Pre-Test (Aural)

1. What is Noteflight?
A music writing software
2. How do you create a new document in Noteflight?
Click the “+” button
3. Can you use the keyboard arrows in Noteflight?
Yes
4. How do you add extra measures in Noteflight?
Click “measure,” then “add measure before/after”
5. How do you change the duration of a note?
Highlight the note by clicking on it, then click the desired duration in the “Duration”
menu

Results:
The results of the aural pre-test showed that none of the students knew anything about
Noteflight. None of the students had even heard of the software before this class. This data
shows me that I have many opportunities to teach the students about Noteflight
 Noteflight Lesson 1

Objectives
• Students will create a profile in Noteflight.
• Students will create a document in Noteflight.
• Students will notate and ascending D major or concert Bb scale in Noteflight.
• Students will create an eight measure melody in Noteflight in the key of D major (orchestra) or
concert Bb (band).

Standards
Virginia Standards of Learning
MIB 1-9

Materials
• Chromebooks
• Projector

Procedure
• Welcome
• Greet students as they enter the classroom
• Take attendance
• Students unpack (5)
• Noteflight Pre-test (5)
• Ask students pre-test questions
• (aural test/show of hands)
• Noteflight Intro (10)
• Create profile
• Create new document (+)
• “Start from a blank score sheet”
• Adjust staff: take out either top or bottom staff depending on individual’s instrument
• Double click on a staff to highlight, then delete
• Add title and name as composer
• Already in 4/4 time
• Go through each tool and give examples:
• *Once you click on a tool from the menu, it will appear in the top toolbar menu*
• Tempo
• Measure (add before, after)
• Students add four more measures
• Duration/Pitch (add sharps/flats)
• Students add a whole note (tonic) in measure 1
• Strings: D
 • Clarinets/Trumpets: C
• Flutes/Baritone: Bb
• Saxophones: G
• Students add two half notes (second scale degree) in measure 2
• Students add four quarter notes (third scale degree) in measure 3
• Student add eight eighth notes (fourth scale degree) in measure 4
• Students repeat pattern on their own (whole, half, quarter, eighths) up to the top of the
scale
• Students add four more measures
• Students add a whole rest, half rests, quarter rests, and eighth rests to the remaining
measures
• Select all four measures of rest and delete (should still have 8 measures)
• Play for class:
• Play until seventh scale degree, then stop. Did it sound complete? Why or why not?
(all melodies should begin and end on the first scale degree)
• Was it an interesting melody? How can we make it more interesting?
• Erase a few notes, exchange pitches
• Double click to highlight one measure at a time and erase
• Students work individually to create melody (15)
• Encourage students to use different rhythm combinations, ranges, and tempos
• Teacher available for assistance as needed
• Check that students have completed eight full measures and begin and end on the first scale
degree
• SAVE composition by clicking on the cloud icon at the top of the page
• Students share melodies with the class (10)

Assessment: Did 85% of the students demonstrate

• creating a profile in Noteflight
• creating a document in Noteflight
• notating an ascending D major or concert Bb scale in Noteflight.
• creating an eight measure melody in Noteflight in the key of D major (orchestra) or concert Bb
(band).

Adaptations
• Size: The computer screen can be enlarged/reduced in size
• Color: Multicolor options are available in the notation software
• Pacing: Teacher will monitor class understanding by asking questions for understanding and
observing student activity, adjusting pacing as necessary.
• Modality: Teacher examples on the screen (visual), teacher instructions (auditory), student
participation in activity (kinesthetic)

Extensions
This exercise could be extended by having the students add 4, 8, 16, etc. more measures to their
compositions. Next lesson we will focus on adding dynamics/articulations.

Lesson 1 Reflection
I did not get through this entire lesson. I severely underestimated the amount of time it would
take for students to complete all of the tasks, even with my help. Because it was my first time
teaching a lesson on Noteflight, I also had some trouble articulating my instructions clearly for
younger students. I knew the steps for each part of the lesson, but I did’t always explain them in
the clearest way, causing confusion. After reviewing my lesson plan with my teacher, I decided
to have the students write out the scale in four quarter notes per scale degree instead of
alternating rhythms. I then planned to change the rhythms into whole, half, and eighth notes. We
did not get to change the rhythms today, so we will begin with that next class and move on to
adding other techniques such as dynamics and articulations, and finally allow the students to
compose their own melodies.
 Noteflight Lesson 2

Objectives
• Students will notate an ascending D major or concert Bb scale in Noteflight using quarter,
whole, half, and eighth note rhythms.
• Students will add accents, staccatos, and/or slurs to their notated scales.
• Students will add dynamics to their notated scale.

