Unit Plan 15 (Grade 6 Vocal Music): Revising Vocal Music
Teach Grade 6 singers to revise musical ideas using peer and teacher feedback, improving pitch, rhythm, diction, and expressive singing skills.
Focus: Improve musical ideas using peer and teacher feedback to refine accuracy (pitch, rhythm, diction) and expression (dynamics, phrasing).
Grade Level: 6
Subject Area: Vocal Music (Creating • Revising • Expressive Singing)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–55 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students learn that good music is revised, not just created once. Building on melodies and short songs from previous units, they use teacher and peer feedback to improve pitch accuracy, rhythm, diction, and expressive choices. Through guided listening, checklists, and small-group coaching, students experience how even small changes can make their vocal ideas clearer, more in-tune, and more expressive for an audience.
Essential Questions
- Why do musicians revise their ideas instead of keeping the first version?
- How can feedback from others help improve pitch, rhythm, and expression?
- What kinds of changes make a vocal idea more accurate and more expressive?
- How can I respond to feedback in a way that shows growth rather than feeling criticized?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Use a simple feedback checklist to identify at least one area for improvement (pitch, rhythm, diction, or dynamics) in a vocal idea.
- Revise a short melody or song section to improve accuracy (correct notes and rhythms).
- Make at least one change to improve expression (dynamics, phrasing, tone) in their vocal idea.
- Rehearse and perform a revised version of their music that responds to teacher and/or peer feedback.
- Describe at least one specific revision they made and explain how it improved their vocal music.
Standards Alignment — Grade 6 Vocal Music (custom, NAfME-style)
- VM:Cr3.6a — Revise vocal ideas using teacher or peer feedback to improve accuracy and expression.
- Example: Students adjust pitch accuracy after feedback during rehearsal.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can listen to feedback and find one thing to fix or improve in my music.
- I can change notes or rhythms so my idea is more accurate.
- I can change dynamics, tone, or phrasing so my idea is more expressive.
- I can perform a revised version of my vocal idea that shows I used feedback.
- I can explain at least one revision I made and how it made my music better.