Teaching Method For Eighth Grade
Our music curriculum for elementary and middle school students complies with state and national standards, and it has been adopted in many states across the United States. The music textbook for Eighth Grade is both a teacher and student edition. Both the teacher and the student use the same textbook. The teacher receives a curriculum outline and approximately 150 questions for Eighth Grade assessments.
The My Music Journal, designed for eight grade students, will build on their knowledge of the elements of music and related musical concepts introduced in Grades 1 to 7. Students will develop understanding of musical concepts through participation in musical experiences that involve listening, moving, creating, and performing (vocal and or instrumental music). Students will identify melodic patterns using specific interval names (e.g., third, fifth) when reading music. Students will read and notate rhythmic patterns of increasing complexity, including syncopation and music written in duple and triple meters, will use indicated dynamics, phrasing, and other elements of music when performing a varied repertoire of music. Students will be able to discern major and minor tonalities in various listening selections from various historical eras, identify cadences in listening selections, describe the contour of a phrase through rhythmic body movement or illustration, isolate the recurring melodic theme in a listening selection.
Students will continue learning about various musical instruments and identifying these instruments from live and recorded selections. Several new tempo concepts are introduced. Students will learn the terms grave, largo, lento, adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, vivace, presto, prestissimo, accelerando, ritardando. Students will identify and discuss contrasting dynamics in various historical periods. Different forms of music like exposition, development, recapitulation, codetta will also be taught in this installment. Students will review and discuss compositions in ternary form, theme and variations, rondo forms, sonata, and concerto; students will identify a motif and its variations in a listening selection. Students will study harmony and texture, identify monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic textures, perform a melody with harmonic accompaniment. Students explore and perform a variety of musical styles and develop personal criteria to be used for describing and analyzing musical performances.