Common Planner
K–12 Standards

Music: Grades 3, 4

Other Rhode Island Arts sets

Artistic Processes – The human experience can be created and recreated through sound.

  • M1 (3-4)-1.

    Students show evidence of music literacy (reading, writing, and understanding of the symbols of sound) by…M1 (3-4)-1

    1. a.

      reading, writing, and performing rhythmic patterns using standard notation, including: whole note/rest, sixteenth-note patterns, eighth-quarter-eighth syncopation, dotted quarter-eighth/eighth-dotted quarter, and dotted half note

    2. b.

      reading, writing, and performing simple patterns in meters of 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8

    3. c.

      reading, writing, and performing patterns of pitch (e.g., la-so-mi-re-do-la, -so, do-la-so-fa-mi-re-do, ti) and known songs using solfege (e.g., Sourwood Mountain, Chairs to Mend, Cancion de cuna) and absolute pitch letter names (e.g., recorder B, A, G, E, and D, barred instruments using treble clef patterns)

  • M1 (3-4)-2.

    Students show evidence of improvising, composing, and arranging by…M1 (3-4)-2

    1. a.

      improvising answers in the same style to given melodic or rhythmic patterns

    2. b.

      composing or arranging music to accompany readings or dramatizations (e.g., music for a "haunted house", music for a reading of The Little Engine that Could)

Cultural Contexts – Music connects and expresses history and culture around the globe.

  • M2 (3-4)-1.

    Students show evidence of cultural and historical understanding of (familiar and unfamiliar) music by…M2 (3-4)-1

    1. a.

      using the terminology of music in discussing individual preferences for specific music from diverse cultures.

    2. b.

      identifying the use of music in various cultures and time periods through discussion about the cultures represented in the school population and beyond

  • M2 (3-4)-2.

    Students show evidence of connecting music to the arts and other disciplines by…M2 (3-4)-2

    1. a.

      integrating several arts disciplines (dance, music, theatre, or the visual arts) to communicate meaning or thematic content.

Communication – Music of diverse genres is performed in a variety of settings.

  • M3 (3-4)-1.

    Students perform music alone and with others in a variety of settings…M3 (3-4)-1

    1. a.

      singing a varied repertoire of music from diverse cultures, including rounds, ostinatos, and descants with musical accuracy

    2. b.

      playing classroom instruments, pitched and unpitched, with musical accuracy (e.g., recorders, castanets)

Aesthetic Judgment – Music knowledge is applied through reflection and evaluation of the music of self and others.

  • M4 (3-4)-1.

    Students analyze and describe music by…M4 (3-4)-1

    1. a.

      describing music and identifying melody, rhythm, harmony, and timbre using appropriate music terminology

    2. b.

      identifying simple musical forms (e.g., AABA, AABB, rondo)

    3. c.

      identifying and classifying timbres using specified categories (e.g., instruments of the orchestra, jazz combos, world instruments of idiophones, aerophones, chordaphones, membranaphones)

  • M4 (3-4)-2.

    Students evaluate music by…M4 (3-4)-2

    1. a.

      using age-appropriate music vocabulary to critique music (e.g., "The tempo is allegro in the A section." "I hear a crescendo before the cymbal crash.")

    2. b.

      using appropriate music vocabulary to identify aesthetic qualities in music and explain personal preferences for a specific musical composition (e.g., "When the tempo speeds up, it makes me feel nervous".)

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?
Grade 3 and Grade 4
When were these standards adopted?
2010

Keep exploring

Keep exploring Arts standards

Sibling grade bands, other subjects in this jurisdiction, and the same subject across other states.