Lesson Planning Form for Accessible Instruction Calvin College Education Program

Teacher Kendra Walters

Date April 20 Subject/ Topic/ Theme High School Choir, Theory/History/Interpretation Grade ___9-12________

I. Objectives
How does this lesson connect to the unit plan?
The unit plan is about choral habits so in order to sing a song in the correct style and with meaning, you have to know the history behind it.

cognitive- physical socio-

Learners will be able to: R U Ap An E C* development emotional
Understand who Eric Whitacre is and the value of his musical compositions U
Classify the song in a genre E x
Apply their knowledge of the history of the song to their interpretation of it Ap
Sight-read the music Ap x

Common Core standards (or GLCEs if not available in Common Core) addressed:
-Identify and explain compositional devices and techniques and their purposes, giving examples of other works that make similar uses of these devices and techniques.
-Classify by genre or style and by historical periods or culture, unfamiliar but representative aural examples of music and explain the reasoning behind their
classifications.
-Explain how the roles of creators, performers, and others involved in the production and presentation of the arts are similar to and different from one another in the
various arts and disciplines outside of the arts.
(From Michigan Merit CurriculumVisual Arts, Music, Dance, and Theater)
(Note: Write as many as needed. Indicate taxonomy levels and connections to applicable national or state standards. If an objective applies to particular learners
write the name(s) of the learner(s) to whom it applies.)
*remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create

II. Before you start

Identify prerequisite -Know how to sight read music to a degree, or at least follow along in a score
knowledge and skills.

Pre-assessment (for learning): None

Formative (for learning): Ask who has heard of this song or of Eric Whitacre
Outline assessment
activities Formative (as learning): Ask questions about the Jungle book, possible difficulties in the song,
(applicable to this lesson)
Summative (of learning): None

Provide Multiple Means of Provide Multiple Means of Provide Multiple Means of

Representation
Provide options for perception-
making information perceptible
-Have a picture of the
composer/author on the screen
-Show a video of another choir
What barriers might this singing the song
lesson present? -Read aloud and have the words
projected. Sometimes let students
read.
-Have a picture of a painting that
What will it take represents the song
neurodevelopmentally,
experientially, emotionally, Provide options for language,
etc., for your students to mathematical expressions, and
symbols- clarify & connect
do this lesson?
language
Action and Expression
Provide options for physical
action- increase options for
interaction
Provide options for expression and
communication- increase medium
of expression
Engagement
Provide options for recruiting
interest- choice, relevance, value,
authenticity, minimize threats
-Talk about the composer
-Talk about the author of the poem
-Talk about the context of the
poem
-Compare it to a song they know
Provide options for sustaining
effort and persistence- optimize
challenge, collaboration, mastery-
oriented feedback

-Give a background of the song

then have them apply it while
singing
-Think-pair-share about adjectives
to describe the song

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 Provide options for comprehension- Provide options for executive Provide options for self-
activate, apply & highlight functions- coordinate short & long regulation- expectations, personal
term goals, monitor progress, and skills and strategies, self-
-Talk about poem/song modify strategies assessment & reflection
-Have words on the screen
-Have pictures on the screen
-Sing part of the song

-The music of The Seal Lullaby

Materials-what materials -Pencils
(books, handouts, etc) do -Chairs
you need for this lesson
and are they ready to use?

In two rows with S B A

How will your classroom S T A
be set up for this lesson?

III. The Plan

Describe teacher activities AND student activities
Time Components for each component of the lesson. Include important higher order thinking questions and/or
prompts.
10:34- Warmups (focus on a pure sound) (Warming up)
10:40 Motivation -Hum 3-note pattern and stretch -Stretching and humming
(opening/ -Hiss (in 2 out 4, in 2 out 8, in 2 out 12) -Hissing and pointing finger at teacher
introduction/ -Wee-oh-wee going down -Singing
engagement) -Ooh on so-fa-mi-re-do, focus on coming above -Pull an invisible string out of their head
the pitch and langing on it
-Sigh on ooh -Sighing

10:40- -Introduce The Seal Lullaby as a new song well -Listening and answering questions.
10:42 be working on the rest of the semester. Ask if
anyone has heard of it. Ask if anyone has heard of
10:42- Eric Whitacre. Show a picture of him.
10:47 -Give a short background on Whitacre. Invite -Listen and read
students to read his notes about the composition
process up on the screen. Also project the words and
10:47- a picture of him.
10:50 -Show the video The Core of Who We Are -Watch video while thinking about how choir is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FpM3DQEjTw more than just singing notes
with Eric Whitacre talking about the importance and
Development gift of choral singing
10:50- -Give a short background on Rudyard Kipling with -Students read along and see the picture
(the largest
10:52 the words and a picture of him on the screen.
component or -Students are expected to listen to the summary
10:52- -Give a summary on The White Seal with a blank
main body of and make connections to their own knowledge of
10:55 screen. It is part of a bigger collection of stories
the lesson) The Jungle Book.
called The Jungle Book.

10:55- -Introduce and read the poem by Rudyard Kipling. -Students see the painting while silently reading
10:57 Have the words and a picture of a painting based on along with the poem
the song on the screen. Explain that its a lullaby
sung by a mother to her baby seal.
10:57- -Listen to a recording of the song and ask students to -Listen to the song and theyre expected to follow
11:02 follow along in their score. along in their score.
11:02- -Think-pair-share on some adjectives you would use -Think-pair-share
11:04 to describe this song.
11:04- -Go over markings in the score. Take pictures of my -Write markings
11:10 music and project them so the students can see what
they should look like.

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11:10- -Sectional with Girls: -Singing, sight-reading
11:15 -Start rehearsing song. Remind them that its a
lullaby so sing it like one. Start at the beginning
with oohs and dont get to the text yet. Girls first
11:15- then guys.
11:20 -Sectional with guys: -Singing, sight-reading
-Same as above.

11:20- -Compare The Seal Lullaby to My Souls Been -Answering/discussing with class
11:21 Closure Anchored (another song theyre singing). The style
(conclusion, is obviously different so think about how we want to
11:21- culmination, interpret this song differently.
11:22 wrap-up) -Give a short preview of the specific things were -Listen and mentally prepare for next class
going to work on with this song, the next one being
breathing and posture.

Your reflection about the lesson, including evidence(s) of student learning and engagement, as well as ideas for improvement
for next time. (Write this after teaching the lesson, if you had a chance to teach it. If you did not teach this lesson, focus on the
process of preparing the lesson.)
This lesson went really well! As this was the first lesson in my unit plan, I now know that things will take me much longer than I
anticipate. For example, I had given only 6 minutes to go through markings and it ended up taking at least 10. By the end of my
teaching, I only had 7 minutes left to work with both the girls and the guys so the guys never even got to sing the song which was not
ideal. For my next lesson I will make sure that I start with the guys so that they have a chance to sing through it. I was a little worried
going into it as to how the class would feel about not singing the whole hour, but most of them seemed okay with it. They sit in
classrooms and listen to lectures a lot anyway so it really wasnt that abnormal for them. I think I made it interactive enough with a
powerpoint, words and pictures on the screen, a video of the composer, and a recording of the song so there were multiple means of
representation. There was one point where I had a few paragraphs on the screen and invited the students to read it, but after one or
two people volunteered, no one else wanted to so I ended up reading this. If I had known the students better, I may have chosen
someone to read, but I didnt want to put anyone on the spot if it was something that they were uncomfortable with. For the most part
Im happy with the way this lesson went, but Ill pay more attention to time management in the future.

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