Aligning Music Classes To Common Core

A friend of mine is a has been teaching music for more than 25 years. She's an excellent teacher, and she knows her subject well.

The problem?

Her school asked her to show how her lessons are aligned to Common Core State Standards. She knew that I'd been working with CCSS, so she asked me for assistance.

First, I showed her the CCSS app on my phone. There is an iPhone version and an Android version.

Then I recommended that she familiarize herself with the standards for each grade level she teaches, then pick the standards that match with each lesson. With music, there are elements of math, language, science and history. I suggested that she makes sure she shows that her music classes already align with multiple aspects of the CCSS.

While refreshing my memory on this topic, I found the following document that I thought might help other music teachers who need to align their lessons to the new standards:

Vocal and Instrumental Common Core

Related topics: Education Policy

About the author 

Michelle Boyd Waters, M.Ed.

Michelle Boyd Waters is the founder of reThink ELA, where she creates research-informed resources that help middle and high school English teachers build stronger communities of readers and writers. After teaching secondary English for 10 years, Michelle has continued working alongside educators and students as a university composition instructor, writing center director, teacher consultant for the Oklahoma Writing Project, and mentor to new teachers. Her work brings together classroom experience, literacy research, and writing center pedagogy to create practical resources that support authentic reading, meaningful writing, and student voice. Through reThink ELA, she helps teachers create classrooms where both students and educators can thrive.

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