Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 12 (Grade 1 Music): Reading Rhythm Icons

Grade 1 music unit where students read and perform 2–4 beat rhythmic patterns using icons and simple notation, then document their own rhythm ideas with symbols so they can remember, share, and perform them confidently.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 11 (Grade 1 Music): Rhythm Echoes

Grade 1 music unit where students echo short rhythmic patterns using voice and instruments, apply rehearsal strategies, and improvise rhythms with confidence.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 10 (Grade 1 Music): Classroom Instruments

Grade 1 music unit where students identify and care for classroom percussion instruments, keep a steady beat, and create simple rhythmic patterns through guided play.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 9 (Grade 1 Music): Sharing Music

Grade 1 music unit where students perform songs and chants for classmates with confident voices, clear expression, and respectful performer and audience behavior.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 8 (Grade 1 Music): Sound Exploration

First graders explore classroom instruments and vocal sounds to improvise simple patterns and sound stories, compare timbres, and use picture symbols to record and organize their musical ideas for sharing.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 7 (Grade 1 Music): Fast & Slow

First graders explore tempo by moving, singing, and playing at fast and slow speeds while keeping a steady beat, then describe how tempo changes the feeling and purpose of music in listening and performance.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 6 (Grade 1 Music): Loud & Soft

Grade 1 students explore dynamics by performing and identifying loud vs. soft contrasts in songs, movement, and instruments, describing how volume choices change musical feeling and expression.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 5 (Grade 1 Music): High & Low Sounds

Explore high and low pitch with singing, movement, and simple melodic improv in this Grade 1 music unit—build pitch direction, contour, and listening skills fast.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 4 (Grade 1 Music): Beat in Songs

Grade 1 music unit where students keep a steady beat while singing and chanting, using simple rehearsal strategies to fix tricky parts in songs.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 3 (Grade 1 Music): Steady Beat Basics

Grade 1 music unit where students keep a steady beat with body percussion and movement, exploring marches, dances, and lullabies and their purposes.

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Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 2 (Grade 1 Music): Singing & Speaking Voices

Differentiate speaking, whispering, calling, and singing voices in Grade 1 music as students keep a steady beat, explore melodic contour in simple songs, and improvise short rhythmic or melodic voice patterns for specific purposes.

Grade 1 Music Units

Unit Plan 1 (Grade 1 Music): Music Routines & Listening

Build Grade 1 music listening routines and discussion skills as students practice music-ready behavior, connect musical examples to feelings and classroom purposes, and share simple opinions using personal interests and experiences.

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6-8 Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan (Grades 6-8): Game Show Geometry - Geometry Jeopardy

Middle school geometry review where students create and play Geometry Jeopardy, mastering transformations, area, similarity, and problem solving through collaboration.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 36 (Grade 2 Music): Music Sharing Day

Grade 2 music unit where students perform confidently for peers, showing expression, accuracy, and respectful performer and audience behavior.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 35 (Grade 2 Music): Preparing to Perform

Grade 2 music unit: rehearse with practice strategies and kind feedback to improve accuracy, expression, and confidence before performing.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 34 (Grade 2 Music): Independent Music Centers

Grade 2 music unit using independent centers to improvise rhythms and melodies, explore beat and meter, and apply music concepts through hands-on stations.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 33 (Grade 2 Music): Expressing Music Opinions

Grade 2 music unit where students share music opinions using simple vocabulary and choose songs that best fit classroom purposes like calm work or movement.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 32 (Grade 2 Music): Favorite Songs

Grade 2 music unit where students rehearse and perform favorite songs with accuracy and expression, using a simple checklist and feedback to improve for a purpose.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 31 (Grade 2 Music): Music & Imagination

Grade 2 music unit where students use imagination, movement, and creative play to improvise sounds that express ideas, feelings, and personal interests.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 30 (Grade 2 Music): Revising Music Ideas

Grade 2 music unit where students revise musical ideas using self, peer, and teacher feedback to improve clarity, expression, and confidence.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 29 (Grade 2 Music): Rhythm Games

Grade 2 music unit using rhythm games to build steady beat, rhythm accuracy, cultural awareness, and rehearsal strategies for confident, cooperative performance.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 28 (Grade 2 Music): Sound Pictures

Grade 2 Music unit where students create sound pictures inspired by images, improvising rhythms and melodies to show mood, action, and expressive intent in a final performance.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 27 (Grade 2 Music): Group Performance

Grade 2 Music unit builds collaborative performance skills—focus, cooperation, and audience/performer decorum—rehearsing songs for a specific purpose with accurate rhythm/pitch, expression, and appropriate tempo/dynamics.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 26 (Grade 2 Music): Musical Storytelling

Grade 2 music unit: students create and perform sound stories that represent characters and actions using simple rhythms/melodies, guided by personal interests, and explain their expressive intent.

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Grade 2 Music Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade 2 Music): Call & Response Songs

Grade 2 music unit: sing call-and-response/echo songs accurately, use rehearsal strategies to fix tricky parts, and improvise simple rhythmic/melodic responses for classroom purposes.