361 Music-Related Words Derived From The Essential Word List

derived (by Martha Stanley)
from

The total list of essential words was winnowed from over 30,000 words to 6,768 basic words commonly found in academic situations. The final list and how it was developed is outlined in the appendix of the book For The Love of Words by Diane Paynter, Elena Bodrova and Jane Doty, pub. Jossey-Bass Teacher, ©McRel, 2005.

The grade level was determined by looking at where a word first appeared on several standardized tests. These results were reviewed by a team of 1st-6th grade teachers and adjustments were made.

The following list contains words that are directly appropriate in my elementary music instruction. You will likely find more or fewer choices if you go over the original list.
I left out many but not all of the words like toe, thumb, in, out, stick, top, valentine, merry, moo, howl, johnnycake, hedgehog, peninsula, etc., fully aware that we use many such words in our instruction, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

Some of these words below are very appropriate for direct instruction and others for planned incidental instructions. All of the words will be valuable for the students to know.

THIS IS NOT "THE" LIST THAT YOU SHOULD FOLLOW. Your customized personal list should be derived from the state and national music standards, your music methodology, your music texts, your school demands as well as from this list.

top

top