Standards
Virginia Standards of Learning
MIB 1-9

Materials
• Chromebooks
• Projector

Procedure
• Welcome
• Greet students from the hallway as they enter the classroom
• Take attendance
• Students unpack/set up Chrome books (5)
• Students open Noteflight
• Noteflight Review (5)
• How to open new document
• How to add measures
• How to use arrow keys
• Continue Noteflight Intro (20)
• Open compositions
• Review each tool and give examples:
• *Once you click on a tool from the menu, it will appear in the top toolbar menu. Add
ONE TOOL at a time*
• Measure (add before, after)
• Students add four more measures
• Duration/Pitch (add sharps/flats)
• Finish writing scale if necessary
• Strings: D
• Clarinets/Trumpets: C
• Flutes/Baritone: Bb
• Saxophones: G
• Changing rhythms
 • Who can figure out how to change the quarter notes to half notes?
• Highlight note, then click half note
• Change two measures of quarter notes to half notes
• Change two measures of quarter notes to whole notes
• Change two measures of quarter notes to eighth notes
• Adding rests
• Change the last measure (whole rest) to two half rests, then quarters, then eighths
• Additional techniques
• Dynamics
• Click on “expression text,” then TYPE p or f into box
• Add one piano
• Add one forte
• Articulations
• Add Staccatos to one full measure
• Add accents to one full measure
• Slur two groups of two notes together
• Slur one group of four notes together
• Tempo
• Change the tempo

Assessment: Did 85% of the students demonstrate

• notating an ascending D major or concert Bb scale in Noteflight.
• adding accents, staccatos, and/or slurs to their notated scales.
• adding dynamics to their notated scale.

Adaptations
• Size: The computer screen can be enlarged/reduced in size
• Color: Multicolor options are available in the notation software
• Pacing: Teacher will monitor class understanding by asking questions for understanding and
observing student activity, adjusting pacing as necessary.
• Modality: Teacher examples on the screen (visual), teacher instructions (auditory), student
participation in activity (kinesthetic)

Extensions
This exercise could be extended by having the students add 4, 8, 16, etc. more measures to their
compositions.

Lesson 2 Reflection
After teaching the first lesson of this unit, I adjusted my goals of the second lesson to give the
students more time to explore the tools of Noteflight. Rather than spending time creating their
own compositions, I introduced more tools such as articulations, dynamics, and tempo. After
reviewing how to enter notes onto the staff, change rhythms, and enter rests we spent the rest of
class using those tools. There were a few students who were absent for the first lesson, so I had
to teach them everything all in one lesson. This meant that I had to adjust the goals specifically
for them so they could stay on track with the rest of the class. Those students had less time to
explore all of the tools, but got enough experience to know how to use them when they create
their own compositions next week.
 Noteflight Lesson 3

Objectives
• Students will identify and define the musical term melody.
• Students will use the pitch, and duration tools to create an eight measure melody in Noteflight
in the key of D major (orchestra) or concert Bb (band).
• Students will use the dynamics, articulations, and tempo tools to alter their melody.

Standards
Virginia Standards of Learning
MIB 1-9

Materials
• Chromebooks
• Projector

Procedure
• Welcome
• Greet students as they enter the classroom
• Take attendance
• Students unpack (5)
• Noteflight Review (5)
• Create profile
• Create new document (+)
• “Start from a blank score sheet”
• Adjust staff: take out either top or bottom staff depending on individual’s instrument
• Double click on a staff to highlight, then delete
• Add title and name as composer
• Already in 4/4 time
• Go through each tool and give examples:
• *Once you click on a tool from the menu, it will appear in the top toolbar menu*
• Tempo
• Measure (add before, after)
• Duration/Pitch (add sharps/flats)
• Melody introduction (5)
• What is a melody?
• Interesting to listen to, singable, start and end on tonic
• Play for class:
• Play until seventh scale degree, then stop. Did it sound complete? Why or why not? (all
melodies should begin and end on the first scale degree)
 • Was it an interesting melody? How can we make it more interesting?
• Erase a few notes, exchange pitches
• Students work individually to create melody (15)
• Encourage students to use different rhythm combinations, ranges, and tempos
• Teacher available for assistance as needed
• Check that students have completed eight full measures and begin and end on the first scale
degree
• SAVE composition by clicking on the cloud icon at the top of the page
• Students share melodies with the class (10)
• Noteflight Post-test (3)
• Ask students post-test questions
• (aural test/show of hands)

