Unit Plan 31 (Grade 4 Music): Music & Imagination

Focus: Use music to inspire creative movement and play, while students improvise rhythmic, melodic, and simple harmonic ideas and explain how their choices connect to a purpose, context, and their own interests.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: Music (Creativity • Movement • Personal Expression)

Total Unit Duration: 1–3 sessions (3+ weeks), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students explore how music and imagination work together by using sound to inspire creative movement, stories, and playful scenarios. Listening to short musical excerpts in varied styles, they imagine characters, settings, and actions, then respond with movement or simple improvised music that fits the mood or story. They also think about how their personal interests (favorite games, stories, sports, or styles of music) shape the musical choices they make. Throughout the unit, students improvise rhythmic, melodic, and simple harmonic ideas for specific purposes (e.g., “sneaky” music for a game, “hero” theme for a story) and explain how those choices connect to context and what they enjoy.

Essential Questions

• How can music help us imagine stories, characters, and games?
• In what ways can movement and play show how we feel or what a piece of music is “about”?
• How do my own interests and experiences influence the music I create and the way I move to it?
• How can I improvise rhythms, melodies, and harmonies that fit a specific purpose (like a scene in a story or a game level)?
• Why is it important to be able to explain the reasons behind my musical and movement choices?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Improvise short rhythmic, melodic, and simple harmonic ideas that fit a specific imagined context (e.g., a sneaky character, a chase scene, a calming garden).
2. Use movement (shapes, levels, pathways) and/or playful actions to show how they interpret the mood and story suggested by different musical excerpts.
3. Make and explain musical choices (tempo, dynamics, rhythm, pitch direction, harmony) that match the purpose of a scene, story, or game they imagine.
4. Describe how their own interests, knowledge, and skills (favorite styles, instruments, games) influence what they create, perform, and enjoy in music.
5. Work collaboratively to design a short “music & imagination” mini-scene or game, combining improvised sound with movement or play, and explain the group’s creative decisions.

Standards Alignment — Grade 4 Music (NAfME-Aligned)

• MU:Cr1.1.4a — Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas and explain how they connect to a specific purpose and context (such as social or cultural).
  • Example: Creating an improvised accompaniment for a story scene and explaining how tempo and harmony set the mood.
• MU:Cn10.0.4a — Demonstrate how interests, knowledge, and skills relate to personal choices and intent when creating, performing, and responding to music.
  • Example: Choosing percussion because of interest in rhythm-based music.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can improvise rhythms, melodies, and simple harmonies that fit a story, scene, or game.
• I can show my musical ideas with movement or playful actions that match the mood.
• I can explain why I chose certain sounds (tempo, dynamics, instruments) for a specific purpose.
• I can describe how my own interests (favorite music, games, hobbies) influence my musical choices.
• I can work with classmates to create a mini-scene or game that uses music and imagination together, and talk about our creative decisions.