Emily Young School: Zeeland Cityside Middle School Jennifer Russell Title: The Roots of Music: Dominant and

d Tonic Chords

Date: April 8 2013 Grade: 7th Grade

Content: This lesson will be focusing on teaching tonic and dominant chords and chord roots in major. The tonic chord is a triad built on the tonic chord root of a scale. The tonic chord root is the first scale degree or DO in solfege. The tonic chord in major is made up of the notes DO, MI and SOL or scale degrees 1, 3 and 5. The dominant chord is a seventh chord built on the dominant root of a scale. The dominant chord root is the fifth scale degree or SOL in solfege. The dominant chord is made up of the notes SOL, TI, RE and Fa or scale degrees 5, 7, 2 and 4. The students will learn to sing the chord roots DO (Tonic) and SOL (Dominant) with a simple melody as well as begin recognizing tonic and dominant chords in melodies. Instructional Strategy: I will be using an adapted version of a Music Learning Theory instructional strategy called Rote Song Preparatory Sequence (RSPS). RSPS is designed to teach students a melody by rote. I chose this strategy because it is a great way to quickly introduce a new song and avoids unnecessary instructions. It will make the lecture much shorter as I explain tonic and dominant chords because the students will have already experienced it. I will be teaching a melody and chord roots by rote so I have slightly modified the sequence to achieve this goal. 1. Teacher sings the whole song for the class while students listen. 2. Teacher sings the whole song again, demonstrating (but not labeling) macrobeats bilaterally with feet. Students imitate the macrobeat with their feet while they listen to the song. 3. Teacher sings the whole song again, demonstrating (but not labeling)microbeats bilaterally with hands. Students imitate the microbeats with their hands while they listen to the song. 4. Teacher sings the whole song again, demonstrating (but not labeling) macrobeat and microbeat concurrently with feet and hands. Students imitate the foot and hand movement while they listen to the song. *During Steps 1-4, the teacher typically asks the students simply to listen. However, for this exercise, the students will be invited to join in singing whenever they feel comfortable because it is fairly simple and well known* 5. Teacher sings the tonal sequence in the tonality of the song and then sings the resting tone using a neutral syllable. Students sing the resting tone on a neutral syllable. Teacher instructs students to listen to the song again and to sing the resting tone every time the song stops. Students listen to the song and sing the resting tone using a neutral syllable whenever the teacher stops singing. *I will be skipping step 5 because the focus of this exercise will involve singing the tonic chord root later which is the resting tone.* 6. Teacher asks students to listen to the song in their heads (audiate) and to raise their hands when the song is done. Teacher may ask students to do this with their eyes closed so the teacher can identify those that can/cannot audiate the song. 7. Teacher sings the rote song preparatory sequence (sing tonic chord on neutral syllable, then sing "ready sing" on the first pitch of the song) and tells students that the sequence lets them know when to start singing the song. Practice the rote song preparatory sequence a few times with the students. 8. Teacher sings the rote song preparatory sequence and then students sing the song on a neutral syllable. Audience: I will be teaching my lesson twice, first to a class of 15 seventh grade boys and second to a class of 62 seventh grade girls. The students are somewhat diverse including Caucasin, Latino and Asian

backgrounds but the community is heavily Dutch. There are no students who have physical impairments or paraprofessionals with them in the classroom, however a few of the students do receive special needs services in other classes for attention difficulties and learning disabilities. I am not aware of all of these students on no special arrangements are made for them on a regular basis. For my lesson, I am assuming that all of the students know how to build a major scale and are familiar with solfege and solfege hand signs. The students know that DO MI and SOL go together and that SOL TI RE and FA go together but do not yet know how to label them as chords. They may or may not have experienced the Rote Song Preparatory Sequence in elementary classes but their general musicianship skills should make it easy for them to follow. Length of the Lesson: I have 55 minutes for each class period and expect to use the full time. Detailed times of each portion of the lesson can be found in the lesson plan chart below. Materials Needed: Teacher List: Lesson Plan PowerPoint Piano (in class) Dry Erase Markers and Board Projector Student List: Handout Pencil Rationale: This lesson is important because it is basic theory that will help the students with their sightreading skills as well as further their understanding of musical structure. This is a stand-alone lesson which is rare for choral classes because they usually do some theory mixed with octavo rehearsal. This lesson will expand and build upon recent skills that the students have learned which include key signatures and major scales. This lesson is intended to be an introduction into tonic and dominant which will be reviewed in sight reading and theory throughout the rest of the year. By singing the chord roots and melody, the students will be able to make direct connections between the music theory they are learning and the singing that they do on a normal basis. Lesson Objectives: The students will be able to identify a tonic or dominant chord in a simple melody. The students will be able to sing tonic and dominant chord roots with a simple melody. Standards: The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) has outlined 9 national standards for music educators. This lesson focuses on Standards 1, 5 and 6 which are: 1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music 5. Reading and notating music 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. The specific applications are listed below in the lesson plan chart. Classroom Organization: The students will go to their normal assigned seats at the beginning of class and will quiet themselves for warm ups as soon as the teacher calls for attention. This is normal procedure and as I have done warm ups for some time now, the students will expect this and should

