Musical Concept: Arranging a piece given rhythms and a chant
National Standards Addressed:
1) Singing alone, and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2) Performing alone, and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
4) Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5) Reading and notating music.
Prior Knowledge: All of the chants; what a quarter note and eighth note are and how to use and recognize them
Behavior Objective: With the use of rhythm instruments and given rhythms, the students will arrange a piece and successfully play it without making any mistakes.
Materials: Handout, tam tam (gong), woodblock, rhythm sticks, maracas Assessment Strategies: Observe the class’s actions when playing the rhythm; ask questions
 

Lesson Plan Procedure/Strategies
Introduction:
Last time we learned the words to “Shaking;” now, we will add rhythm to it and arrange it to
create a masterpiece!
Strategy:
1. Let’s review the chant. Say it with me! Don ‘t forget to cue and smile! Point to the music as we say it. “Ge-ral-dine, now, stop....”
2. This time, let’s clap the first beat of every measure. It will sound like this: “Ger...” Now, you try! Smile!
3. We can notate this part like this. Show just the tam tam part. I am going to assign the tam tam part to the top line. Why is the tam tam an appropriate instrument for this part? Who would like to play the gong? When you play this part, say word “cow” to remind you of the rhythm.
4. Let’s say the chant again. This time ____ play the gong part, and everyone else clap the rhythm with him. Smile and cue!
5. Now, we are going to split the rest of the class to learn the remaining parts. Uncover the rest of the sheet. We’ll have 3 people on woodblock; you, you, and you! 3 people of rhythm sticks, and 4 people on maracas. To tam tam player You can play rhythm sticks, too, so you can learn the rhythms.
6. We will learn every part and then assign parts. I will say the Percussion 1 part first for two bars and then you repeat me for two bars playing your instruments and chanting the rhythm. It will sound like this... Now everyone play. Smile, cue, and clap the part while they play. Percussion 2 ... Percussion 3...
7. Now that we’ve learned the rhythms, Woodblocks play 1; Rhythm sticks play 2; Maracas play 3. Tam tam play your part now! For practice, let’s play all 4 parts together so you can get the feeling of your part before we arrange our piece! Play 4 bars on your instrument with your chant your part and then play 4 bars without your chant! Smile and cue!
8. The format of our piece will be:
4 Bar introduction by the tam tam
The first line: woodblock
The second line: rhythm sticks
The third line: maracas
Then, everyone will play their own part without saying the lyrics
End with four bars gong

When you play your part, do not chant your part. When you are not playing, chant the words to ‘Shaking.’
9. Next time we’ll put rhythm to “Father Put the Cow Out”
 
 
 

Cat Snyder
MUSED 100
November 16, 2000

           The third Microteaching involved adding rhythms to a given chant.  It allowed students to use their creative abilities to arrange and compose pieces. I enjoyed this lesson because I was able to use my own skills to compose rhythms and then hear them played altogether.
           I followed several steps to create my score.  After studying the chant, I looked for common rhythms that appeared throughout the chant that might make the combination of rhythms easy for elementary age students.  The gong would be appropriate for keeping the measure beat.  The rest of the rhythms came directly from the piece.
          After creating a score, I thought through the lesson plan.  I decided that I should introduce the lesson explaining to the class that we would add on to what we already know.  The next step would be to review the chant and add on the easiest part. After that, I thought of two routes that I could have taken. I could have assigned each part to an instrument and then go over each part with just that instrument.  However, a majority of the class would be sitting silent, which could lead to boredom and misbehavior.  I chose option two.  It involved everyone learning every part and then picking what part they wanted to play.  After the parts were divided, I decided that we should arrange a piece together as a class.
          To practice my lesson, I followed the similar steps as with my last Microteaching.  A couple of days prior to the due date, I ran through the lesson plan by myself. Then, the day before, I did my lesson twice f some friends.  The first time, we ran the session like a master class.  The second time, we waited to comment until the end.
          My strengths included proximity enthusiasm, d demonstration.  I made a point to stand in front of the class when talking to them.  I decided not to stand directly in front, because I did not want to cover the screen.  Even though I felt that it was superficial, I felt that my enthusiasm improved greatly from my past Microteachings.  Of course, it is something that can always be improved upon, but I have my foot in the door.  As for the demonstration, I performed the rhythms before the class did, so they would have an idea on what they needed to play.
          My weaknesses included clarity of instructions, transitions, and a conclusion.  From my lack of improvisation skills, I had a hard time saying instructions for c ass.  I would get flustered and tongue-tied.  Unfortunately, this weakness I will just have to practice and practice.  To the same effect of getting tongue-tied, my transitions were poor, which can be improved with better planning.  At the end of the lesson, I just said, “Next time we will put rhythms to ‘Father Put the Cow Out’!”  This was a short conclusion, and it did not review what we had just learned.  Once again, this can be fixed with better planning.
         Actually teaching and seeing myself teach gave me two different views of my performance.  When I was teaching, time seemed to pass by very quickly.  I planned my lesson to be approximately ten minutes long.  However, when Dr. Burns told me that my time was about up, I could not understand why because it did not feel like it had been fifteen minutes.  On the tape, the lesson moved very slowly. I was bored.  Another thing I had not noticed was that I touched my face often.  I guess that it was a nervous twitch that I never knew that I had.  After watching the video, I thought to myself that the girl on the video would not be able to entertain a fourth grade class for very long.  She has a lot of room for improvement. That is how it is going to be until I get comfortable speaking in front of a class.  Overall, the experience was both educational and entertaining.