At Sisters Elementary School, our students have the opportunity to visit the music classroom 2-3 times per week. During instruction, which is centered on the Quaver Music Curriculum, students receive robust instruction based on relationships first, music second. Quaver utilizes a seriously fun approach which serves as a catalyst to strengthen the bond between teacher and students. Quaver tools empower our teacher to lead student-centered instruction and form a strong connection with each and every student.
A strong teacher-student relationship leads to:
- More energetic classrooms
- Far greater student retention
- A rejuvenated music program
- And a lifelong love of music in our students!
Quaver lessons are completely aligned to National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), which are embedded in the lessons in each grade to create a comprehensive General Music curriculum, which helps prepare our students for their middle and high school music experiences in band and choir. Quaver also emphasizes enduring understandings and essential questions tied to each related artistic focus (Creating, Performing, Responding, Connecting) for each grade.
Music at Sisters Elementary also means plenty of opportunities for performing. Our students regularly prepare and present performances for Veteran’s Day, Holiday Showcase, grade-level musicals, in-class “informances.” Additionally, 4th and 5th graders have the opportunity to join our newly formed Sisters Outlaw Singers (SOS) Choir, which meets Tuesday mornings before school throughout the year to focus exclusively on choral performing and collaborates with the county-wide annual Kids Choir Festival in Bend during the month of March.
Focus
Rhythm (triplets & sixteenth notes), Major and Minor Melodies, Note Duration, Notation, Tempo, Timbre, an Introduction to Stringed Instruments (ukuleles used in class), Chords and Harmony, the Romantic Period, Recorders, and a Rap Project.
Update: Due to limited and reallocated space in the elementary school there will be no public performances in the 2023-2024 school year.
A balance between literacy, creativity and performance.
Kindergarten
Steady beat
Exploring our voices
Movement with music
Instruments: classroom percussion
Nursery rhymes & folk songs
First Grade
Refine steady beat
Introduced to basic notation (Quarter Notes – “ta” & Eighth Notes “Ti-ti”)
Introduction to solfege
Movement with music continued
Musical careers
Instruments: classroom percussion & boomwhackers
Expansion of folk music repertoire.
Second Grade
Refine steady beat
Notation expansion (Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Half Notes, Whole Notes)
Solfege expanded
Instruments: Orff, boomwhackers & classroom percussion
Instruments of the orchestra
Third Grade
Refine steady beat & tempo
Notation expansion (Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Half Notes, Whole Notes, Dotted Half Note, Rests)
Introduction to reading the treble clef staff
Perform with solfege & Curwin hand signs
Instruments: keyboards, Orff, boomwhackers & classroom percussion
Study of melody
Topics: Music History & World Music
Fourth Grade
Refine steady beat & tempo
Review the treble clef staff & melody
Notation Review (Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes, Half Notes, Whole Notes, Dotted Half Note, Rests)
Introduction to harmony
Perform with solfege & Curwin hand signs
Instruments: Ukuleles, Orff, boomwhackers & classroom percussion
Topics: Music History & World Music
Sisters School District Website