Unit Plan 15 (Grade 3 Music): Expressive Singing
Grade 3 singing unit: students use dynamics and tempo for expressive intent, rehearsing to improve technical accuracy and fix challenging spots.
Focus: Apply dynamics and tempo to improve melodic expression in singing, using rehearsal to refine technical accuracy and address performance challenges.
Grade Level: 3
Subject Area: Music (Singing • Expression • Rehearsal Skills)
Total Unit Duration: 1–3 sessions (3+ weeks), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students focus on expressive singing by using dynamics (loud/soft) and tempo (fast/slow) to show expressive intent. They explore how changing these expressive qualities can make a familiar song sound excited, calm, gentle, or bold. Students also practice simple rehearsal strategies—stopping, repeating tricky spots, and adjusting their singing—to improve technical accuracy (pitch, rhythm, diction) and expression. By the end, they perform a short song or phrase with intentional dynamics and tempo and can describe the choices they made.
Essential Questions
- How do dynamics and tempo change the way a song feels when we sing it?
- How can I use expressive singing to show a specific mood, character, or story?
- What does it mean to rehearse a song, and how is that different from just singing it once?
- How can repeating and fixing challenging spots help my singing become more accurate and expressive?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate contrasting dynamics (e.g., piano/soft, forte/loud) and tempo (fast/slow) while singing short melodic phrases.
- Sing a familiar song or phrase with consistent pitch and rhythm while applying chosen expressive qualities.
- Use simple rehearsal strategies (stop, repeat, slow down, focus on one line) to address performance challenges (e.g., tricky intervals, words, entrances).
- Describe how expressive intent is conveyed through their use of dynamics and tempo in singing.
- Perform a short song or excerpt with improved technical accuracy and expressive clarity after rehearsal.
Standards Alignment — Grade 3 Music (NAfME-Aligned)
- MU:Pr4.3.3a — Demonstrate and describe how expressive intent is conveyed through expressive qualities such as dynamics and tempo.
- Example: Performing louder to communicate excitement.
- MU:Pr5.1.3b — Rehearse to refine technical accuracy, expressive qualities, and identified performance challenges.
- Example: Repeating difficult measures to improve accuracy.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can change dynamics and tempo to make a song sound more excited, peaceful, or powerful.
- I can rehearse by repeating the parts that are hard until they sound better.
- I can sing my song with mostly correct notes and rhythm and use dynamics and tempo on purpose.
- I can explain how my expressive choices (loud/soft, fast/slow) match the mood I want.
- I can listen to my class or group and help us improve our singing together.