Project Table of Contents:
Introduction to Final Project for C&I 335:
My proposal of the major project for C&I 335 is to attempt to make a singing-reading connection with my students. My school district, Springfield Public School District 186, has adopted a new reading series, "Invitations to Literacy", published by Houghton Mifflin. The district is also in the process of aligning the curriculum with the Illinois State Board of Education's Learning Standards. The primary students that I instruct at Ridgely Elementary School and Pleasant Hill Elementary School, both K-4 buildings, are part of this process. I feel that incorporating reading into my music lesson plans could enhance this learning.
Literacy learning begins in the home and community. It continues in school, where literacy instruction should stimulate, teach, and extend the communication and thinking skills that will allow students to develop positive attitudes and to become effective readers, writers, communicators, and lifelong learners. Music can add assistance to the literacy learning process. The words to songs can be internalized and stored; later to be retrieved and used as a guide to reading. When making the singing-reading connection, words to songs are no longer just words, they represent clues used to assist children in unlocking print in other contexts.
When choosing songs to help the singing-reading connection, the purpose of the musical experience needs to be determined.
The younger the children or the lower the language level, the more controlled the pattern of the songs need to be. For young children or emergent readers, material should be chosen that is highly predictable and repetitive. When choosing songs, certain criteria such as content and form need to be considered.
Content Form
Once the song has been selected, it must be internalized. Repetitive experiences with the song allow the pattern of the song to be learned and memorized. Activities that involve making a singing-reading connection can then be added. Such activities are outlined in Lessons 2, 3, and 5 of this unit.
The place and purpose of technology in music education must be found before beginning to properly apply the technology. Simply making technology available is not enough. If music is to stay a viable part of the school curriculum and meet the needs of students, it must combine technology with traditional skills as other subjects are doing. Music can no longer remain a stand alone subject. Technology can enhance cross-curricular teaching, hand-on learning, cooperative learning, independent study, and higher level thinking skills, as well as provide an excellent assessment tool. Music technology can be compared to the art supplies used in art education. Undoubtedly, art education was enhanced when materials such as drawing tools, proper papers, and modeling clay became available. Computers can be viewed as the modeling clay, construction paper, and crayons of music. Technology allows students of all abilities and ages to interact with music as well as perform and create it in new and exciting ways.
I found the best way to select the ideal use for technology is to first focus on the desired goal and educational standards and then select the materials or devices best suited to accomplish the stated objectives. Technology can be used to enhance the performance and classroom curriculum already in place and to provide new programs specific to technology that will advance the goals of the curriculum. I feel that technology will work best when it is perceived as an enhancement or teaching device rather than the driving force of the entire music curriculum. Technology is an effective and exciting way to augment and supplement the music curriculum.
This unit of AB form in music will be taught in conjunction with the second graders unit "Pet Show Today" in reading. Attempts have been made when creating this unit to include songs that relate to the animals that the children will be reading about in their reading books. Technology has also been incorporated into many of the lessons. Attention to the Springfield Public School District 186 music curriculum has also been considered. Lessons 1 through 6 relate directly to the district's reading theme for second grade. All lessons in this unit address the components of AB form in music. The National Standards for Arts Education, the Illinois Learning Standards for Fine Arts, and the Springfield Public School District 186 Standards and Benchmarks were considered in creating this unit.
The National Standards for Arts Education were developed by the Music Educators National Conference. The task force that created these standards states that "the curriculum should utilize current technology to individualize and expand music learning." The national standards are organized into nine distinct areas. Following are some ways that technology was integrated with each standard.
- Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. With a computer, sequencing software has provided a tool to create, record and play back music. I have chose to use software such as "Autoscore" to achieve this standard.
- Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Using the "Making Music" software, the students can change the instruments that they use in their compositions.
- Improvising melodies, harmonies, and accompaniments. A computer and composition software, such as "Making Music", can provide students with the tools necessary to improvise a new melody for "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed".
- Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. Notation of scoring software, such as "Autoscore", can turn a computer into a music processor. Students can compose music and listen to it played back. Students can print their compositions.
