Overview 

Students may be experiencing their first introduction to instrumental music and will benefit from lots of
organic, informal experiences to help them feel more comfortable playing instruments and to make it normal
to play in front of others. This activity will scaffold for them these concepts as well as improvisation and using
instruments as a way to express emotions. Through call-and-response rhythm chanting and drum circle-style
jams, students will become comfortable accessing instrumental music in a way that is personal to them.

Rationale 

The importance of this experience is to get students playing and improvising in a comfortable environment.
This kind of experience gets students playing in an ensemble and makes it so that they can be comfortable
improvising within a group so they don’t feel singled out. The activity introduces play-based learning, and
allows students to explore instrumental music on their own terms rather than having information spouted at
them. The central goal of this activity is to show students how they can explore instruments on their own so
that if they encounter an instrument in the future, they will feel comfortable doing so.

Learning Goals 

● I can echo rhythms I hear.

○ MIB.15 The student will perform simple rhythmic and melodic examples in call-and-response
styles.
● I can transfer rhythms I say onto a hand percussion instrument.
○ MIB.15 The student will perform simple rhythmic and melodic examples in call-and-response
styles.
● I can improvise rhythms on an instrument within a tempo framework.
○ MIB.16 The student will create, through playing and writing, rhythmic variations of
four-measure selections taken from folk songs, exercises, or etudes.

Materials 

● Percussion instruments
● Google Slides presentation to increase inclusivity/accessibility and to add to the effectiveness of rote
learning for visual learners
● Sheet music for instructor
● Check sheet for student assessment

Detailed Process 

3 mins - Thomas introduces rhythms using call-and-response prompts with word

approximations of the rhythms. After repeated prompted recall, students end this
phase with a working knowledge of each of the rhythms.

2 mins - Bailey transfers the individual rhythms into a canon, making space for students to
improvise by choosing which rhythm they perform and showing them how to hear
many voices in a drum circle setting.

2 mins - Noah guides students to use their learning up to this point to play on the
instruments, reinforcing the concepts introduced by Bailey of listening across a
 large ensemble. This will involve simultaneous speaking and playing.

3 mins - Josh solidifies learning by facilitating students’ use of the other rhythms in the
ensemble and creativity in improvisation of new rhythms.

Assessments 

Students will be assessed by the instructor in this activity using a checklist which will assess whether or not
they performed the rhythms called to them accurately and whether or not they participated actively during the
improvisation periods.

Students will also be assessed by themselves when the teacher prompts them to create an answer to the
question “How do you feel after this activity?” The goal will be to have students assess both how successful
they were in the activity and how successful they can be in future music engagement.

Extensions 

This experience can be ​incredibly​ useful to a beginning instrumental music class. This experience will allow
for the students to get the idea of playing together in an ensemble. This also allows for students to learn
basic rhythms and play together with others in the group, while at the same time having fun in a group
setting.

Adaptations 

Size Google Slides presentation will utilize large, bolded font.

Color Google Slides presentation will be in black and white.

Pacing Concepts will be reviewed multiple times.

Modality Rhythms will be taught both by rote orally/verbally and kinesthetically by playing drums,
and word approximations of rhythms will be displayed.

Include any visual aids or manipulatives here.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Iizq_CJAJYpWzQ98izc_c-Xn_lUCDFiSdA-yfcll-cs/edit?
usp=sharing