Scope and sequence  ·  PreK–Grade 6

The sequence is free.
The songs are the subscription.

What order the concepts arrive in, what belongs in each one, and how many songs in the library carry it. Take the map and use it with whatever material you already own.

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7
Pitch steps
20
Rhythm elements
158
Songs in the library
PreK–6
Every grade

Knowing the order is not the hard part

Teachers ask the same question every fall: what do I teach, and in what order. It is a fair question with a fairly stable answer, so there is no good reason to put it behind a paywall.

What takes thirty years to build is the repertoire. The songs that actually work with a class of second graders on a Friday afternoon, taught on video so you can see how the game runs before you try it. That is what a subscription is for.

"We don't give you a set curriculum. We give you options."
DS
Deborah Skydell
Founder · The Singing Classroom

Pitch, one note at a time

Each step adds a single note to what students already know. Every song in the library is tagged with the one new note it introduces, so the sequence is also a filter.

The order

1. Sol and mi · 32. La · 113. Do · 64. Re · 145. Low sol · 136. Fa · 197. Low ti · 19

After low ti the remaining notes fill in: ti on 5 songs, high do on 4, low la on 3. 86 of the 158 songs carry a pitch tag.

See every step with its songs, including the ones that work with 4th and 5th graders →

Rhythm, element by element

94 songs carry a rhythm tag. These are the elements they cover, grouped by kind rather than by grade, because the pace depends on your schedule and your students. The order within each group is yours to set.

Beat and its first division

75 songs tagged
  • Quarter note and two eighths25
  • Quarter rest26
  • Half note5
  • Half rest5
  • Dotted half note4
  • Whole note2
  • Whole rest2
  • Eighth rest4

Sixteenths and syncopation

69 songs tagged
  • Four sixteenths7
  • Eighth, eighth, sixteenth9
  • Sixteenth, eighth, eighth6
  • Eighth, quarter, eighth (syncopa)8
  • Five eighths, sixteenth10
  • Sixteenth, five eighths6
  • Five eighths, one eighth10
  • One eighth, five eighths8
  • Three eighth tuplet5

Upbeats

21 songs tagged
  • Two eighth anacrusis12
  • Quarter anacrusis5
  • Eighth anacrusis4

Everything else a year has to cover

Beat, form, part singing and meter run alongside pitch and rhythm rather than after them. These are the counts in the library.

Musicianship

  • Steady beat50
  • Form18
  • Swing time11
  • Slur and melisma10
  • Listening8
  • Melodic contour7
  • Phrase6
  • Repeat sign6
  • Advanced syncopation5
  • Dynamic markings4

Part singing

  • Rounds17
  • Solo singing16
  • Unison10
  • Call and response7
  • Simple harmony6
  • Partner songs1

Meter

  • 2/418
  • 4/417
  • 6/87
  • 3/44
  • Mixed meter3
  • 5/41
  • 7/81
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Every song with a teaching video, the score and teaching notes

How much of it fits each grade

Songs whose recommended range covers that grade. A song that works from kindergarten through fourth grade counts in all five.

GradeSongs that fit
PreK68
Kindergarten96
Grade 196
Grade 288
Grade 390
Grade 483
Grade 566
Grade 657

Teaching from a cart or without a music room? 43 of these need nothing but voices.

About the sequence

No. It is a map of the concepts elementary music covers and the songs in The Singing Classroom that carry each one. Every music teacher should build their own curriculum from songs they love and know will work with their students. This page gives you the order to build in, not the lessons.
Sol and mi, then la, do, re, low sol, fa, and low ti. Each step adds one new note. The full sequence, with the songs that introduce each note and the ones that still work with 4th and 5th graders, is on the how to teach solfège page.
No, and that is deliberate. Pacing depends on how often you see your classes, how long each class is, and what your students already know. A teacher on a six-day rotation and a teacher with two thirty-minute classes a week cannot follow the same calendar. What stays the same is the order concepts arrive in.
$22.95 a month, or $199.95 a year ($16.66 a month). The 7-day free trial gives you full access from day one, and you can cancel before it ends without being charged. Districts can pay by purchase order; contact us for pricing and documentation.

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The songs are here when you want them.

158 songs and singing games, each with a teaching video, the score and notes on how to run it. Free for seven days.

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