Unit Plan 36 (Grade 5 Music): Music Sharing Day

Focus: Perform music confidently with expressive intent and appropriate performance etiquette.

Grade Level: 5

Subject Area: Music (General Music • Performing • Responding)

Total Unit Duration: 1–3 sessions, 50–60 minutes each

I. Introduction

This culminating unit celebrates students’ musical growth by preparing and presenting a Music Sharing Day performance. Students select familiar pieces from the year’s repertoire, refine them for accuracy, expression, and ensemble cohesion, and practice demonstrating performance decorum as both performers and audience members. They reflect on how their skills have developed and how to support peers through focused listening and positive feedback. By the end of the unit, students showcase their best work for a class, grade-level, or family audience.

Essential Questions

• How can I show my best musicianship—in both sound and behavior—when I perform for an audience?
• What makes a performance feel confident, expressive, and well-prepared rather than rushed or uncertain?
• How does audience etiquette affect performers’ confidence and the overall success of a performance?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Perform selected music with accurate rhythm, pitch (when applicable), and steady tempo.
2. Demonstrate expressive qualities (dynamics, articulation, tempo, and style) that match the character of the music.
3. Show appropriate performance decorum (entrances, exits, focus, posture, and transitions) during Music Sharing Day.
4. Demonstrate audience etiquette (attentive listening, appropriate applause, respectful silence) suitable to the performance context.
5. Reflect on personal and ensemble growth, citing specific evidence from rehearsals and the final performance.

Standards Alignment — Grade 5 Music (NAfME-Aligned)

• MU:Pr6.1.5a — Perform music, alone or with others, with expression, technical accuracy, and appropriate interpretation.
  • Example: Performing an ensemble piece with correct rhythm, pitch, and style.
• MU:Pr6.1.5b — Demonstrate performance decorum and audience etiquette appropriate for the context, venue, and genre.
  • Example: Modeling appropriate concert behavior as performer and listener.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can perform my music with accurate rhythm and steady tempo, and I stay with the group.
• I can use dynamics, articulation, and style to show the mood of the piece.
• I can show professional performance behavior by how I walk on/off, stand, and focus.
• I can be a respectful audience member, listening quietly and applauding at the right times.
• I can describe at least one way I have improved as a musician this year and give evidence from our performance.