Intermediate 1
Intermediate Music Level 1 is designed to pick up where your student
left off in the earlier level of the K12 Music Program. Your student will
review skills in the first two units by learning the basics of playing
the recorder. Your student will also learn more about proper vocal production
and quality in singing. Your student will learn all of the notes of the
pentatonic scale and use these to sing a wealth of folk songs. Your student
will also learn several new rhythm elements and find them in folk and
art music. Your student will learn to listen actively and to identify
concepts in examples of some of the world’s great musical masterpieces
and learn to identify woodwind and brass instruments. The program examines
the music of five major composers of the Baroque and Classical eras.
Intermediate lessons assume that you have completed either the Beginning
Music levels or Introduction to Music, but they require no other musical
training. If you have musical training, so much the better—you can build
on what K12 offers. Even if your student has experience playing an instrument,
this program is designed to develop the ear and listening skills needed
to become a well-rounded musician.
The K12 Music Program provides step-by-step guidance in each lesson.
Most of the activities take place away from the computer, with some lessons
providing practice using computer animations. Intermediate Lessons will
still need adult supervision for some of the activities. You will need
room in your work area for your student to write, move and play some of
the games. However, many of the lessons are designed for your student
to work independently, reading online books or doing online activities.
We believe that every child has the ability to learn to sing properly,
to learn to read and write music, and to develop an appreciation for great
music from the world’s traditions.
Singing
All children have a natural desire to sing. The voice is a child’s first
and best instrument for learning about music. The best music for training
the voice is folk music―that is, the traditional songs that have
been sung and enjoyed by people in various cultures and passed on from
one generation to another. K12 has taken care to choose developmentally
appropriate folk songs and, for the CDs and videos that accompany this
program to produce original recordings in authentic styles, performed
by voices in a child’s natural range, with minimal accompaniment for clarity.
Music Literacy
K12’s approach to music literacy is different than the traditional instrumental
music approach. Rather than approaching concepts intellectually, your
student will start training by the ear. Through singing and fun movement
activities, your student learns the basic elements of music, such as beat,
pitch, and melody. These activities ensure that your student experiences
the “language” of music. This concrete experience prepares your student
to learn more abstract skills and concepts in later grades, including
the skills required to read and write music.
Active Listening
Music lessons that include the Let’s
Listen CD encourage active listening to great works from Western
classical music. Activities encourage your student to listen with imagination
and discernment and to respond to the beauty and emotional power of great
music. Many activities reinforce the skills that were learned in the main
body of the lesson and teach your student how to actively listen to great
music.
Learning Method
These lessons are based on the learning method created by the composer
Zoltán Kodály for use in European classrooms and adapted by American teachers
in the last 40 years. Key to this method are the three P’s: Prepare, Present,
and Practice.
Prepare:
This is the crucial stage in learning music. Just as you need to speak
before you can read, you need to be able to hear a music concept before
you can read and write it. The child is asked to explore a music concept
gradually, through movement and singing activities. These activities are
designed to focus the child’s attention and curiosity on the particular
aspect of music. They also train the child to hear the concept first before
naming it. This preparation period may take place over several lessons,
or even over an entire unit. Present:
These lessons take the discoveries that the student has made, synthesize
them, and give them a name and a symbol. Presentation usually takes place
in one key lesson. Practice:
In this phase, the student takes the knowledge gained in the Prepare and
Present phases and applies them to many different musical situations.
The aim of this phase is to make these skills automatic, a part of the
student’s musical vocabulary. Skills are practiced intensely for an entire
unit, but are continually revisited during a student’s years in K12 Music.
Repetition and Sequencing
Research in music education suggests that children learn best through
frequent repetition of songs and concepts. The K12 curriculum is designed
around this principle. Most songs are repeated at least four times in
one year, and some songs may be repeated more than four times. This repetition
will help your student build a stable repertoire of traditional songs.
It will also allow your student to achieve mastery over a period of time
rather than during each lesson. During each repetition, your student will
examine a new aspect of the song or learn a new skill through the song.
You should also retain your CD material for use in future levels. Students
may revisit some of these songs as their skills develop and they are able
to identify more and more of the phrases.
Mastery and Expectations
Because mastery of music relies on acquired skills and performance rather
than just intellectual knowledge, practice is built into the curriculum.
You may find that your student masters a skill rather easily, in which
case you may want to skip over some of the activities that teach this
skill. Or, you may find that your student has trouble with certain activities.
It is important to realize that mastery in music does not require 100
percent perfection. If your student is able to perform a skill with about
80 percent accuracy, this is considered mastery.
Total lessons:
68. If
you teach Music twice a week, you can comfortably complete the program
within a typical school year. Lesson time:
45 minutes. You might choose to split the lessons into smaller segments.
K12’s online lesson tracking system allows you to pick up wherever you
left off in any given lesson.
If you are taking the complete K12 curriculum, you may wish to start
Music a few weeks later than the other subjects to help you to ease into
the course.
You and your student will work together throughout most of the lessons.
Each lesson includes a selection of the following:
Songs and Activities
Warm-up:
Games introduce the lesson and reinforce the concept of beat in music.
Songs prepare the student for learning the main objectives of the lesson. Skills development:
A vocal or rhythm warm-up exercises the voice and reviews melodic or rhythm
concepts. Music concept:
The main concept of the lesson is taught through vocal activities, physical
motions, and written practice. Music appreciation:
Activities introduce the instruments of the orchestra, the culture in
which music was created, and the relationship of music to story.
Active Listening
Assessment
A few simple questions track progress and assess your child’s grasp
of the main concepts in the lesson.
Beyond the Lesson
Optional activities extend concepts and skills from the lesson, and
present suggested resources for further listening, singing, or reading.
These activities may include resources beyond those provided by K12.
Materials to Have on Hand
To document your child’s progress in the course, keep a portfolio (a
three-ring binder with pocket folders) of completed Practice Pages and
any other work done on paper.
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