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General Music and the Common Core: A Brief Discussion!

Audrey Berger Cardany!

Cardany, A. B. (2013). General Music and the Common Core A Brief Discussion.
General Music Today, 27(1), 35-39.

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The Common Core Standards and the wide-spread state adoption have implications for music
teachers. Alignment with English language arts Common Core Standards is discussed, with
examples provided for elementary general music experiences. The author notes the challenge
of retaining focus on the music domain while meeting the expectations of the latest trend in
education reformcollege and career readiness.!
Keywords!
music education and Common Core, music and language development, elementary general
music, ELA standards and music!
Led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association, the
Common Core Standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathemat- ics are the latest
efforts toward a national curriculum. Published by the Common Core State Standards Initiative
(CCSSI, 2010), the standards!
are the culmination of an extended, broad-based effort to fulfill the charge issued by the states
to create the next generation of K12 standards in order to help ensure that all students are
college and career ready in literacy no later than the end of high school. (p. 3)!
Adoption of the Common Core Standards has swept across the country, with 27 states adopting
them a mere two months after publication (Lewin, 2010). Currently, only five states (Alaska,
Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia) and one territory (Puerto Rico) have not adopted the
standards (CCSSI, 2013).!
The touted benefits for common core adoption include potential for achieving consistency and
focus for U.S. cur- ricula, as well as efficiency in other areas of education such as materials
development, preservice and in-service teacher education, and assessments (Porter, McMaken,
Hwang, & Yang, 2011, pp. 103104). Finn and Patrilli (2010) promoted standards as the
foundation upon which almost everything else restsor should rest (p. 1). However, the ties to
federal money likely influenced the rapid adoption of the standards. In particular, President
Obamas Race to the Top competition encourages state adoption of common core by including
the development and adoption of a common set of standards as criteria for awarding funds
(Porter et al., 2011).!
Although educators, policy makers, and researchers disagree with claims that support the
adoption of the common core (Mathis, 2010; Ravitch, 2013; Zhao, 2009) and the quality of the
standards (Beach, 2011; Beach & Baker, 2011), that discussion is beyond the scope of this
article. Rather, this article is intended to provide music educators with information to aid in
managing the impact their states adoption of the Common Core Standards may have on their
desire to deliver authentic and engag- ing music learning experiences. In this article, ELA and
reading Common Core Standards are discussed, with a focus on their alignment with typical
music experiences in elementary general music classrooms.!
The Common Core ELA Standards!
The common core for ELA and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects
state explicitly the content students should learn without referencing how the content should be
taught. Although some sample texts are suggested, materials for use in attaining the standards
are not addressed in the common core. The ELA Common Core Standards are presented in

four strands: reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. Each strand contains
anchor standards that are further speci- fied per grade level (K12), with increased complexity!
1The Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA!
Corresponding Author:!
Audrey Berger Cardany, The Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, 1 East Mount
Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA. Email: audrey.cardany@jhu.edu!
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General Music Today 27(1)!
Figure 1. Common Core Reading Standards organization.!
across the grade levels. The 10 anchor standards for read- ing are organized under broad
topics: (a) key ideas and details, (b) craft and structure, (c) integration of knowl- edge and ideas,
and (d) range of reading and level of text complexity. See Figure 1 for an example of this
organiza- tion. Additionally, the reading strand includes reading foundational skills with gradelevel standards (K5 only) for print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word
recognition, and fluency.!
The writing strand consists of 10 anchor standards addressing four topics: (a) text types and
purposes, (b) production and distribution of writing, (c) research to build and present knowledge,
and (d) range of knowl- edge. Six anchor standards address the speaking and lis- tening strand
topics: comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas. Topics for
the language strand include (a) conventions of standard English, (b) knowledge of language,
and (c) vocabulary acquisition and use.!
Although many states use the National Standards of Music first published by the Consortium of
National Arts Education Associations (1994) and have adopted their own rigorous music content
standards, the further adop- tion of Common Core Standards also affects music edu- cation.
Music teachers are charged with the task of aligning standards for other subjects to their music
con- tent. The expectations remain clearmusic teachers must demonstrate how music
objectives and experiences relate to other subjects standards and create experiences that
provide continuity within and across subjects.!
After designing and presenting KBLAM! Kids, Books, Language and Music (Cardany, 2013), a
full-day profes- sional development workshop, I sought to answer the fol- lowing question: How
does this workshop content align with Common Core Standards for ELA? I aimed to pro- vide
participants with specific examples of aligning music experiences and objectives with the
common core. Through the content and examples provided during the workshop, music
teachers would gain working knowl- edge of the ELA Common Core Standards to facilitate
success in future music curricula alignments.!
On examining the ELA common core document and then aligning the workshop content, one
overarching pro- fessional consideration emerged. As ELA common core is written for the
language domain, implementing ELA common core during music instruction may divert focus
from developing music literacy.!
Written for the Language Domain!
With the implementation of Common Core Standards across the nation, music teachers may
feel pressure to shift focus from teaching music to teaching ELA through music. Although I
subscribe to the statement by the authors of Common Core Standards that teachers in other
areas must have a role in this [ELA] development (CCSSI, 2010, p. 4), I believe it to be a
misapplication of these standards if music instruction looks and sounds like ELA instruction. The
workshop experiences were designed with music objectives at the forefront.!
Common Core ELA Standards are best applied in the domains for which they were written.
Administrators and music educators should note that the standards address the domains of

