How do you decide what to teach?
The topics taught in music class are chosen by the teachers and not by the IBO. The IBO provides a framework that sits over-top of the curriculum. It's a philosophy through which you teach. For example, if you send your Nigerian child to a British international school in China, they will learn money in grade 1 using British pounds... Is that really relevant? Children living on an island should study the ocean; children living in the tropics should study the rainforest. This is why the IBO does not directly provide a curriculum -- it is more concerned with the child-centred philosophy behind what is taught. Now, the IBO provides a type of scope and sequence that outlines how students in each grade should Create and Respond within The Arts. However, these are very general. The IBO doesn't say that all grade 6 students must study Renaissance music; it does say at what level students should be responding to The Arts in grade 6. (E.g. Describe how music makes them feel.)
In PYP, do you follow your own planner for each age group as well as supporting the UOI?
Oh! I have a good answer for this one. I did my Arts Category Two with Danielle Veilleux and Ashley Coates and we discussed this very topic!
Answer: It depends on how closely you are linked with the UOI.
Example of An Independent Planner:
I was once doing mild linking with a grade 4 explorers UOI. They were talking about pioneers of exploration and so I was looking at pioneers of exploration of sound - John Cage, Philip Glass, Arnold Schoenberg, etc. When we were in the planning meeting, it was decided that their summative assessment would be to pick ONE of the areas they studied and to expand it into a final project. The children COULD choose music... but then again... maybe not. I argued and argued against this. If the child didn't choose to do a music summative assessment, then how would I get a mark for my report card? In the end, I removed myself and any mention of music from the UOI planner and created my own planner. Then I copied and pasted from the UOI planner so that I made sure I had all the correct concepts, etc., correctly linked. Lastly, I made sure that I had my own summative assessment that was based on what they had done in my class.
Example of A Joint Planner:
I once also did a grade 4 persuasion UOI that looked at advertising jingles. My summative assessment was also their summative assessment. The kids had to come up with their own product. They had to create posters / advertising in visual arts. They had to create advertising slogans in Language Arts. Then the poems were passed to me and they had to compose jingles for their slogans in music class. All their work was put together into a summative assessment / mini exhibition at the end of the unit. Because I was able to grade their summative assessment as a music assessment, I stayed on their planner.
Types of Integration:
Social: The homeroom is doing a unit on dinosaurs and they need the music teacher to do their assembly for them. So in the planning meeting, the music teacher is "told" to teach a song about dinosaur. By next week. This has little or no educational value.
Subservient: The homeroom teacher is doing a unit that has a musical element and informs the music teacher how the unit will be taught. Their suggestions might not be educational; in fact, their ideas might be damaging, teaching skills that are anti-music. (E.g. instead of composing a jingle, singing over-top of a well-known jingle REALLY LOUDLY!)
Co-Equal: The homeroom teacher and the music teacher together come up with a unit that benefits both. Both units are of equal value and both teach authentic, accurate skills in either subject. (e.g. Kids make a movie in ICT class; compose the soundtrack in music class)
Do I have to do six planners per year?
I do 7 per year. I do one for basic skills and have it run the length of the entire year. In this one, I map out the music specific skills I want to have covered by the end of the year. Then, I do another planner for all 6 of my units.
Could you see PYP music using one planner for all grades, adapting as necessary? This could possibly look like 6 distinct music planners for a whole year, spanning all grades every 6 or so weeks.
Unfortunately, no. It might be possible, but that's not how Bonnie and I do it - although I think you make a good point. Our curriculum is based on the Ontarian curriculum, which over the years has gone progressively children-centred and thus fits in very well with the IBO philosophies (many international schools are going to Ontario). This curriculum is very vague. It says stuff like, "to perform both individually and in harmony." Then, we have a secondary document that Bonnie got while in Columbia Teacher's College, and this one is very specific, like "students will sing using doh, me, and sol in quarters and eighths." We merged the two documents together so that we have an independent list of skills we need to cover.
We create 5 - 7 planners per year per grade and they are all very different. At least one of our planners is basic skills and it runs the length of the entire school year.
The topics taught in music class are chosen by the teachers and not by the IBO. The IBO provides a framework that sits over-top of the curriculum. It's a philosophy through which you teach. For example, if you send your Nigerian child to a British international school in China, they will learn money in grade 1 using British pounds... Is that really relevant? Children living on an island should study the ocean; children living in the tropics should study the rainforest. This is why the IBO does not directly provide a curriculum -- it is more concerned with the child-centred philosophy behind what is taught. Now, the IBO provides a type of scope and sequence that outlines how students in each grade should Create and Respond within The Arts. However, these are very general. The IBO doesn't say that all grade 6 students must study Renaissance music; it does say at what level students should be responding to The Arts in grade 6. (E.g. Describe how music makes them feel.)
In PYP, do you follow your own planner for each age group as well as supporting the UOI?
Oh! I have a good answer for this one. I did my Arts Category Two with Danielle Veilleux and Ashley Coates and we discussed this very topic!
Answer: It depends on how closely you are linked with the UOI.
Example of An Independent Planner:
I was once doing mild linking with a grade 4 explorers UOI. They were talking about pioneers of exploration and so I was looking at pioneers of exploration of sound - John Cage, Philip Glass, Arnold Schoenberg, etc. When we were in the planning meeting, it was decided that their summative assessment would be to pick ONE of the areas they studied and to expand it into a final project. The children COULD choose music... but then again... maybe not. I argued and argued against this. If the child didn't choose to do a music summative assessment, then how would I get a mark for my report card? In the end, I removed myself and any mention of music from the UOI planner and created my own planner. Then I copied and pasted from the UOI planner so that I made sure I had all the correct concepts, etc., correctly linked. Lastly, I made sure that I had my own summative assessment that was based on what they had done in my class.
Example of A Joint Planner:
I once also did a grade 4 persuasion UOI that looked at advertising jingles. My summative assessment was also their summative assessment. The kids had to come up with their own product. They had to create posters / advertising in visual arts. They had to create advertising slogans in Language Arts. Then the poems were passed to me and they had to compose jingles for their slogans in music class. All their work was put together into a summative assessment / mini exhibition at the end of the unit. Because I was able to grade their summative assessment as a music assessment, I stayed on their planner.
Types of Integration:
Social: The homeroom is doing a unit on dinosaurs and they need the music teacher to do their assembly for them. So in the planning meeting, the music teacher is "told" to teach a song about dinosaur. By next week. This has little or no educational value.
Subservient: The homeroom teacher is doing a unit that has a musical element and informs the music teacher how the unit will be taught. Their suggestions might not be educational; in fact, their ideas might be damaging, teaching skills that are anti-music. (E.g. instead of composing a jingle, singing over-top of a well-known jingle REALLY LOUDLY!)
Co-Equal: The homeroom teacher and the music teacher together come up with a unit that benefits both. Both units are of equal value and both teach authentic, accurate skills in either subject. (e.g. Kids make a movie in ICT class; compose the soundtrack in music class)
Do I have to do six planners per year?
I do 7 per year. I do one for basic skills and have it run the length of the entire year. In this one, I map out the music specific skills I want to have covered by the end of the year. Then, I do another planner for all 6 of my units.
Could you see PYP music using one planner for all grades, adapting as necessary? This could possibly look like 6 distinct music planners for a whole year, spanning all grades every 6 or so weeks.
Unfortunately, no. It might be possible, but that's not how Bonnie and I do it - although I think you make a good point. Our curriculum is based on the Ontarian curriculum, which over the years has gone progressively children-centred and thus fits in very well with the IBO philosophies (many international schools are going to Ontario). This curriculum is very vague. It says stuff like, "to perform both individually and in harmony." Then, we have a secondary document that Bonnie got while in Columbia Teacher's College, and this one is very specific, like "students will sing using doh, me, and sol in quarters and eighths." We merged the two documents together so that we have an independent list of skills we need to cover.
We create 5 - 7 planners per year per grade and they are all very different. At least one of our planners is basic skills and it runs the length of the entire school year.