ARTS EDUCATION TEACHER HANDBOOK

MIDDLE SCHOOL LESSON PLAN

Submitted by Saundra Grogan, Wake County Public Schools

Lesson Title:
Composer/Musician Study

Grade Level or Course:
6th Grade (Could adapt for 7th and 8th Grade) Band, General Music, or Chorus

Time Allotment:
Portion of 6 lessons, student time outside of class

Targeted Goals and Objectives from the 2000 North Carolina Arts Education Standard Course
of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K-12:

Competency Goal 9: The learner will understand music in relation to history and culture.

• 9.01-Identify the distinguishing characteristics of representative music genres and styles from a variety of cultures.
• 9.03-Compare across several cultures of the world and in history, the functions of music, roles of musicians, and conditions under which music is typically performed.
• 9.04-Show respect for music from various cultures and historical periods.

Targeted Goals and Objectives from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and Grade
Level Competencies, K-12 for other content areas:

English Language Arts Grade 6: apply conventions of grammar and language usage; Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written expression; Identify and edit errors in written English.

Alignment with NC High School Exit Exam:
Communication

Learner will apply rules of standard English to written text.
Learner will use main ideas and supporting details to organize and communicate information.

Lesson Objective(s):

As part of their study of music styles, composers, and musicians, students will write a 5 paragraph minimum report that correlates with the English Language Arts Curriculum. Students will listen to a music example written or performed by the chosen composer or musician. Students will perform/write etc? a free choice activity.

Materials/Equipment Needed:

Composer/Musician Biographies from the Media Center or local libraries, Editing Marks (proofreading symbols chart), rubric, timeline, pencil/pen, paper, index cards, the Internet, listening examples (tape/CD), CD Player/Tape Deck, Listening Sheet that must be signed by parents, other items that students may need for their free choice activities.

Note: For the biographies and internet, you can sign up for a day with your Media Center if they offer this service.

Lesson Procedure:

Lesson 1

Introduce project by asking students to define the words composer and musician. Have them name composers and musicians they know and list them on the board or overhead. Ask if musicians can also be composers. Give an overview of expectations for the project and include a timeline. Give a few fun and unusual facts about famous composers and/or musicians or have the information on cards and have some students read out loud. Assign students to choose a composer/musician by the next lesson. (Note: You may have a list for them to choose from, you could ask them to look for composers in their band method books, or you may wish to work with the Social Studies teacher and give students a list of composers/musicians from the country and period they are currently studying in Social Studies. Make sure there are adequate resources in the Media Center)! If a student does not choose by then, you will assign them a composer or musician. Hand out rubric with timeline.

A timeline might include the following events with specific dates for accomplishment:

1. Choose the musician/composer (student or instructor choice)
2. Begin research - use note cards to answer the who, what, when, where, how and why questions.
3. Turn in note cards for "check up"
4. Use cards and resources to write report (Introduction, Body, and Conclusion)
5. Peer review with rough draft
6. Turn in rough draft
7. Turn in project - final paper, listening verification, free choice activity (see descriptions later in this lesson)
8. All or part of the project is presented (teacher determination)
   

Lesson 2

Check each student's choice. Go to the Media Center and have students check out books or get on the internet if they're approved to do so. Make sure students have pencil/pen and hand out index cards. (Note: You may want to do the following and then go to the Media Center. Do what works for you). Go over the "W" questions (who, what, when, where, how, why) and explain that you want the essay to include details that answer these questions. Have students do some reading with their note cards and pencils handy so they can take notes while reading. Remind them that each note card needs a reference and page number. Hand out listening examples (tapes or CD's). Have a sign out chart and give students a set period of time (such as 3 days) to do their listening and turn in the signed sheet from parents indicating they have done so.

Lesson 3

Go over the parts of an essay/report. Explain that you want an introductory paragraph that gives an overview of the report. Ask for examples of details students might already know about their composers and tell students this information will be in the main body (3 paragraph minimum) of the report. Ask a student to define the words summary and conclusion. Tell students you want the report to end with a concluding paragraph. Assign students to write a rough draft and have it ready for the next lesson.

Lesson 4

Brainstorm a list of free choice activities with students. Some ideas are:

• Write a short one act skit based on an incident in the composer/musicians life and act it out or video it.
• Dress as the composer/musician, write a short (2 to 3 minutes) interview and have someone interview you on a talk show. (You must write out the interview).
• Write a journal pretending you are your composer/musician and have a week of entries based on what a ?typical? week would be like for your person.
• Make a scrapbook/photo album based on the life of your person and write captions under the pictures.
• Draw a cartoon pretending you?re an editorial cartoonist. Base it on a current event from the time of your composer/musician.
• Write a letter to the king, president etc? (whichever is applicable) pretending you are the composer/musician and feel strongly about a certain issue.
• Pretending you are a reporter, write a news article on you composer/musician about an important event in his/her life.

Lesson 5:

Review the Editing Marks Chart and hand one to each student out. Have students select a partner, or have partners pre-selected. Students will trade reports, edit them, write their name as editor at the top, and turn in the report. After you grade the reports, hand them back for students to type/write the final copy.

Lesson 6:

At this point you could have individuals present the report and free choice, (or you could have them present just their free choice activity) while students fill out an evaluation rubric. Group assessment may depend on your class size and time constraints. Give a copy of the report to the student?s Language Arts teacher so it can be filed in the portfolio.

Assessment:

Students will assess the final product by using a rubric designed by the students and the teacher. The teacher will also assess each project as a whole. The components for the project would be weighted as follows: 33% written report, 33% listening, 33% free choice.

Special Considerations:

You may find it extremely helpful to work with a Language Arts and or Social Studies teacher. Ask them what they would like you to cover. They may even have a report format and rubric they want you to follow.

You may need to give some students time to go to the Media Center and do their listening. I have many students who don't have home access to a tape deck or CD player. I wouldn?t make the listening examples too long. If you don't have one for each composer/musician, you may have to just use music from the time period. Students may also be able to check recordings out of the local public library for listening.

This project would work nicely with Black History Month. I allowed students to choose from Jazz musicians in addition to "Classical" composers/musicians. I encouraged students to do orchestral musicians who play the instruments the students are studying. Another interesting approach might be current musicians/performers (including popular music).

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