English language arts and literacy in history/ social studies, science, and technical subjects.
Although music may be included in the category of technical sub- jects, the common core
authors noted that the standards are not meant to replace content standards in those areas
[other technical subjects] but rather to supplement them (CCSSI, 2010, p. 63). Additionally, for
each domain listed in the title following ELAs, the primary means for articu- lating thought is via
language literacy. Although the music domain includes language literacy (e.g., song lyrics, score
markings, etc.), reading and writing about music do not rep- resent the whole of the subject,
particularly its unique and complex symbol system. A musically literate individual in addition to
reading, writing, and creating using the music symbol systemalso acquires performance skills
and a repertoire that demonstrates cultural music literacy.!
References to the music domain are essentially absent from the common core document.
Perhaps the ELA com- mon core authors recognized music literacy as a separate domain with
its own structure and content. Although music instruction may include using ELAs, it does not
rely solely on them for music content delivery. Apart from the title of the document, my rationale
for this con- clusion is supported by the absence of specifically addressing music within the
standards. The document contains only a few music-related termsmusic, song, rhythm, meter,
and verse. Music is used once as a multi- media example for Grade 6 Standard 5 of
presentation of knowledge and ideas:!
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in
presentations to clarify information (p. 49)!
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Cardany!
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Song is mentioned in the Grade 2 reading Standard 4 of craft and structure:!
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines)
supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song. (p. 11)!
Finally, rhythm is used twice in the documentin the example above, and the Grade 4 Reading
Standard 4 of craft and structure:!
Explain major differences between poems, drama, prose, and refer to the structural elements of
poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions,
dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about text. (p. 12)!
In both instances, however, use of the term rhythm, as well as the terms verse and meter,
belongs to the language domainspecifically poetry.!
Aligning ELA Common Core to Music!
My intent for considering and aligning Common Core Standards to a particular set of music
experiences is to provide a model for delivering authentic music instruction that furthers
students musical literacy, while simultane- ously addressing the demands of accountability and
the current high-stakestesting educational climate. After studying the music content
presented in the KBLAM! workshop designed to address teaching elementary gen- eral music
through ELA, I aligned the music experiences presented to Common Core Standards for
elementary grade levels (K5). Generally, I found that some anchor standards were addressed
more readilyspecifically, the speaking and listening, and reading strands. Only two workshop
experiences aligned with the writing strand, and those were ancillary to the music content.
Finally, align- ment to the language strand was cursory; therefore, it will not be addressed in this
discussion.!
ELA Speaking and Listening Standards!
Speaking and listening anchor standards readily aligned with music instruction presented in this
workshop. Three standards in particular were addressed for all grade lev- els (K5). (Individual

grade-level standards are pre- sented in the summary; see CCSSI 2010 document for gradespecific standards.)!
Standard 2confirming text understanding!
Standard 4describing additional and relevant!
detail!
Standard 5using visual and other media to pro- vide additional detail or clarify ideas!
Standard 6expressing thoughts clearly and with proper language conventions!
The majority of music lessons presented in KBLAM! addressed Standard 5presentation of
knowledge and ideas. The specific grade-level standards articulate creat- ing (a) audio
recordings of stories, (b) drawings and visual representations, (c) related poetry, and (d) multimedia; however, they do not directly address music.!
Understanding that musicand additionally in many of these lessons, movementprovides
additional details and clarifies ideas, thoughts, and feelings enabled align- ment with the
common core. Also, by expanding the lis- tening and speaking strand to include singing, those
music experiences presented that included children engaging in dialogue songswhereby
children impro- vised sung responses using words to sung questions or promptsaligned with
Standard 5.!
ELA Reading Standards!
Across all grade levels (K5), connections to standards found for reading literature were the
following:!
Key ideas and details!
|| Standard 1demonstrating understanding of!
text!
|| Standard 2recounting stories and determin-!
ing themes!
|| Standard 3describing characters, events, and!
settings!
Craft and structures!
|| Standard 4determining meaning from words and phrases!
Integration of knowledge and ideas!
|| Standard 7connecting other media elements!
to a story!
Music instruction that incorporated reading text aloud and asking questions about the text, or
telling a story or listening to a story and asking questions about it, aligned with Reading
Standards 1, 2, and 3. Selecting instruments or creating movement to further represent the
meaning of words or phrases typically followed childrens demon- stration of Standard 4. These
reading standards served a valuable function of providing preliminary activities to music lessons
that addressed a variety of music skills and concepts. For example, one workshop experience
that highlighted these standards was reading Cant Sleep (Raschka, 1997) with Eric Saties
Gymnopdie No. 1 (1888) to enhance the storys mood. After listening to story and music, the
children are asked to retell the story (Standard 2) and identify the characters (Standard 3). They!
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General Music Today 27(1)!
Figure 2. Traditional folk song.!
listen to the music again without the story and connect the characters and their actions to the
instruments heard in the music (Standard 7). Finally, they demonstrate the story through
movement responses to the music.!

