ARTS EDUCATION TEACHER HANDBOOK
ARTS EDUCATION TEACHER HANDBOOKMIDDLE SCHOOL LESSON PLAN
Submitted by Cynthia L Campbell, Cumberland County Schools
Lesson Title:
Using numbers (pitch levels) to teach the major scale..
Grade Level or Course:
6-8 Choral Music
Time Allotment:
1 45-minute class period for two weeks. It is important to note that students
will need to utilize the skills learned in this lesson on a daily basis in order
to become competent sight-readers.
Targeted Goals and Objectives from the 2000 North Carolina Arts Education
Standard Course
of Study and Grade Level Competencies, K - 12:
(From 6th grade SCS, can be adapted for 7th or 8th grades)
- 1.01 Sing with pitch and rhythmic accuracy and proper breath control, in an appropriate range.
- 5.03: Sightread simple melodic notation in the treble clef.
Lesson Objective(s):
The learner will be able to recognize the sound of and sing the major scale by singing it with numbers/pitch levels. The teaching of the major scale gives students a process by which to learn simple sight-reading passages for the purpose of sight-reading for adjudication at local and state choral festivals.
Materials/Equipment Needed:
Chalk board, staff liner, piano, teacher-made sight-exercises or exercises from a text.
Lesson Procedure:
Begin by giving examples of the major scale that students most likely have been exposed to such as "Do Re Mi" from "The Sound of Music" and the "Scales and Arpeggio" song from Disney's "Aristocats". Another example would be to play "Joy to the World" making all note values equal and asking students to name the famous Christmas song. They won?t be able to do it unless the familiar rhythm is added back in. Then the teacher can point out that it is the major scale.
Write a C major scale in notation on the board. Then assign each pitch a number with low C being one and moving up by step. The top pitch is called "1" also however the teacher must point out that it is high "1" as opposed to low "1". Play the major scale on the piano and have students sing it back using the rhythm of quarter, 6 eighths, quarter, 6 eighths, whole in common time. At this point the teacher can change the key and have the students sing it back. Explain that the major scale sounds the same in any key because it follows a certain pattern of whole and half steps. This can lead to a discussion of the piano keyboard and using the keyboard to identify this difference between whole and half steps. Once it is assessed that everyone understands the difference between whole and half steps, students can be given the assignment to create major scales beginning on various notes. This is most often done orally by the class with me at the board and the students telling me which notes to write next. It is important that students learn the sound of the major scale in their head. It should be played and sung every day as well as sung a cappella. Once the sound of the scale is in their heads the teacher can begin to mix up the scale tones using finger exercises. (Teacher holds up the number of fingers to indicate the pitch number desired.)
It also works well to use the floor tiles to help students understand the relationships between steps and skips in the major scale. The finger and tile exercises should begin with movement up and down by step and slowly progressing to skips between the notes of the tonic triad. When students are comfortable with the vocal exercises, the teacher can begin to write simple sight-reading exercises on the board. The written exercises should begin with up and down stepwise movement within the scale and slowly progressing to skips within the tonic triad. Once the melodic aspect of sight-reading is taught, the teacher can add the rhythmic element.
Assessment:
I most often assess student progress with oral exercises involving the whole class using finger exercises. Once the class is comfortable, the teacher can more thoroughly assess individual student achievement by dividing the class into small groups. Once the written aspect of sight-reading has been introduced the teacher can use written evaluations in which simple sight-reading exercises are written with the students being given the number of the starting pitch. The students would then be assigned to write in the rest of the pitch numbers. The students could then sing the written exercises in large and small groups.
Special Considerations:
It is important to note that it is difficult to place a time limit on this lesson. The concepts should be introduced in a systematic way with one skill building upon the next. The skills should be practiced and assessed on a daily basis.
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