Unit Plan 4 (Grade 6 Band): Reading Music Review
Build music reading skills in Grade 6 band by mastering notes, rhythms, dynamics, and steady tempo through guided sight-reading practice.
Focus: Read notes, rhythms, and basic expressive markings accurately in standard band notation while maintaining a steady tempo.
Grade Level: 6
Subject Area: Band (Performing • Reading • Rehearsing)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students review and strengthen their ability to read music notation so they can learn band pieces more independently and confidently. They revisit staff and clef basics, note names and fingerings, rhythms (including dotted notes and rests), key signatures, and expressive markings such as dynamics and articulation. Through counting, clapping, fingering, and playing exercises, students connect what they see on the page to what they hear and feel in the music. By the end of the unit, they use simple strategies to decode new passages while keeping a steady tempo.
Essential Questions
- How do notes, rhythms, and key signatures on the page tell us what to play on our instruments?
- Why is it important to keep a steady tempo when reading and performing band music?
- How do expressive markings like dynamics and articulations change the way music sounds and feels?
- What strategies can I use when I don’t recognize a note, rhythm, or symbol in my music?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Read and identify staff notes in common band keys (e.g., concert B♭, E♭, F) and match them to correct fingerings/positions.
- Count, clap, and perform basic rhythms (quarter, eighth, half, whole notes and rests, simple dotted rhythms) at a steady tempo.
- Recognize and follow key signatures, time signatures, and barlines in method-book lines and simple repertoire.
- Interpret and perform basic expressive markings (dynamics, accents, staccato, legato) as written in the score.
- Apply reading strategies (counting system, fingering through, chunking, slowing tempo) to sight-read short, grade-appropriate excerpts.
Standards Alignment — 6th Grade Band (custom, NAfME-style)
- BD:Pr4.6b — Read and perform band music using standard notation, including basic key signatures, rhythms, and expressive markings, maintaining steady tempo.
- Example: Students perform a piece with dotted rhythms and dynamic markings at a steady tempo.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can name and finger most of the notes I see in my band music.
- I can count, clap, and play basic rhythms in time with a steady beat.
- I can explain what the key signature and time signature tell me before I start playing.
- I can follow dynamics and articulations on the page so my playing matches what is written.
- I can use at least one strategy (count, say note names, finger silently, slow the tempo) to figure out a new line of music.