” of the arts. They learn to understand how others express ideas in
dance, drama, music and visual art forms. In addition to acquiring knowledge essential to
performance and production, students become arts consumers (e.g., attending live performances
or movies, purchasing paintings or jewelry, or visiting museums) who understand the basic
elements and principles underlying artworks and are able to critique them.
Learning Standard A: Understand the sensory elements, organizational principles, and
expressive qualities of the arts.
Sensory elements
Objective 1: Identify and perform common musical forms including call/response and
theme/variations
Objective 2: Identify the various rhythmic durations
Objective 3: Make decisions regarding appropriate tempo choices (Moderato, maestoso, etc.)
Objective 4: Make decisions regarding appropriate dynamic choices (crescendo/decrescendo)
Objective 5: Hear and identify syncopation/no syncopation
Organizational principles (Formal/ technical elements)
Objective 6: Identify and sing intervals (including 2nd, 3rd, 6th)
Objective 7: Discuss the concept of consonance and dissonance
Objective 8: Identify different simple meters
Expressive qualities
Objective 9: Identify and use known ways to create harmony
Learning Standard B: Understand the similarities, distinctions, and connections in and among
the arts.
Characteristics of musical styles
Objective 1: Learn about and discuss a significant hymn or piece of liturgical music
Objective 2: View and/or participate in a sacred/secular musical production
Similarities, contrasts, and relationships between music and the other fine arts
Objective 3: Learn about and discuss a significant musical theater piece
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XXVI. Performance of the Arts (Applied Music – Creating/ Reading/ Performing)
State Goal: Through creating and performing, understand how works of art are produced.
Why This Goal Is Important: Students acquire skills to produce and perform dance, drama,
music and visual art. They learn to use media, tools and technologies. They learn to shape ideas
and emotions into sounds, images and actions. As students create and perform their own
artworks and review the works of others, they become more imaginative, strengthen their
problem-solving skills and learn to respond to the creativity of others. Creating and performing
are at the core of the fine arts. Students also learn about the role of the artist (e.g., dancer,
painter, actor, director, scriptwriter, musician).
Learning Standard A: Understand processes, traditional tools, and modern technologies used in
the arts.
Processes used to create solo, ensemble, and choral music
Objective 1: Explain at least one process of composition
Objective 2: Describe the interaction between performers and conductors in a performance
Instrumental and electronic music
Objective 3: Review how sound is produced (acoustic vs. electronic music)
Translation of written symbols of music
Objective 4: Identify 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 time signature
Objective 5: Identify and label notes in bass clef
Use of musical notation
Objective 6: Perform songs reading standard music notation
Objective 7: Use standard notation to record/write musical ideas
Objective 8: Identify and perform rhythms and melodies using standard notation (whole, half,
dotted half, quarter, paired eighth, single eighth notes, and their corresponding rests)
Objective 9: Identify various expressive markings of standard notation (e.g. dynamics, tempos,
articulations)
Learning Standard B: Apply skills and knowledge necessary to create and perform in one or
more of the arts.
Musical performance techniques
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Objective 1: Sing or play music accurately, reading standard music notation; on pitch; in
rhythm; maintaining a steady tempo; using appropriate volume; demonstrating breath control;
demonstrating proper singing and/or playing technique; and demonstrating proper
articulations/diction
Objective 2: Sing from “All God’s People Sing” hymnal
Objective 3: Sing songs appropriate to the seasons of the Church year for performance at
worship service
Vocal or instrumental writing and improvisational techniques
Objective 4: Improvise rhythmic and melodic variations of a given song
Objective 5: Create short vocal and/or instrumental songs within specific guidelines
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XXVII. The History and Application of the Arts (Music Appreciation)
State Goal: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present.
Why This Goal Is Important: The arts are a record of civilizations, past and present. Artists are
influenced by—and influence—the times and places in which they live and work. As students
learn through the arts about people and civilizations, they learn about others and themselves.
Also, students learn about careers related to this goal (e.g., animator, curator, art historian, sound
technician).
Learning Standard A: Analyze how the arts function in history, society, and everyday life.
Roles of artists and audiences
Objective 1: Demonstrate appropriate audience/worshipper behavior and evaluate the behavior
of self and others
Objective 2: Describe how audience/worshipper behavior changes a performance or service
Influence of music on societies, civilizations, cultures, and the church
Objective 3: Compare and contrast how music functions in similar types of ceremonies (e.g.,
parades – Thanksgiving Day Parade and Mardi Gras; Opening Ceremony – Super Bowl and
World Series)
Objective 4: Give examples in which music is used to persuade, promote ideas, and create
moods
Objective 5: Explain that our hymnals contain psalms, hymns, and liturgical music that connect
us with people from many cultures and across many centuries (Psalm 117)
How music can express universal and specific Christian themes
Objective 6: Discuss and demonstrate proper worship behavior
Objective 7: Sing songs appropriate to the seasons of the church year
Objective 8: Identify and discuss different musical ensembles and how they are used in church
How God’s Word can be communicated and remembered effectively when joined together
with music
Objective 9: Give examples of how music is utilized in daily Christian life
Objective 10: Participate in Lutheran worship experiences where God is praised with various
instruments and voices
Objective 11: Listen to and/or learn songs based on various scriptures and Christian concepts
Learning Standard B: Understand how the arts shape and reflect history, society, and everyday
life.
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Changes in music through the ages: their classification by artistic periods, and their
relationships to historical periods and cultures
Objective 1: Discuss how a specific musical work and artist influenced society in a given time
period
Objective 2: Sing hymns and songs from various times in our church’s history
Objective 3: Listen and discuss how music of different time periods, from our own cultures as
well as other cultures, relates to our society now
Objective 4: Discuss the historical, social, and theological roots of hymns and liturgy used in the
Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
Objective 5: List artists who have made significant contributions and describe their ideas
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