Curriculum Area General - Music Literacy Time Frame 3 lessons Developed By John Shusdock Identify Desired Results (Stage 1) Content Standards Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Reading and notating music.
Understandings Essential Questions Overarching Understanding Overarching Topical Students will understand how a new note, La, acts in music and relates to known notes, So and Mi, visually and aurally.
In what ways does La relate with So and Mi? What does La sound like? What does La look like on the staff? What are the characteristics of La? What patterns do we encounter La in? Related Misconceptions As songs progress in difficulty and the new note, La, is used in different patterns, students may have difficulty familiarizing themselves to new patterns.
Knowledge Students will know Skills Students will be able to Students will know the characteristics of La regarding its relationship to So and Mi.
Students will be able to sing La in different patterns, identify its location on the staff in relation to So and Mi, and dictate songs using La. Assessment Evidence (Stage 2) Performance Task Description Goal Write a score to the folk song Lucy Locket Role Each student transcribes the melody and rhythms of the song to staff paper. Audience The class and teacher. Situation Students memorize and then transcribe the melody and rhythm of the song with teacher guidance. Product/Performance Students successfully complete their first basic music score and perform the song using the score. Standards Students complete the task successfully by first memorizing the song using their hand as a representation of the staff and where the notes will fall on the staff. Other Evidence Student progress towards the goal is measured informally by their ability to recall characteristics of La every class, individual and group singing of songs using La in a variety of patterns, and written assessment where they must identify where La is on the staff depending on where So and Mi are given. Learning Plan (Stage 3) Where are your students headed? Where have they been? How will you make sure the students know where they are going? Students are headed toward a complete understanding of La. They have prepared the concept but do note have a name for the new note, and they have a complete understanding of So and Mi. Students will be assessed constantly through their performance of songs and games, their ability to identify characteristics of La and when it occurs in music. How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit? Students will be presented with the name of the new note via the story of music street. What events will help students experience and explore the big idea and questions in the unit? How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge? A large variety of songs using La and accompanying games or activities (i.e. with orff instruments and hand bells) will familiarize students with La and how it is used in music. How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work? When students are presented with a song that uses La in an unfamiliar pattern, they will rethink their understanding of how La is used and must retrain their voice and mind to use it in the new pattern. They will be guided in this process using kinesthetic aides like body and hand motions and visual aides like melodic representations showing contours of high and low. How will you help students to exhibit and self- evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and Students will informally perform every song they learn while they play games or do activities. Students are often asked how well they think they performed a song and are challenged to understanding throughout the unit? perform at a greater level. These performances and activities contribute to their skills, knowledge, and understanding by giving them experience with La and asking them to think about how it is used. How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL students, without compromising the goals of the unit? Songs are often related back to an experience in students lives if possible. A weekly opening activity will ask students about a favorite activity, animal, color, etc. using different melodic patterns using La and students will respond with the same melodic pattern. How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of ALL students? The order of the songs used in the unit are organized in order from known to unknown. To clarify, a song with the melody "So Mi So Mi So La So Mi" would precede a melody like "So So La La So So Mi."
Day 1: Opening Activity: "Whats your favorite thing in spring?" "So Mi So Mi So La So Mi" Snail snail Learn gross body signs, refine to body signs then hand signs. Identify mystery note in song Sing in solfege Review characteristics of note Teddy Bear Learn gross body signs, refine to body signs then hand signs Sing along using the books Compare melody to Snail Snail Students sing solfege w/o teacher Present mystery note as La Teacher sings song fragments of known songs, students sing back the solfege Identify a song from the teacher's (or students) hand/body signs
Day 2: Opening Activity: "What's your favorite ice cream?" "So So La La So Mi" Bobby Shaftoe Learn body signs, then hand signs. Use tape on the floor to represent staff. Experiment with different locations of So Mi and La. Recreate Bobby Shaftoe. Lucy Locket Learn, play, and memorize song with body signs, hand signs, and ultimately on the hand staff. Review the characteristics of La
Day 3: Opening activity: "What's your favorite animal?" "So So So La So So Mi" Pass out staff paper with words written underneath for writing activity. Draw a staff on the board, write a treble clef, identify where so is on the 3rd space Who do we start on? How do you know? Is there a note higher than the first? Lower? Are there one or two Sos on the first beat? Write two Sos above the word Lucy. Is the next note higher or lower than so? Repeat this process for the first measure and draw a bar line. How many beats are in the first measure? Tap the beat on your body and sing it to find out. Is the 2nd measure the same or different? Is the first beat the same? The second? How are the last two beats different? Write in the melody as we go. Is the 3rd measure the same as the 1st or 2nd measure? Copy the notes into the 3rd measure. Is the 4th measure the same as the 1st or 2nd measure? Draw the lines of the notes in the right directions. All the Sos first, then the Las, then the Mis. Tape together the ti-tis. Sing on solfege syllables, rhythm syllables, and words. We are dancing in the forest Sing and learn with hand signs. How could we change the melody to match Lucy Locket? Then sing on solfege syllables
From: Wiggins, Grant and J. Mc Tighe. (1998). Understanding by Design, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ISBN # 0-87120-313-8 (ppk)