The George Hersey Robertson Intermediate School Music Department is committed to maintaining a music program that provides students the opportunity to develop their musical talents according to their individual abilities. Students create, perform, and respond with understanding, regarding the music concepts of melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, dynamics, and tone color. In addition, students connect their understanding to social, cultural, and historical contexts when creating, performing, and responding to music. Students will be guided toward a lifelong love and appreciation for music by exploring various genres, such as program music, jazz, country, folk, opera, and ballet, as well as Classical, Romantic and Modern period styles.
Grade 3: Students sing and respond to a varied repertoire of songs and music, develop their music literacy skills, and demonstrate various music concepts. They are introduced to specific music notation, learning various symbols that are most commonly used in songs from music classes. Students learn to identify notes, rests, the treble clef, the music staff, line and space note names, and to interpret different rhythmic and tonal patterns using the various note symbols. There are a wide variety of songs, including some in various languages. They also learn to identify the four families and names of the instruments. At the conclusion of the school year, Grade 3 students perform a 30-minute End-of-Year Concert.
Grade 4: Students sing and respond to a varied repertoire of songs and music and some songs in two parts as an introduction to harmony. They develop their music literacy skills by reviewing the symbols and notation learned in Grade 3 to continue their learning of more challenging music notation. Students also demonstrate various music concepts including playing the recorder as a pre-band instrument. The study of recorder also reinforces all they learn about music notation and their interpretation of different rhythmic and tonal patterns using the various note symbols. They also learn about various meters and create their own songs and share their creations with their class. At the conclusion of the school year, Grade 4 students sing and play their recorders in a 30-minute End-of-Year Concert.
Grade 5: Students sing and respond to a varied repertoire of songs and music including songs in two or three parts to further develop their understanding of harmony. They further develop their music literacy skills by reviewing the symbols and notation learned in Grades 3 and 4 to continue their learning of more challenging music notation. Students also demonstrate various music concepts by studying various genres of music. All Grade 5 students attend a field trip to a music performance at various performing arts locations every year. Students study before the performance to make connections to their own performing, creating, and responding during music class. Toward the end of the school year students develop their understanding of playing the piano via a keyboard lab setup in the music room. Students participating in Grade 5 Chorus and Band perform in a Winter Informance Concert and at the conclusion of the school year Grade 5 Chorus and Band students perform a 45-minute Spring Concert.