- Reading and notating music. Notation and scoring software can be used as a tool for creating printed music. Students can read the music that they compose.
- Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. Software such as "Perspectives in Music History" allow the students to listen to, analyze, and describe music of famous composers.
- Evaluate music and music performances. Students can record performances using "Autoscore" software that will translate the performance into printed music displayed on the computer screen. The notation can be viewed and printed out for evaluation by students and teachers.
- Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. Using the software "Perspectives in Music", the students can explore how music relates to art from the same time period as the music they are studying. Using programs such as "KidPix", the students can create books, which relates to language arts curriculum.
- Understand music in relation to history and culture. Software such as "Perspectives in Music" can assist students in understanding the relationship between music and history.
The Illinois Learning Standards for Fine Arts were developed using the National Standards for Arts Education, 1985 State Goals for Fine Arts, various other national and state resources, and local standards contributed by team members. The Illinois Learning Standards in the Fine Arts address the language of the fine arts, sensory elements, organizational principles an expressive qualities and how the arts are similar, different or related to each other. Students also learn about production and performance in the arts and the role of arts in civilization. When students study the arts they become informed audience members and informed consumers of the popular culture including electronic media. The standards in fine arts define a comprehensive arts education and reflect a commitment to a quality education for every Illinois school child. Illinois Learning Standards met in this unit of study in AB form are notated after each objective in each lesson.
State Goal 25: Know the language of the arts.
State Goal 26: Through creating and performing, understand how works of art are produced.
State Goal 27: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present.
Standard A. Understand the sensory elements, organizational principles and expressive qualities of the arts.
Standard 25.A.1c: Identify differences in elements and expressive qualities (e.g., between fast and slow tempo; high and low pitch; same or different form).
Standard B. Understand the similarities, distinctions and connections in and among the arts.
25.B.1: Identify similarities in and among the arts (e.g., pattern, sequence, mood).
Standard A. Understand processes, traditional tools and modern technologies used in the arts.
Standard 26.A.1c: Identify a variety of sounds and sound sources (e.g., instruments, voices, and environmental sounds).
Standard 26.A.1d: Relate symbol systems (e.g., icons, syllables, numbers and letters) to musical sounds.
Standard B. Apply skills and knowledge necessary to create and perform in one or more of the arts.
Standard 26.B.1c: Sing or play on classroom instruments a variety of music representing diverse cultures and styles.
Standard A. Analyze how the arts function in history, society, and everyday life.
Standard 27.A.1a: Identify the distinctive roles of artists and audiences.
Standard 27.A.1b: Identify how the arts contribute to communication, celebrations, occupations, and recreation.
Standard B. Understand how the arts shape and reflect history, society and everyday life.
Springfield Public School District 186 has a draft proposal of Fine Arts standards and benchmarks. All of the standards correlate with the Illinois Learning Standards. Benchmarks will become the means in which the standards will be addressed and obtained.
Lesson Plan 1: "My Farm", a folk song from Argentina
Objectives:
1. To perceive AB form through lyric changes. (25.A.1c)2. To imitate animal sounds, using the voice in high and low registers. (26.A.1c)
3. To select high and low percussion instruments for sound effects. (25.A.1c; 26.B 1c)
Classroom Materials:
Vocabulary:
Time:
One, thirty minute music class
Instructional Procedure:
1. Find Argentina on a reference CD-ROM. Briefly discuss location of the country and official language, Spanish.2. Call attention to the animals pictured on page 12. Say their Spanish names.
3. Invite individuals to imitate the sounds of the animals, using different vocal tone colors and pitches.
4. Play the recording of "My Farm", a folk song from Argentina. Have the children imitate the animal sounds at the appropriate time in the song.
5. Practice saying the Spanish words. Sing them with the recording and join in making the animal sounds.
6. Explain that the section of music where they are singing about the farm and the specific animal is section A. Display the section A circle. The part that is always the same after that ("O va, camarada, va, camarada...") is section B. Display the section B square. Discuss the similarities and differences.
7. Have the children decide which animal sounds should be high and which should be low.
8. Sing with the recording. Use the group's decision about the appropriate high and low sounds.
9. Have the children choose percussion instruments to play during section A of the song. Encourage different tone colors for the animal sound effects.
