Unit Plan 16 (Grade K Music): Fast & Slow

Focus: Explore tempo by moving, clapping, and playing instruments to show fast and slow music.

Grade Level: K

Subject Area: Music (Performing • Responding)

Total Unit Duration: 2–4 sessions (2+ weeks), 20–30 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, kindergarten musicians discover how music can feel fast or slow and how tempo changes the way we want to move. Through simple movement games, clapping, and classroom instruments, students practice matching their bodies and playing to what they hear. They begin to use words like fast, slow, and tempo to talk about how music feels and why a song might be played at different speeds.

Essential Questions

• How can we tell if music is fast or slow?
• How can we show fast and slow with our bodies, voices, and instruments?
• How does changing tempo change the way music feels or what it is used for?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Move (walk, jump, sway) to show whether music is fast or slow.
2. Clap or tap a steady beat that matches the tempo of a song.
3. Play simple classroom instruments to match fast and slow music.
4. Use words like fast, slow, and tempo to describe how music sounds and feels.
5. Choose movements or instrument patterns that show a chosen tempo in a short class performance.

Standards Alignment — Kindergarten Music (NAfME-Aligned)

• MU:Pr4.2.Ka — With guidance, explore and demonstrate awareness of music contrasts such as high/low, loud/soft, and same/different.
  • Example: Singing echoes using high and low voices.
• MU:Re8.1.Ka — With guidance, demonstrate awareness of expressive qualities such as dynamics and tempo that reflect a creator’s or performer’s intent.
  • Example: Identifying music as “fast” or “slow.”

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can show fast and slow with my body to match what I hear.
• I can clap or tap a steady beat that matches the tempo of a song.
• I can play instruments fast or slow on purpose to fit the music.
• I can use the words fast, slow, and tempo when I talk about music.