Assessment: Did 85% of the students demonstrate

• identify and define the musical term melody.
• use the pitch, and duration tools to create an eight measure melody in Noteflight in the key of
D major (orchestra) or concert Bb (band).
• use the dynamics, articulations, and tempo tools to alter their melody.

Adaptations
• Size: The computer screen can be enlarged/reduced in size
• Color: Multicolor options are available in the notation software
• Pacing: Teacher will monitor class understanding by asking questions for understanding and
observing student activity, adjusting pacing as necessary.
• Modality: Teacher examples on the screen (visual), teacher instructions (auditory), student
participation in activity (kinesthetic)

Extensions
This exercise could be extended by having the students add 4, 8, 16, etc. more measures to their
compositions, or by adding a bass line or counter melody.

Lesson 3 Reflection
The final lesson was mostly a review of the tools introduced in the previous lessons, an
introduction of the musical term melody, and a time of creation and exploration. The review of
tools learned was short, as most of the students could articulate how to use each tool and knew
what they all meant musically. A few students were absent for the previous lesson, so this review
was helpful to them. When introducing the idea of a melody, the students were able to identify
three key aspects: must be interesting to listen to, singable, and start and end on the first scale
degree. We used these three criteria to create melodies in the key of D major. Most of the
students had time to create more than eight measures, while a few struggled to create four. The
ones who wrote fewer measures seemed to have more of a perfectionist mindset-instead of filling
the required eight measures, they wanted to make sure every note was exactly as they
envisioned. It was very interesting to see which students just “filled measures” and which student
took the composition very seriously. By the end of the lesson the students were very excited to
share their compositions with the class.
Post-Test (Aural)
1. What is Noteflight?
A music writing software
2. How do you create a new document in Noteflight?
Click the “+” button
3. Can you use the keyboard arrows in Noteflight?
Yes
4. How do you add extra measures in Noteflight?
Click “measure,” then “add measure before/after”
5. How do you change the duration of a note?
Highlight the note by clicking on it, then click the desired duration in the “Duration”
menu

Results:
The results of the aural post-test showed that all of the students were able to describe how to use
each of the tools in Noteflight that we used for our compositions. While they started the unit
without any knowledge of this software, everyone answered all questions correctly for the post-
test. not only did they learn about the tools I introduced, some students began exploring other
available tools as well.
Unit Reflection
When starting the plan for this unit I was a little intimidated because I also had to learn how to
use Noteflight. It was not a website with which I was very familiar. I spent time exploring the
software and experimenting with its various tools before I created my lesson plans. After taking
this time to learn more about Noteflight myself, I felt much more confident when teaching it to
my students. The first lesson of the unit was very helpful in telling me what I needed to adjust for
the rest of the unit. Creating an eight measure melody was much too large of a goal for the first
lesson than I anticipated, so I had to adjust the remaining lessons accordingly so that by the end
of the unit I would be able to accomplish every goal. It was difficult to keep myself from going
into a lot of extra detail with the capabilities of Noteflight. Once I learned how to use it, I wanted
to teach the students everything I knew, but decided on only using a few key tools to make their
compositions. The most difficult part of this unit was trying to keep every student on the same
page. Often times a student was missing from class and had to be caught up the next day, and
during the second lesson another class came in, so I taught them the first lesson at the same time.
It was very difficult to keep the two lessons and classes separate in my instruction and together at
the same time, but it was very rewarding to see both classes’ progress by the end of the lesson.

It was very easy to see the progress the students made with this unit because none of them had
ever heard of Noteflight before and by the end, they had all used every tool to compose a
melody. If I had more lessons in this unit, or more time for each lesson I would have introduced a
bass line and had the students add them to their compositions.