Elizabeth Reicher

Understanding by Design Rationale

EDCI 890 Master's Project
February 25, 2016

Rationale

Without the cooperation of its members society cannot survive, and the society of man has
survived because the cooperativeness of its members made survival possible. It was not an
advantageous individual here and there who did so, but the group. In human societies the
individuals who are most likely to survive are those who are best enabled to do so by their
group. (D .Johnson &R. Johnson, Ashley Montagu, 1965)
Cooperative learning and project based learning are prime examples of the style of instruction
that really get the learners thinking and engaging. I have found both of these teaching strategies
to be successful because the learners are working as a team and as they collect data, think
about what that data means, and apply it to the problem it makes the experience more
memorable and the learners feel a stronger ownership of their learning. So as I planned my
instruction I thought about the how I could incorporate both cooperative learning and project
based learning.
During our first session, I plan to model and teach the 4 Steps of Practice as a whole group. In
my experience, knowing what and how to practice music has been the greatest obstacle to
student success. During this session, I will also model how to use Apple and Android devices to
create videos and we will video the whole group performance at the end of the lesson.
In the next session, I review the four steps with the learners and steps to create a video as a
whole group and then move them to cooperative learning groups of four or five learners where

they will use these four steps to sight-read new music. Each member of the group has a specific
job to perform as the group evaluates the success of their practice time together.
In the third session, learners begin in cooperative learning groups practicing the same music.
When they feel they are prepared, they will create a video of their performance of their recorder
piece. I will then move them to working with a partner who was not in their group to practice new
music using the 4 Steps of Practice. I will also work with students who are struggling during this
time.
In the fourth session, the learner will practice with the same partner practicing the same music.
When they feel they are prepared, they will create a video of their performance of their recorder
piece
At the end of the fourth session, I will assign a playing test piece that each student will practice
individually and will video tape and upload to the class Edmodo page.
During the fifth session, we will practice all of the music that was assigned during the process as
a whole class. I will video this session and post it to the class Edmodo page and give directions
for uploading the video that they create to the class Edmodo page. Individual videos will be due
at the beginning of the next class session.
During the sixth class session, students will view their own video and another classmates video
and use the scoring guide to grade, give comments and suggestions. I will then grade the
videos using the scoring guide and give comments and suggestions and a grade.
I believe that learning in this way allows for every learner to be successful and helps me to
indentify learners who might need the support of an intervention lesson with me to enable them
to be successful. I believe that working together to create a learning environment of teacher
modeling, peer modeling, and intervention will lead to individual confidence and success.