Patrick Towey Observation

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Period 5: Introductory Piano

Goals:
-Students will be able to understand the basic principles of
music reading and writing.
-Students will be able to apply their knowledge of music
reading and writing to performance situation through the
medium of the piano.

Objectives:
-Students will be able to articulate proper counting for rhythm
patterns including 16th notes and triplets.
-Students will be able to compose their own rhythm patterns
based on the rhythm patterns for 16th notes and triplets.
-Students will be able to recognize key signatures (number of
sharps and flats represented in a short piece of music) and will
be able to accurately perform

National Standards Addressed:

2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied
repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Evaluating music and music performances

Materials:
eNovative Piano
Staff Paper
Korg Keyboard MIDI Synthesizer
Guided Practice:
1) Teacher will begin the class by briefly discussing current
class announcements and important news, followed by an
announcement of the agenda.
2) Teacher will then introduce the class to the concept of
16th notes and how to properly count and feel them. This
will be accomplished through the creation of a “rhythm
machine” between all students to help them feel the
passage of rhythm over a steady pulse. Teacher will
follow the same process for introducing the concept of
triplet rhythms in
3) Teacher will lead the class through several examples of
rhythm exercises in the eNovative Piano online program
(for both 16th notes and triplets).
4) Students will then be given the opportunity to compose
their own rhythm patterns using 16th notes and triplets,
within specific guided parameters.
5) Student volunteers will share their “mini-compositions”
with the rest of the class. The class will then perform each
other’s rhythm compositions.
6) Teacher will then move students into the piano
laboratory classroom.
7) Students will be instructed to practice a short
piece/exercise at their keyboard stations. Students will be
directed to identify the key signature (number of sharps)
for the given exercise.
8) Students will have practice time, with brief interjections
for demonstrations of each measures. Various individual
students will be called on to demonstrate. As a group, the
entire class will perform the short exercise together.
9) If time allows, students will pair up and work on exercises
in pairs.
 10) With the time remaining in the period, students will
have independent time to continue practicing the various
short piano pieces and excerpts on their own, to be
reviewed in the next class period. The independent
practice component is important to the students being
able to make individual progress and receive individual
attention from the teacher based on their specific ability
level.
11) Teacher will conclude the class by reviewing the
understanding of the class objectives and providing
feedback on what to expect during the next and future
class periods.

Independent Practice:
1) Students will be independently composing their own
rhythm exercises.
2) Students will be independently demonstrating their
abilities to practice piano/keyboarding skills without the
assistance of the teacher.
3) Students will be independently performing short piano
pieces/exercises for the rest of the class.

Assessments:
1) Teacher will be assessing students throughout the class.
Teacher will mostly be providing oral feedback while
there will be some feedback given in the future based on
the written rhythm compositions collected during class.
2) Students will be regularly assessing each other
throughout the class and will be assessing themselves
during the independent practice portions of the lesson.