Unit Plan 29 (Grade 6 Vocal Music): Sight-Singing Practice

Focus: Build confidence reading and singing new music using basic notation, solfege, and rehearsal strategies to improve pitch, rhythm, and ensemble blend.

Grade Level: 6

Subject Area: Vocal Music (Reading • Performing • Rehearsal Skills)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–55 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students strengthen their skills in sight-singing—reading and performing new music they have not practiced before. They use staff notation, solfege syllables, and rhythm counting to turn notes on a page into confident singing. Through short exercises, echo patterns, and simple sight-singing examples, students learn step-by-step strategies to decode rhythms, find pitches, and stay in tempo. By the end of the week, they complete a sight-singing check and reflect on which strategies help them most.

Essential Questions

• How does reading notation help singers learn new music more quickly and confidently?
• What steps and strategies can we use to sight-sing with accurate pitch and rhythm?
• Why is practice and repetition important when learning to read music with your voice?
• How can sight-singing skills make us more independent and confident choir members?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Read and perform short melodic patterns using basic notation and solfege syllables.
2. Count and clap rhythmic patterns accurately before singing them.
3. Apply at least two rehearsal strategies (slow practice, repeating tricky measures, isolating intervals) to improve sight-singing.
4. Perform a brief sight-singing exercise with mostly accurate pitch and rhythm, either individually or in a small group.
5. Reflect on personal strengths and challenges in sight-singing and set a simple goal for future growth.

Standards Alignment — Grade 6 Vocal Music (custom, NAfME-style)

• VM:Pr4.6b — Read and perform vocal music using basic notation, solfege, or lyric cues.
  • Example: Students sight-sing a simple melody using solfege syllables.
• VM:Pr5.6a — Apply rehearsal strategies to improve pitch accuracy, rhythm, and blend.
  • Example: Students rehearse a difficult phrase slowly, then return to tempo.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can read and sing short melodies using solfege and rhythm counting.
• I can use at least two strategies to fix pitch or rhythm errors when I sight-sing.
• I can perform a short sight-singing example with mostly correct notes and steady beat.
• I can explain which rehearsal strategies help me most when reading new music.