respond well. I expect the students to be quiet and listen during instruction and to participate in the singing exercises and discussion. I will prepare the students for these expectations briefly at the beginning of the class between warm ups and stating the objectives. I will ask them to follow my directions clearly and to raise their hands with any questions. The students should have pencils with them and I will have my mentor teach pass out their handouts when I begin presenting the content after having them sing. I want to teach them the piece by rote so I do not want them to have the handouts until after the singing. I have planned my lesson out with detailed time which I will monitor by periodically checking the clock above the door. This lesson will be fast-paced and engaging to minimize opportunities for disruption.

Direct Instruction Plan Orientation/ Anticipatory Set 10 minutes (Technology will not be used in this portion of the lesson)

State the Objectives 1 minute (Technology will be used in the form of a PowerPoint Slide) Presentation Of Content Sight Reading7 minutes

Shaker Song12 minutes

Procedure Warm-ups Stretch arms and roll shoulders Sighs/Sirens Ah on 54321 Do-Di on 1515151 ABC with snaps on vowels Echo Patterns in F Major 1. The students will be able to identify a tonic or dominant chord in a simple melody. 2. The students will be able to sing tonic and dominant chord roots with a simple melody. Sight Reading Construct an F-major scale on the board Review the key signature and time signature Have students work through the rhythm and notes in pairs Have students audiate as a big group Have students perform as a big group Shaker Song Teach the Shaker Song using the Rote Song Preparatory Sequence (RSPS) explained above.

Directions Model each warm-up for students and give brief instructions if needed. Warm-ups are intended to use the voices safely and to orient our ears to what we will be singing shortly.

National Standards

The warm-ups meet National Standard 1 by having the students singing the warm-ups together.

State the objectives for the students while displaying them on the projector.

The objectives meet National Standards 1,5 and 6 as stated above. The lesson will incorporate these throughout each portion of the Direct Instruction Lesson Plan.

The students are familiar with this procedure and will need little prompting.

Sight Reading meets National Standard 5 as students are working on their reading skills.

Ask the students to listen to your song and join you when they know it.

The RSPS meets National Standard 6 because the students

1.Teacher Sings 2.Add Macrobeats 3.Add Microbeats 4.Macro/Microbeats 6.Audiate 7.RSPS Pattern 8.Students Sing After Students can sing Shaker Song on their own, the teacher sings the chord roots. The teacher taps her shoulders on the tonic roots and taps her knees on the dominant roots. Repeat this several times until the students join and feel comfortable on the chord roots, continuing the visual. Teacher then sings Shaker Song while the students continue on the chord roots. Teacher also continues the visual so the students can follow along. Divide the class in half and have the students sing both the melody and chord roots (each half singing one part and then switching). Lecture Mentor teacher passes out handout. -Tonic is the first scale degree and is called DO. -Dominant is the fifth scale degree and is called SOL. C/U using the chart at the bottom of the slide.

are listening to music. Also ask students to join on the motions. It also meets National Standard 1 because the students are singing as a large group.

Ask students to audiate and perform just like sight reading.

Ask students to copy the motions and join on the second or third time through.

Ask students to continue singing and then begin singing the melody again.

Boys: Front two rows and back to rows split Girls: Soprano and Alto split

Lecture5 minutes

Tell students when to follow along on the handout. The lecture meets National Standard 6 because students are learning to describe and analyze music.

