A deep(ish) dive into Essential Elements Music Class (EE Music Class) as a tool for the K-5 general music classroom

Hi all! As we all continue to prepare for the school year, I see a lot of folks asking in various online communities about different general music curricula out there. What’s the best? What do we like? Why do we like it? It’s clear that many of us are all looking for tools to make our lives easier! I often get asked for my thoughts about certain online general music curriculum throughout the year, and recently I’ve been asked by a number of folks to weigh in on Hal Leonard’s online curriculum, Essential Elements Music Class (EE Music Class). Happy to oblige!

Note: This post is sponsored by EE Music Class but all opinions are my own

About Essential Elements Music Class

This curriculum is offered through Hal Leonard and is designed for students in grades K-5. When you look at the page, it truly is centering the K-5 student (which I love), with a variety of repertoire that taps into different genres of music and different ways of engaging in music activities. The curriculum is not trying to span the older grades, and really targets the needs of the younger grades in many school settings.

What I appreciate about this curriculum

It supports equity through targeting Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

So many times, I have said that although everything we do in music naturally supports SEL, elementary students benefit even more when these moments are concretely “spelled out” for them. Not only does EE Music Class have SEL as its own searchable strand (you can search SEL activities and lessons for all grade levels that reinforce all five of the SEL competencies!), but the SEL topics are also centered as goals that are situated at the beginning of lessons!

It’s accessible for students on a variety of levels

Whether you want to have the option to create your own personal playlists of resources for in class or for students to use at home, or if you are looking for well-scaffolded lesson plans, a ukulele or recorder curriculum, this platform includes that. They even have some bonus resources (such as Hal Leonard’s ukulele and guitar methods books) available in Spanish as well. For the younger students, the large variety of repertoire choices that showcase visual reinforcement will also keep students engaged as they work through learning goals. More options = more opportunities to meet students where they are.  

Lots of repertoire choices that help you focus on what your students might need.

Ukulele for kids - Method Book translated in Spanish

It has a substantial resource library

As if the lessons weren’t enough (many of them taken directly from Hal Leonard’s Music Express), EE Music Class also comes with a pretty hefty resource library of Hal Leonard digital books and other supplemental materials as well. Many of them are tried-and-true resources that I have loved over the years, such as World Music Drumming, Ukulele for Kids, Peanut Butter Jam  (this one is still a favorite of mine), along with some newer resources, like Musical Cups. There’s also a huge selection of Disney music resources that I know students really enjoy. If you’re in need of extension activities beyond the lessons, these resources can help you do that.        

The lessons feature a “wrap-around” format that centers learning goals and student reflection

When I work with teachers on their curriculum, one idea that I try to impart is the importance of having some sort of wrap-around for their lessons to not only engage students more, but to help ensure that what they are working on can be applied later in future music-making. This can be done a number of ways, but for me, it has always been easiest to put the objectives and goals at the beginning of a lesson so that I can refer to them for students, and then once again at the end so that students can have a chance to reflect and self-assess as to whether or not they actually did learn and can do the things that the lesson was focused on. 

I know….this adds an extra step for a lot of us. But the cool thing is that EE Music Class has done it for you in all of their lesson plans. Each lesson comes with a set of learning goals and a learning check that are already built into the slides. One less thing for you to do? Yes, please! 

Example of a “Learning Check” within the curriculum.

Ease of use

If you are a teacher who works in a district with no formal curriculum, or if you’re simply too overwhelmed with what to do with students and running out of ideas, this platform is really easy to navigate quickly when you’re in a jam. It’s fairly intuitive to navigate, which allows for you to free up brain space for other things. You can search for content based on standards, or find supplemental materials to help students experience musical skills and content in a variety of ways. It comes with printable lesson plans (all tied to the National Core Arts Standards) and demonstrates a sequence of instruction based on where many of your students might land as far as skill development. Are your students not exactly where the curriculum suggests they should be? No problem. You can mix and match to customize it however you need. Also, if you are new to teaching K-5 general music and find yourself in the situation of having to learn lots of content in a short amount of time, the video demonstrations of dances and games can be a real life-saver. If I were a beginning teacher, I would really appreciate this for all of these reasons.  

How EE Music Class can be “leveled up” a bit

Listening maps

As someone who believes that music concepts should be reinforced as often as possible through visual means, I appreciate the section of listening maps that are included in the platform within the additional resources section. That said, I’d love for the section to be “leveled up” as far as the repertoire that does include a listening map. Although there is a variety of maps that show some diversity, most of these maps are for western music and composers within that genre. I have nothing against western music, but it would be neat to have more living composers featured and more composers of traditional music from other cultures who might not typically be represented in the common K-5 music education curriculum. I particularly like the listening maps that feature more interactive and visually stimulating elements. I’d love to see all listening maps have similar characteristics. I can tell that they are working hard to get to that point, so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

An example of one of the interactive listening maps showcased on the EE Music platform. In this example, answers to guiding questions are not shown to students.

An example of an interactive listening map showing answers to students while they listen to the piece.

Additional recommendations for teachers on how to promote student agency

Although the lessons and learning experiences are very scaffolded for students, teachers would benefit from additional concrete suggestions on how to encourage student agency and choice within the parameters of these lessons. Where can students have a say? How can students be a part of the process of lesson creation, assessment, self-assessment, and how they choose to engage with new content? How can these standards remain high while also allowing for flexibility with how students achieve those standards? There are so many ways to go about this, but I think a whole section of the platform devoted to this type of community building and student-centered learning would benefit teachers and students alike. Not only would students be more engaged, this would also promote equity-based practices on a whole new level!   

Final thoughts

I absolutely love that there are so many “canned” curricula out there. What I mean by that, is that there are so many programs that try to check off all the boxes of what you might need as a general music teacher. EE Music Class is one curriculum that is trying to do just that.

If you are following any of my work, you know that I am a strong advocate that context (student needs, class scheduling, etc.) should inform all of your curricular choices. So through that lens, I recommend that regardless of which canned curriculum you choose, you should consider it as a substantial resource, and never as something that will solve the needs of all of your students at all times. Give yourself the flexibility to go “outside the lines” so that you can help your students reach their greatest potential.

That said, I think EE Music Class would make a wonderful curricular resource for many teachers. Its ease of use, customizable features, student-driven sequence that includes clear goals, purposeful inclusion of social and emotional learning strands and a variety of repertoire choices with interactive elements make it an ideal resource that can serve as a useful springboard for teachers and students. You can access it for free and take it for a test drive yourself for 30 days. I look forward to seeing how this curriculum develops in the coming years as it continues to pivot and meet the needs of K-5 general music teachers and students everywhere.