10. While children sing the song, percussion instruments can be substituted for the vocal sounds.
11. When singing the usual farewell song to close the session, substitute the Spanish adios in place of the word "good-bye".
Lesson Plan 2: "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"
Objectives:
1. To perceive AB form through lyric changes. (25.A.1c)2. To visually identify repeated rhythm patterns in notation. (25.B.1)
3. To create a rhythmic ostinato. (26.A.1d)
4. To record a performance of dramatizing "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" using a QuickTake camera. (26.B.1c)
Classroom Materials:
Vocabulary:
Time:
One, thirty minute music class
Instructional Procedure:
1. Place the five felt monkeys and felt bed on the felt board. Ask the children to guess what song they are going to sing.2. Play the recording of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". Have the children count down the number of remaining monkeys on their fingers.
3. Explain that the first section of the songs where the monkeys are jumping on the bed in section A. The part of the song when mama calls the doctor is section B. The words in section B are always the same (except for the last verse) and the number of monkeys in section A changes.
4. Sing the song and have the students remove the appropriate number of monkeys from the felt board until the song is completed.
5. Show the Big Book that has the rhythm of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" notated. Have the children find section A and section B in the notation. Then have them find similar rhythmic patterns in the notation.
6. Point out the reoccurring rhythmic pattern for the words "five little monkeys". Have the children clap the rhythm.
7. Divide the class into two sections. One section should sing the song. The other section should clap the rhythmic ostinato. Switch parts and repeat.
8. Pass out the rhythm sticks. Remind the students of "resting position" for their sticks.
9. Again divide the class into two parts. One section should tap their sticks to a steady beat while singing the song. The other students should tap the ostinato.
10. Dramatize the song, "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and record it using a QuickTake camera.
Lesson Plan 3 (in the computer lab): "Five Little Monkeys" Slide Show
Objective:
1. To create a Slide Show for the song, "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". (27.A.1b)
Classroom Material:
Time:
One, thirty minute music class
Prior knowledge:
The students will have had experience with the software program, "KidPix".
Instructional Procedure:
1. Using the large screen television and the LTV hookup to the computer, show the students the teacher-created Slide Show for "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".2. Have the students sing along to the Slide Show.
3. Pair the students at the computers in the computer lab and allow them to create one slide to illustrate and record the lyrics to the song, "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". Each pair of students should be assigned only one page of the song. Have the students save their work on a disk.
4. The students will do an "art gallery" walkthrough and look at the other students' created work.
Lesson Plan 4: Creating a Melody for "Five Little Monkeys"
Objectives:
1. To create a melody to the rhythm of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" using Morton Subotnick's CD-ROM, "Making Music". (26.A.1d)2. To discriminate between high and low sounds. (25.A.1c)
3. To discriminate between long and short sounds. (25.A.1c)
4. To perceive AB form by creating contrasting melodies for each section of a song. (26.A.1d)
Classroom Materials:
Vocabulary:
Time:
One, thirty minute music period.
Prior knowledge:
The students will already be familiar with the "Making Music" CD-ROM.
Instructional Procedure:
1. Review the song, "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" with the students, concentrating on the rhythm of the song.2. Review the "Melody and Rhythm Maker" component of the CD-ROM "Making Music" with the students. Remind them that the melody is represented at the top of the screen by birds sitting on wires, and rhythm is represented by open and closed eggs on a tree branch. Students create melodies and rhythms separately, then merge them in the center of the screen.
3. Using one line of the song at a time, have students take turns creating a melody to the song. Encourage the students to use the play arrow and listen frequently as they work.
4. Once the melody has been created, have students take turns adding the appropriate rhythm to the melody.
5. Merge the rhythm and melody components that were created by the students. Click on the green play arrow and listen to their merged melody and rhythm.
6. Ask the students to try to move the birds on the wires and to open and close the eggs. Note that they cannot move the birds or change the eggs until they "un-merge" the melody and rhythm.
