Millicent Atkins School of Education: Common Lesson Plan Template

Music Education Lesson Plan

Dr. Wendy van Gent
Teacher Candidate Name: Katie Appl
Grade Level: 7th Grade
Subject: Choir
Date: 2/6/2018
PLANNING
State Standard(s)
 6-8.MUe.Re.7.2.a: Describe, classify, and compare how the elements of music and expressive
qualities relate to the structure within programs of music.
 6-8.MUe.Pr.4.2.b: When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple rhythmic,
melodic, and/or harmonic notation.
Learning/Behavioral Objectives
Students will be able to:
 Identify when the teacher sings their assigned part.
 Track the music based on words, rhythms, and notes.
 Sing a section of their assigned part alone and with others.
Rationale: Include pre-assessment and cite theories and theorists.
The students were introduced to Firefly Darkness last week through sight-reading and rote learning. We have
road mapped the piece and found similarities between sections. Firefly Darkness is the first 3-part piece of
music the seventh graders have learned, so they will need extra support in identifying notes and rhythms and
fitting their part with the other parts and the accompaniment. The class has performed various 2-part pieces
and has learned a 3-part canon, so the next step is learning a 3-part selection.
The majority of students will be in Piaget’s concrete operational stage. Students in this stage can engage in
decentration, which allows them to focus on multiple aspects in a situation. In a music piece, they have the
ability to understand how the different parts and accompaniment work together. Many students (male and
female) are experiencing voice changes which may make them nervous to sing out or struggle to sing a certain
pitch or interval. These students will need positive reinforcement in order to increase their confidence and
motivation.
I will use scaffolding throughout the lesson in order to provide support for the students, and throughout the
following lessons, I will reduce the amount of time I sing with the students in order to make them independent.
Many notes and rhythms are repeated throughout the piece with different words, so the students will use
transfer of knowledge to apply the new words to the familiar melodies and harmonies. The students’ intrinsic
motivation will increase when I remind them that the piece will be performed for contest and the spring
concert, so they will need to consistently put forth their best effort.
The lesson will incorporate a variety of aspects supported by Music Learning Theory (MLT). The students
will be audiating while they track the music and listen for their part to be sung by the teacher. I will be
teaching parts of the song using rote learning like call and response. The students will then use symbolic
association to read the sheet music they learned by rote. The students will be applying and developing their
listening vocabularies during the identification activity while they listen for their part and sing ‘do’ (tonal
center).
Materials and Resources

 Music folders: Come into the Firefly Darkness sheet music

 Piano
 Quaver
Technology
 Projector
 Screen
 Computer
 Quaver
 Microphone
Accommodations
One of the students has cochlear implants. I will use the microphone, so my voice is projected throughout the
room. I will speak clearly and move around the room during instructions. There is also an ELL student in the
class. I will pair him with a responsible student to share music, and I will observe his reactions in case I need
to clarify my instructions.
Classroom Management
Identify the management and motivational strategies you will use to meet student behavioral/developmental
needs in order to keep students on task and actively engaged throughout the lesson.
The lesson will move along at a quick pace. During the identifying activity, students must be consistently
engaged in order to know when to stand up. There will be two teachers in the room-one at the piano and the
other moving around. Because the microphone projects my voice, I can easily move around the room and all
of the students can hear directions regardless of my location. Throughout the rehearsal, students will be
standing up and sitting down and possibly forming circles; movement can help keep students focused. If a
particular student(s) is being disruptive, I will move him or her to a different place in the section. The
majority of students will be sharing music with another student, which means they must stay in the correct
position and cannot easily turn around to talk. If the students make it through the lesson covering Firefly
Darkness, they can move onto another piece they are familiar with and enjoy.
Implementation
Lesson Opening (hook)
Jubilate Deo (Quaver): 3 part round
 The students will separate into their three sections.
 This 3-part canon will serve as a warm-up for vocals and to improve the class’ experience of singing
in three separate parts.
Teaching Procedures
Explain your procedures for the bulk of your class. Include specifics about techniques you will use such as: I
do-we do-you do; learning sequence activities (rhythm and tonal); musical activities within the literature;
rehearsal techniques, etc.
Review
 Sing and track through the first verses and refrain of Firefly Darkness.
 If necessary, speak through verses and refrain in rhythm with accompaniment.
Identification Activity
 I will sing the first verses and refrain switching parts between phrases and with
accompaniment.
 The students will be instructed to stand up when they hear their part being sung. They will sit
down when I transition to a different part.
 The students will track their music as I sing the parts to follow their own part.
 If successful, repeat and have the part standing up sing ‘do.’
Pairing Together Parts-refrain/verses
 Part 1 will sing their part independently (review before if needed).
 Part II will join singing with Part I, and I will model and assist the students in Part II as
needed.
 Part III will join singing with Part I, and I will model and assist the students in Part III as
needed.
Lesson Closing (transition)
We will perform each focused-on section of the piece with accompaniment. The students will put their sheet
music in the folder and move into their two-part seating arrangement for the next piece.
Reflect
Reflect on your instructional strategies, interactions with students, and classroom management strategies.
Describe what went well and what areas you need to revise in the future. Cite examples (from video) that
support your conclusions. Describe revisions that you could make if you were to teach this lesson again. Why
would you make each revision? Cite examples from the lesson plan, video and/or student work that would
prompt revisions.
I was very pleased with the students’ response to the lesson today. The students understood the directions well
and greatly improved their tracking skills. After we completed the first rounds of the activity, it was the
students’ idea to sing along when I sang their part. I didn’t use the students singing ‘do’ portion because they
were ready to sing the part. If the piece was brand new, I think it would be more useful to sing ‘do.’ When I
paired the parts together, the students had developed a sense of independence. I mainly supported Part III
because there were only two male students there.
We moved onto another section of the verses. Using their listening skills, the students sang the melody when
it splits into solo parts. The students applied transfer of knowledge to the fourth verse pretty well. We will
have to review a few of the minor rhythm changes in the fourth verse during one of the next rehearsals.
Overall, the student engagement was the highest it’s been since I started teaching this piece. I plan on using
this lesson format again either as a review or to work on the refrain sections. Next week, I plan on attending
one or two eighth grade choir rehearsals to use this lesson again. Jubilate Deo was an effective warm up for
the piece. I retaught the ending of the canon, and we focused on if the pitch goes up, down, or stays the same.