Home of the Dolphins

Fort Belvoir Elementary School

5970 Meeres Rd.
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060

ph: (703) 781-2700
fax: (703) 781-2797

email web curator: Kathy.Murdock@fcps.edu
Last updated: September 30, 2009

General Music

General Description

Staff

Curriculum

Performances

School Song

Staff

Click names to email:

Kathleen Murdock, rm. 115, (703) 781-2801
Justin Duff, rm. 216, (703) 781-2851
Jennifer Willard , rm. 252, (703) 781-2870
Margaret Frost, rm. 142, (703) 781-2740

Music education in Fairfax County is a core discipline and a necessary component of a complete and balanced educational experience. Music study enriches the lives of students in countless ways. "Through singing, playing instruments, and composing, students can express themselves creatively, while a knowledge of notation and performance traditions enables them to learn new music independently throughout their lives. Skills in analysis, evaluation, and synthesis are important because they enable students to recognize and pursue excellence in their musical experiences and to understand and enrich their environment. Because music is an integral part of human history, the ability to listen with understanding is essential if students are to gain a broad cultural and historical perspective. The adult life of every student is enriched by the skill, knowledge, and habits acquired in the study of music" (National Standards of the Arts, Music Educators' National Conference, 1994).

The Fairfax County Music Program of Studies (POS) outlines the components of a high quality, comprehensive, sequential music education for all Fairfax County music students. The POS is aligned with the Music Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools (2000) and the National Standards for Arts Education (1994). Within each area and level of instruction, the Fairfax County Music POS is organized by four related strands:

Perform, the first strand, is the participative component of the standards. From the early grades through high school, this strand describes the involvement of each student in demonstrating mastery of music concepts at levels of increasing difficulty. The students will learn to participate in music as a musician through singing, playing instruments, and moving to music.

Create, the second strand, is the process whereby the students learn to use the notational tools of music to express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings through original composition. Create includes the exploration of individual approaches to vocal or instrumental improvisation.

Investigate, the third strand, involves students in the study and practice of music theory through music reading, notation, and sight-reading. It also requires the use of critical thinking skills to analyze the manner in which music is organized. Students will identify the style and distinctive characteristics of music which delineate each of the basic music historical periods, as well as the influence of twentieth century technology and compositional techniques employed in all genres of music. Students will also investigate the vocal timbres that are unique to children, adolescents, and adults. Students will be guided in the development of criteria for making informed artistic judgments about music, and the other arts, and for evaluating the role of music in society.

Connect, the fourth strand, involves the development of an understanding and awareness of the commonality between music and other disciplines. Students may relate music to foreign languages through music terminology and song text; to poetry through common expressive elements: to mathematics through the principles of rhythm; to science through the study of acoustics; and to history/social science through the musical expression of various cultures and historical periods. Students will be encouraged to explore these elements of music in seeking to understand the interrelationships and commonality among the arts.

Please visit our site on FCPS 24-7 for additional information.

Music is unique among the arts and sciences in its ability to elicit emotion, provoke thought, foster creativity, develop interpersonal awareness, transcend time, place, and language, and make that which is intangible. It is a cornerstone of civilization and an important part of a well-rounded curriculum.