7. Tell the students to click on the merge icon again and ask the children to describe what happens. (The melody and rhythm go back to the birds and the eggs)
8. Have the children locate the music stand buffers at the bottom of the of the page. The "Zzzzzz" symbol means that music was already saved on that stand in the composition space. Have the students click on the first empty music stand. Their composition will appear in the buffer.
9. Play the melodies that were created by other second grade classes.
Lesson Plan 5 (in the computer lab) : Creating "Poor, Poor Arthur" Take-home Books Using KidPix
Objectives:
1. To create new lyrics to the song, "Old McDonald Had a Farm", using the animals they have discussed with their classroom teacher after reading "Arthur's Pet Business". (27.A.1b)2. To create a KidPix presentation using these new lyrics. (27.B.1)
Classroom Materials:
Vocabulary:
Prior knowledge:
The students are familiar with the KidPix program.
Time:
Two, thirty minute music classes.
Instructional Procedure:
1. Sing the song, "Old McDonald Had a Farm". Allow the children to add appropriate verses. Explain section A and section B of the song.2. Discuss the pets that Arthur took care of in the book that they read in their classroom, "Arthur's Pet Business" by Marc Brown.
3. Substitute one of the animals from the story into the melody, "Old McDonald Had a Farm", only change the words to "Poor, poor Arthur had a pet business, E-I-E-I-O. And in his business, he had a (animal name), E-I-E-I-O......."
4. Sing the song again, changing the animal each time.
5. Send the students in pairs to computers and have them create a KidPix presentation, using their newly created lyrics to the song.
6. Add sound to the program by having the students sing their song.
7. Play the presentations that the students created.
8. Print copies of the work and make into a book that the students can take home and read.
Lesson Plan 6: Adding Notation to "Poor, Poor Arthur" Using "Autoscore"
Objective:
1. To create a score to the song the students created in lesson 5. (26.A.1d)
Classroom Material:
Vocabulary:
Time:
One to two, thirty minute music classes
Instructional Procedure:
1. Demonstrate how the "Autoscore" program will automatically take what is sung into a microphone and digitally score it using musical notation.2. Have the pairs of students who created each new song take turns singing their song in the microphone. Click the red record button, wait for the four beat countoff to finish, and have the students sing. When they are finished, click the stop button.
3. Play the music back by clicking the rewind button. Click stop after the song has finished playing.
4. Print a score for each child.
Lesson Plan 7: "Old Dan Tucker", an American Folk Song
Objectives:
1. To recognize two different sections in a song. (25.A.1c)2. To evaluate children's understanding of two-part music. (25.B.1; 27.A.1b)
3. To explore folk music using the Internet. (27.B.1)
Classroom Material:
Vocabulary:
Time:
One, thirty minute music class
Instructional Procedure:
1. Have the children look around the room and find two things that are alike (windows, light fixtures, chalkboard erasers). Then have them find two things that are different from one another (chalk and eraser, window and door, desk and chair).2. Tell the class the "Old Dan Tucker" is a song with two sections. Then have them answer the questions on page 116 in their textbook.
3. Ask them to listen to the song to be able to describe what sections A and B tell about Dan. Play the recording through the first verse and refrain only. (Section A tells about Dan; Section B tells him to get out of the way.) As children listen to the recording, they show sections by standing during section A and sitting during section B.
4. When children know the song, have them keep the beat by alternately patting their lays and clapping their hands during section A (PAT-clap-clap-clap.) During section B they clap the rhythm pattern each time the words Get out the way occur.
5. To help the class develop inner hearing, have them perform "Old Dan Tucker" without the recording in the following ways:
- Children sing section A aloud; they sing section B silently, thinking the melody and words. They each raise they hand when they reach the end of section B. Goal: All reach the end of section B at the same time.
- Establish the beat and give a starting pitch. Children silently sing section A; they sing section B aloud. Goal: All begin to sing aloud (and on the same pitch) at the same time.
6. Teach children a dance for "Old Dan Tucker" to help them further recognize the contrasting sections.
Directions for Dance:
- Preparation: Designate one child to be Old Dan Tucker. Other children choose partners. Partners stand facing each other, making two lines, eight to ten steps apart.
