Abstract
The purpose of this project was to design a Kodály-inspired active listening curriculum for today’s elementary music classroom. The review of literature began with an outline of the history of listening’s role in U.S. music education. It then includes considerations for selecting repertoire and descriptions for how to design lessons using two distinct listening phases as originally defined in Campbell’s World Music Pedagogy (2004) framework. The next section presents a series of lesson plans addressing the domains of creating, performing, responding, and connecting. Each sample lesson includes instructional objectives related to preparing or practicing musical elements through attentive and engaged listening. In the spirit of a Kodály-inspired classroom, lesson activities emphasize singing, moving, and playing. They also engage students in kinesthetic, aural, and visual musical learning. Special attention was given to repertoire that presented opportunities for repeated listening across grades. Additional works for listening were sorted by grade level and key concepts. The project aimed to illustrate and provide resources for “listening-and-” experiences that guide students to connect listening with active music-making.