ARTS EDUCATION TEACHER HANDBOOK

HIGH SCHOOL LESSON PLAN

Submitted by Denise M Hall, Cumberland County Schools

Lesson Title:
Composing Project

Grade Level or Course:
Vocal Music I

Time Allotment:
Nine Week Session (20 minutes during each class meeting)

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

• 3.01 Improvise simple melodic and rhythmic patterns.
• 3.02 Show respect for the improvisational efforts of others.
• 4.01 Compose and arrange music incorporating appropriate voicings and ranges.
• 5.01 Read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted note and rest durations in 2/4, ?, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, 2/2, and mixed meters.
• 5.02 Sightread melodies.
• 5.03 Notate melodies
• 5.04 Use standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression to record own musical ideas and musical ideas of others.
• 6.01 Identify the basic musical forms.
• 6.02 Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the technical vocabulary of music.
• 6.03 Recognize and identify a variety of compositional techniques.
• 6.05 Demonstrate auditory perceptual skills by conducting, moving, answering questions about, and describing aural examples of music.
• 6.06 Show respect while listening to and analyzing music.
• 7.02 Evaluate musical works by comparing them to similar or exemplary models.
• 7.05 Describe the aesthetic nature of music and how perceptions of interacting musical elements affect one's feelingful responses to music.
• 7.06 Show respect for the musical efforts and opinions of others.
• 8.02 Use knowledge of mathematical relationships to create original compositions.

Alignment with NC High School Exit Exam:

Domain 1: Communication: Follow instructions to draw conclusions or make informed decisions.
Domain 2: Processing Information: Analyze information by comparing, contrasting, and summarizing to make informed decisions. Learner will also interpret multiple sets of data to determine the best course of action.
Domain 3: Problem Solving: Plan logical steps and organize resources to accomplish a task within a given time frame (e. g., investigation).
Domain 4: Using Numbers and Data: Use relationships among fractions, decimals, and percents to demonstrate understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts.

Lesson Objective(s):

The learner will improvise simple melodic and rhythmic patterns and demonstrate respect for the improvisational efforts of others; compose and arrange music incorporating appropriate voicings and ranges; demonstrate the ability to distinguish between a whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note and rest durations, and demonstrate an understanding of a given time (meter) signature; identify the basic principles of meter, rhythm, and tonality in analyses of music; evaluate musical works by comparing them to similar or exemplary models, and describe the aesthetic nature of music and how perceptions of interacting musical elements affect one's feelingful responses to music.

Materials/Equipment Needed:

Materials needed include manuscript paper, piano or keyboard ("pretend" keyboards may be used for note location if necessary).

Lesson Procedure:

Students will be given a 4-measure "prompt" by the teacher designating a key signature, time signature, tempo, and simple voicing for a melody line. Students will be instructed to compose an additional 4 measures of music. Students will demonstrate his or her composition orally using proper keyboard techniques. Upon completion of the project, all original student compositions will be joined together by the teacher to produce a larger work. The work will be cataloged in the media center for future reference for other students.

Assessment:

The written composition of each student should accurately reflect the following:

1. Proper application of note value based on a given time (meter) signature.
2. Appropriate letter names assigned to each pitch used.
3. An explanation of the time (meter) signature.
4. Bar lines and double bar lines used correctly.
5. Explanation of rhythm pattern selected.

The oral presentation of the composition of each student should reflect the following:

1. Correct performance of the composition on the piano or keyboard.
2. Correct use of dynamics.
3. Adherence to given tempo.
   

Special Considerations:

Students will learn the preliminary elements required for this lesson at varying paces. Therefore, the teacher should have students produce portions of his or her work periodically in order to clarify, correct, and encourage student's progress. Also, teacher will need to make a keyboard or piano available to students periodically before or after school for the perfection and preparation of the final product requested. Students must possess basic information regarding note values and interpretation of time signatures, ability to read the treble and bass staves, and location of note on the keyboard prior the introduction of this project.

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