- Section A:
- While the others pat their laps to the beat, Old Dan Tucker moves up and down between the lines, pantomiming the words of the song. At the end of the section, he or she "gets out the way" by moving to a different part of the room.
- Section B:
- Phrase 1: Partners take 4 steps toward each other, in time with the steady beat.
- Phrase 2: They take 4 steps back to place.
- Phrases 3 and 4: Partners take 7 steps forward, passing right shoulders, then turn to face each other on step 8.
- The lines of children are now reversed. Old Dan Tucker comes back and chooses a new Dan Tucker, and then takes that child's place in line. The dance begins again.
7. Discuss the story that the song "Old Dan Tucker" tells. Briefly explain folk songs.
8. Using the teacher-book marked Internet sites featuring folk music, investigate different folk song styles and the stories they convey. Such sites could include Mabel's Folk Songs for Children.
Lesson Plan 8: A Listening Lesson Using Classical Music in AB Form
Objectives:
1. To reinforce a familiarity with AB form. (25.A.1c)2. To aurally be able to discriminate between section A and section B in a piece of classical music. (25.B.1)
3. To become aware of facts relating to Ludwig von Beethoven. (27.B.1)
Classroom Material:
Time:
One, thirty minute music class
Instructional Procedure:
1. Show the students the large pictures of people doing an ecossaise. Explain that an ecossaise is an English dance and that Beethoven composed many of them.2. Ask the children to decide, by looking at the pictures, if an ecossaise is fast and energetic or slow-moving and dignified.
3. Play "Ecossaise in G" by Beethoven on the piano for the students.
4. Play section A of the song only and refer to the picture where the dancers are dancing together. Explain that it is typical of an ecossaise to have the dancers moving with a partner during section A of a song.
5. Play only section B of "Ecossaise in G" and point out to the students that the dancers are moving by themselves.
6. As the children listen again to the entire piece, they should tap a steady beat with a partner during section A. During section B, the students should tap their own hands.
7. Using the software program, "Perspectives in Music History", show the children the section of the program about Beethoven and examine the information about Beethoven. Examine events, dates, and connections to art from Beethoven's time period. Listen to another piece that Beethoven composed.
8. Discuss how Beethoven continued to compose after he was completely deaf. How could he "hear" what he was composing? What problems might deafness pose to composing music?
Extension Activity: "Built My Lady a Fine Brick House" (this lesson would be used to reemphasize AB form, if necessary)
Objectives:
1. To perceive contrasting sections in two-part form. (25.A.1c)2. To show contrasting sections through dancing. (27.A.1b)
Classroom Material:
Vocabulary:
Time:
One, thirty minute music class
Instructional Procedure:
1. Tell the children they are going to learn a new folk song from Texas. Ask them to copy your motions. Warn them that you are going to change your motions part way through and that they should change with you.2. Play the song and maintain the beat in your lap during the A section, switching to a clap on the B section.
3. Have the children look at the music to see if they can tell where and why you changed motions. (You changed at letter B because the music changed.)
4. All sing the song, keeping the steady beat. Choose your own motion for each section.
5. Perform a dance while singing, "Built My Lady a Fine Brick House".
Directions for Dance:
- Formation: A circle, with each child next to a chosen partner. All face the center, with hands joined.
- Section A
- Phrase 1: Walk 4 steps in, toward the center, in time with the steady beat.
- Phrase 2: Walk 4 steps out, away from the center.
- Phrase 3: Jump on the first beat of each measure as follows: into the circle on the word put , out on she.
- Phrase 4: Repeat the motions for phrase 3, jumping in on fare, and out on
- dar-.
Enrichment Activities:
Special Learners:
Assessment:
Conclusion:
Technology is not a panacea for music education. It will not solve all of my existing problems and, as with any new educational tool, it introduces some problems of its own. The use of technology in music instruction is meaningful only to the degree that it contributes to competence, and the contribution comes through instruction, study, exploration, and assessment. I hope to find ways to integrate technology so that it is not the end in and of itself.
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Submitted: July 1, 1998