Singapore+and+Finland+(David)

My assignment was to look at the Finland documents, which I did. I found nothing of much interest for our use, so I moved on to Singapore. Besides learning that Singapore is a City-State I found the following three items very interesting and with some potential for our work...

**First**, they used six objectives to guide their work: 1. sing and play melodic and rhythmic instruments individually and in groups of particular note here is the emphasis on small groups - for example: Sing and/or play in a mixed ensemble (more than one singer/player to each part, and up to three parts) 2. create and improvise music 3. describe and evaluate music through listening 4. develop understanding of music elements/concepts 5. discern and understand music from various cultures and of various genres 6. understand the role of music in daily living

**Second** **,** learning “in a holistic manner” is stressed - teachers are “encouraged to plan instructional program that integrate the various objectives to engage student learning.”

**And Third** **,** since the issue of assessment was mentioned in our last WebEx meeting, I notice their assessment modes included: assessment rubrics, portfolio, practical performances, reflection journals and written assignments