Ask students what tonic is and what dominant

(Technology will be used in the form of a PowerPoint presentation)

-A tonic chord is made up of DO and MI and SOL. -A Dominant Chord is made up of SOL and TI and RE and FA. C/U using the chart at the bottom of the slide. Refer back to Shaker Song and the sight reading example where applicable.

is. (Remembering)

Ask students what tonic and dominant chords are. (Remembering)

Check for Understanding 5 minutes (Technology will be used in the form of a PowerPoint slide)

Ask the students what tonic and dominant would be in F major (the key that Shaker Song and the sightreading example were in)

Provide Guided Practice 5 minutes (Technology will be used in the form of a PowerPoint slide)

Assign Independent Practice 8 minutes

Direct the Students to the bottom of the handout. Explain that this is the song they just learned to sing. The top line is the melody and the bottom line is the chord roots. Ask the students to label the tonic and dominant chords. Call on individual students who are raising their hands to answer the questions. Return to the sight reading example on the board. Tell the students that each measure is either

What note would tonic be in F major? What note would dominant be in F major? What notes would make up a tonic chord in F major? What notes would make up a dominant chord in F major? (Understanding/ Applying) What is the pitch of the first chord root? What solfege syllable is that pitch? Is that tonic or dominant? What measure does the chord root change in? What is the pitch of that chord root? What solfege syllable is that pitch? Is that pitch tonic or dominant? (Analyzing)

National Standard 6 is applied here because students are learning to describe and analyze music.

National Standard 6 is applied here because students are learning to describe and analyze music.

What are the pitches in measure 1? Are those pitches tonic

National Standard 6 is applied here because

(Technology will be used in the form of a PowerPoint slide)

a tonic or dominant chord. Ask them to look at the example with a partner and find the chord root for each measure. The notes in each measure are either DO MI SOL or SOL TI RE FA. DO MI SOL measures are tonic and SOL TI RE FA measures are dominant. The students will be able to practice this each time they do sight reading exercises (at least twice a week).

or dominant? (Ask the same questions for the remaining measures after the students have had the opportunity to work on it) (Analyzing/Evaluating)

students are learning to describe and analyze music.

Closure 2 minutes (Technology will be used in the form of a PowerPoint slide) 1. The students are able to identify a tonic or dominant chord in a simple melody. 2. The students are able to sing tonic and dominant chord roots with a simple melody.

Tell the students that they now have all the tools they need to identify tonic and dominant chords in a simple melody. Restate the objectives citing how the students met these objectives. Have them sing the sight reading example with the chord roots from the independent practice.

Reference is made to National Standards 1, 5 and 6.

Assessment: This lesson focuses primarily on formative assessments rather than summative assessments. The initial formative assessments will simply be drawn by watching and listening to the students as they sing with me. When they sing without me will be my best opportunities to listen and hear if the students are singing chord roots with a simple melody. As I move into the lecture, I will be using formative assessments of the individuals who answer my questions to see if they understand. The individual practice and closure will give the students a chance to combine both the objectives into more of a summative assessment. Through these assessments I will be able to get a good general idea of the group. However, to assess each student individually, I would need to hear each of them sing individually and label the tonic and dominant chords individually. My class size will not allow this unfortunately but as this topic is continually covered in subsequent classes, I will make it a point to assess different students individually. Meeting the Needs of All Students: There are no students in my classes that have received any adaptations or modifications to this point within my observation and no accommodations necessary that I have been made aware of.

Technology: I am using a PowerPoint as the technology in my lesson because it enhances the information I am sharing by putting explanations on the screen as well as using charts to explain the general concepts. Since a good portion of the lesson is spent singing, I can use the PowerPoint as a reminder of what we are doing while we are singing and to tie in the singing with the terminology. Handout: I created my handout to help students define tonic and dominant as well as to share with them the musical example that I taught them by rote. I created it based on my knowledge of the subject using Word. I used an arrangement of this traditional melody that was created by Dr. Christina Hornbach and used with her permission. This handout is helpful because the students will practice writing the important terminology they are learning as well as begin reading tonic and dominant chords in actual music. It should also serve them for the rest of the semester as a guide for tonic and dominant.