When addressing craft and structure reading standards in music instruction, the music teacher
guides children to identify unknown words, notes words that suggest emo- tions, describes how
words supply rhythm or meaning, and addresses the meaning of words and phrases. Two
examples from these reading standards included perform- ing the nursery rhyme, Jack Sprat, to
a steady beat with movements that highlight the texts meaning, such as crossing the hands and
patting legs, during the phrase that includes the unknown word betwixt (for complete lesson,
see Cardany, 2012). Another examplethe street cry Chairs to Mendused discovery of the
meaning of the song within the context of singing in canon (see Figure 2). The music teacher
sings the song, and students identify and define unknown words (e.g., mackerel is a type of fish;
Standard 1). Then, students identify the three music phrases and connect each to a different
street vendor (Standard 4). Before singing in canon, three groups of students, representing
street vendors selling chairs, fish, and rags, sing their respective phrases as melodic ostina- tos
(Standard 3). Finally, the music teacher invites the students to imagine coming home from a
village market and singing all three as one song as a response to a family members question,
What was at the market today? (Standard 7). The students sing the cries as one melody, and
then perform in a three-part canon.!
The music instruction experienced in the workshop that highlighted how music teachers provide
a support- ive, rather than a direct, role to implementing Common Core Standards was the
integration of knowledge and ideas (i.e., Standard 7). Interestingly, one must add music or
supplant music to the standard to use music as another way of knowing. For example, gradelevel standards refer to how illustrations convey text meaning and create!
a mood; here we use music to convey the mood of a story (e.g., Saties Gymnopedie No. 1 with
Cant Sleep) as well as make connections between text and visual and oral text representations.
Another example of using music as a way to present the text was using pitched and unpitched
instruments to retell the story of Slinky Malinki (Dodd, 1990), such as playing ascending
patterns for piling items and selecting re-pentatonic to play a melody to represent a prowling
and adventurous cat.!
Foundational Reading Skills!
Some early childhood music instruction addressed foun- dational skills for reading, specifically
phonological awareness. Print concepts were addressed when music teachers read titles and
authors to children before read- ing a book aloud. Also, phonological awareness was addressed
when children responded musically to specific words, syllables, sounds, rhyming words, or
phonemes found in books. Although the foundational skills stan- dard for phonological
awareness does not continue beyond Grade 1, the phonological skills continue to pro- vide
support for further music learning in older grades when students continue to use syllabic
segmentation to derive rhythms, select timbres based on rhyming words, and sing or chant
using phonemes.!
ELA Writing Standards!
Within the KBLAM! workshop, writing skills aided chil- dren in writing (Grades K5) within the
music domain using icons and standard music notation. Therefore, few music lessons in the
workshop addressed writing in the language domain directly. One activity included a writing
prompt to extend a music lesson; children listened to a piece of music, and then music teachers
instructed them to imagine and write about what a character might be thinking. This activity
addressed the anchor standard for!
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Cardany!
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writing texts and types, specifically writing narratives. Music teachers may find this music activity
extension appropriate as a way to send music home. The prompt could include a brief

descriptor of the music experience, and parents could see how the experience relates to their
childrens learning in writing. Also, this type of written assignment will be familiar to children and
their parents.!
When music teachers use question prompts to derive information about music, they may include
writing responses to those questions. This instruction best aligns with writing anchor standards
that address the topic, research to build and present knowledgespecifically, recalling
information from experiences and print. Also, writing may be used more frequently in general
music classes for middle and high school students.!
Conclusion!
General music teachers use ELAs in various ways throughout their music instruction at the
elementary level. The common core strands of reading, speaking and listening, writing, and
language typically are embedded in student learning in the music classroom. Aligning the
standards to a professional development workshop aided in revealing how ELAs are used in
music experiences. For the workshop discussed here, the strands of reading, and speaking and
listening were more readily aligned to music content. However, this does not suggest that the
writing and language strands cannot be aligned with music content in authentic music ways that
retain a focus on the music domain. The Common Core ELA Standards intersect with music
skills and concepts, and the music domain provides a unique way of knowing the world
knowledge which will in turn help meet the goal of col- lege and career readiness.!
Declaration of Conflicting Interests!
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.!
Funding!
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.!
References!
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with state standards. Educational Researcher, 40, 179-182.!
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Author Biography!
Audrey Berger Cardany is a music education faculty member at The Peabody Conservatory of
Music at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. She teaches undergraduate and
graduate courses in general and vocal music education.