Greetings from the Music Room!
A little about Mr. Mooney:
Prior to Cambridge Public Schools, I taught at Saint Peter School on Concord Avenue, and for the Handel & Haydn Society, directing grant-funded choral programs in Boston Public Schools. I still teach for the H&H Vocal Arts Program on Saturday mornings at the Boston Latin School and perform as a singer and conductor with several local ensembles.
In addition to my responsibilities at Cambridgeport, I also teach at Haggerty and Tobin. I am at Cambridgeport on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. As I travel between two locations, email is the best form of communication.
Curriculum goals:
In music class, students in PK, kindergarten, and first grade learn through singing, moving, and playing games that incorporate the basic skills of music performance and literacy. Our program emphasizes vocal music, but also involves playing classroom instruments, as well as listening to and describing music of diverse genres. By the second grade, we begin to incorporate famous works and composers from the classical idiom, and practice identifying the instruments of the orchestra. Students in the third grade learn world music, with each unit focusing on a different region of the globe and the musical styles and cultures that exist outside of western music. Fourth graders at C-port play the recorder. Fifth graders select an instrument. All music classes meet once-a-week for 45 minute lessons, with the exception of fifth grade, who see their instrument teachers twice weekly. Below, you will find a basic outline of musical concepts by grade.
PK/Kindergarten:
Readiness concepts:
- Fast and slow, loud and soft, high and low, short and long, same and different
- Steady Beat
- Pitch Matching
First and Second Grades:
All previous concepts from PK and Kindergarten, applied.
Rhythmic concepts:
- Beat vs. rhythm
- Half note, quarter note, eighth note, quarter rest
Melodic concepts:
- So, mi, la, do, re
- 4/4 and 2/4 meter
Third and Fourth Grade:
Rhythmic concepts:
- Whole note, sixteenth note, various sixteenth and eighth note pairings
- Syncopation
Melodic concepts:
- Pentatonic Scale
- Full diatonic Scales (in major and minor)
Fifth Grade:
