FOREWARD

In the spring of 2000, my band and orchestra director colleagues and I completed
the Elkhart (IN) Community Schools Music Curriculum Guide 2000. This periodic
curriculum update for instrumental music, grades 5 through 12, aligns with the National
and Indiana State Standards for Music Education. Although we teach to the standards and
use method books that incorporate the standards, each of us takes our own route in
reaching the destination. In the interests of greater uniformity, the possibility of more
team teaching, and the need to have a logical and sequential syllabus, a curriculum map is
a necessity.

With this in mind, I have attempted to layout a "map" for my personal use in
teaching 5th and 6th grade band during the 2003-2004 school year. The map will be
implemented within a school system which provides each elementary student of
instrumental music 60 minutes of instruction per week, divided into one 30-minute class
and one 30-minute full band rehearsal.

Since the National Standards and the Indiana Standards for Music Education are
virtually the same, but stated in a slightly different order, I have used the Indiana order of
standards, along with curriculum goals and assessments, as the foundation for the
curriculum map.

This instructional plan can be distilled into four essential ingredients: teach,
assess, report, and celebrate. The first three elements are self-explanatory. Celebrate
then refers to those special events and performances which showcase and motivate
students' progress and are essential to a successful program. These four verbs not only
serve as the title for this educational roadmap, but more importantly, as a checklist, a
reminder, to not omit or shortchange any portion of the whole. They are the traveling
"banner" that guides the beginning band journey.