Unit Plan 23 (Grade 5 Music): Music Around the World
Grade 5 music: explore global traditions, linking music to culture, history, dance, visual art, daily life, and cross-curricular connections.
Focus: Explore global music traditions from multiple regions, examining how music connects to culture, history, dance, visual arts, and daily life, and explain relationships between music and other arts and disciplines.
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area: Music (General Music)
Total Unit Duration: 3 sessions (one per week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students take a “musical trip around the world,” listening to and observing music from different cultures and regions. They notice instruments, rhythms, melodies, languages, and movement, and connect what they hear to dance, celebrations, history, visual art, and daily routines. By the end, they can explain how music from different places is part of people’s lives and how it connects with other arts and school subjects.
Essential Questions
- How do people around the world use music in their daily lives (celebrations, work, ceremonies, storytelling, games)?
- How does music connect to other arts (dance, visual art, drama, film) and to other school subjects (history, language, science of sound)?
- What can we learn about a culture or community by listening to its music and seeing how it is performed?
- How can we show respect when we listen to and discuss music from cultures that are not our own?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Identify at least three global music traditions and describe where they come from (region/country) using a map.
- Explain how a piece of music connects to other arts (such as dance, visual art, or film) or to other disciplines (such as history or science).
- Describe how music functions in different cultural contexts (celebration, ceremony, storytelling, work, entertainment).
- Create a simple “Music Around the World” comparison chart or mini-poster showing relationships between music, culture, and other arts/subjects.
- Reflect on how learning about global music helps them understand and respect people from different places.
Standards Alignment — Grade 5 Music (NAfME-Aligned)
- MU:Cn11.0.5a — Explain relationships between music and other arts, disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.
- Example: Connecting music to film, dance, history, or science of sound.
Success Criteria — Student-Friendly Language
- I can name and locate at least three examples of music from different parts of the world.
- I can explain how a piece of music connects to other arts (dance, visual art, drama, film) or school subjects (history, science).
- I can describe how music is used in a specific cultural setting (festival, ceremony, game, work song, daily routine).
- I can create a chart or mini-poster that shows how music and culture are related in at least two different places.
- I can talk about music from other cultures with respect and curiosity, not judgment.