Grade 4 General Music, October 2025

Now that we are back in our typical school routines, students begin every class with Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time, or SQUILT. Students are working on increasing their stamina for quiet listening, and growing their observational skills with musical vocabulary, taking notes on what they hear to share with the class. Our musician for the month of October is Austrian composer Franz Schubert. We are also exploring the poetry of German poet Goethe, and will be listening to Schubert’s setting of his poem Der Erlkonig. Furthermore, students will be working on their memorization and expression skills by memorizing a short poem to present to the class. They will have a choice between two poems, both of which will be sent home with them at our first class of the month.

Since students learned the melody and the text of the most common verse of Over the River last month, we will be expanding on that knowledge by learning additional verses and exploring the rhythms used in the song. Students will also begin learning an abridged version of Rachel Sumner’s song Radium Girls. Finally, we will continue reviewing polite folk dancing with the dance the Sweets of May.