Instructor ­Andrea Weber  Date 8/26/08  UNIT Melody Activity                                                                                      Class/Grade Level Chamber Choir (Grades 10, 11 & 12)  Location Blue Valley West High School Relevant Contextual Factors Class of male and female students, and no students with IEPs or need for modifications.
 
Instructional Goals of lesson (what do you want the students to learn and be able to demonstrate?)
 
The students will also write the solfege of the melody line of  “The Cloths of Heaven” with 85% accuracy through a solfege melody worksheet.
 
Prior Knowledge & Skills Expectations (what do already know and can do?):
 
The students will have already received an introduction to solfege syllables. They will have practiced sight-reading in madrigal pieces and can apply this skill to the new piece of music but have not yet written down solfege of specific voice lines or the melody.
 
Standards Addressed in Lesson:  1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
                                                                5. Reading and notating music.
                                                                6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
 
Instructional materials, resources, & Technology:
 
The students will need “The Cloths of Heaven”, their journals, and a pencil.
 
Modifications/Accommodations needed: None needed.
 
Personal Improvement Objective: I would like to work on communication of the directions to the students in this lesson. I would also like to work on ensuring that the pacing of the lesson does not slow-down or speed-up due to the addition of the worksheet.
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Must Include the following:
Time       Student Activity / Detailed Procedures / Instructional Strategies / Planned Statements / Anticipated Outcomes / Assessment
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First 10 mins. Warm-up: skill focus solfege/relaxing warm-up conceptual focus notes & rhythm
“Today we are going to explore the melody of our new piece on solfege so we can know which parts have the melody, so let’s start with a solfege warm-up.”
Activities used for warm-up: Lip buzzing, sirens, physical warm-up (stretching, posture), solfege scales, & vowel scales. Warm-ups will include activities which are kinesthetic as well as audio and visual to apply to all modalities.
                Anticipated student difficulties: Since these warm-ups will have been used in previous classes, no major difficulties are anticipated.
               
                Anticipated achievement goals: The students will be able to apply the solfege to the melody worksheet of their new piece.
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15 mins. Selection #1: “The Cloths of Heaven” Melody Activity skill focus solfege syllables   conceptual focus Melody
 
“Please take this worksheet and put your name at the top. We are going to fill out numbers 1 & 2 together, so wait to start.”
 
The students will be given a sheet of paper with the melody line written out on a staff in both treble and bass clefs (to apply to both the SA & TB voices). The entire class will discuss the key of the excerpt as well as the note that is “Do” The students then will be given 3 minutes to complete the worksheet by filling in the solfege syllables for the melody line. After the 3 minutes are concluded, the entire class will go over the possible answers of solfege and discuss any issues or changes.
 
“Now that we know the syllables, let’s all sing the melody line on solfege together.”

Then, the class will sing the melody line together using the solfege syllables. Afterwards, the class will sing the melody on words and the first two pages of the piece since the melody is unison at the beginning and then is taken by the lower voices.
 
“We are going to start at the beginning and stand when your section has the main melody line.”

Then, the class will review the entire piece, and stand as a section when they are singing the melody line.
               
                Anticipated student difficulties: Some students will not be able to successfully answer all questions, but the discussion after worksheet time will allow them to track their mistakes. This will also allow the teacher to assess their progress on solfege and understanding of the melody line.
                                               
                Anticipated achievement goals: The students will successfully complete the worksheet and then sing the melody line of the piece with 95% accuracy after the worksheet discussion.
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Last 2 minutes Ending Statements: (Closure: Leads to tomorrow’s activities or a question for pondering)
“Now that we know more about the melody of this piece please get out your journal for your first entry. Please write 2 comments about something musical in the piece. Positive, constructive, or both. Please also make one comment in general about the lesson or your general opinion of the new song.”
Plans for future student learning  Focus on rhythmic elements of the piece that could be challenging for the ensemble.
 
 
 
Post-Lesson Reflections / Future Planning
 

1.    As I reflect on the lesson, to what extent were the students actively engaged?  How do I know?

 

The students were actively engaged through the solfege worksheet and subsequent group activities related to solfege and the melody. I was able to see how engaged they were through my assessment of their melody worksheets and then their journal entries. I also knew they were engaged because they would ask questions and the students would help each other with any issues or questions as I also aided in learning.

 

   2.        Did the students learn what I had intended?  Were my instructional goals and objectives met? 

          What is my evidence?

 

I believe they learned the solfege and melody as I intended. I could tell through their completed worksheet and then assessment through their singing of the melody throughout the rest of the lesson.

 

3.       Did I alter my goals, strategies, activities, student grouping and/or assessment as I taught the                       lesson?  If so, what changes did I make and why did I make these changes?

 

I did have to give some extra time on the solfege worksheets while I walked around the room monitoring progress because some students worked faster than others. I paced the lesson to allow for that extra time if needed and so we were able to complete all the activities while still helping all the students complete the work and keep the rest of students on task through discussion.

 

4.         Were my strategies and activities effective?  What is my evidence?

 

I think the activities and strategies were effective. In other classes the worksheet had not been used and so the students had not used the solfege as successfully. I think the worksheet allowed the students to have something concrete to write on and see their progress with solfege on a new piece of music instead of the solfege without the worksheet. The students became more comfortable with the hand symbols when they had already written the solfege down. I think it was a great way for the students to take the learning in a more independent fashion. In previous classes, the students would want to watch me and learn the melody by “rote” instead of independently.

 

5.         To what extent did the classroom environment (Respect and Rapport, Culture for Learning,                     Classroom Procedures, Appropriate Student Behavior, the Physical Environment) contribute to               student learning?  What is my evidence?

 

The classroom environment continued to be a positive contribution to the student learning. Mr. Szajnuk and myself greeted the students at the door, and the respectful and open environment for learning already established in the classroom was continued during this lesson.

 

6.         Was my assessment effective and useful to my students and me?  Describe an instance in which my feedback positively affected a student’s learning.

I believe my assessment (worksheet & journal entry) was successful to both the students and me. The worksheet gave the students instant feedback on their progress since we discussed and then sang the excerpt they worked on. The journal entry is great for feedback because the students write down something they learned or worked on, as well as any other general comment. This can also allow me to see if the students have any suggestions for my improvement as a teacher. In this lesson, I remember two students who were struggling with solfege hand signs before the activity. I was checking to see their progress, and they mentioned how much easier it was to show the hand signs after they had already analyzed what the syllables were supposed to be. Their progress was better than the previous class, and then my hope is with more similar activities they can further progress into being able to hand sign while analyzing the solfege at the same time.

 

 

7.          If I had the opportunity to teach this lesson again, what might I do differently?  Why?

If I had the chance to do this lesson again I would probably allow the students to work in groups or pairs. Even though it is important for them to be independent musical learners, I noticed that they made more progress and enjoyed the activity more when we discussed the syllables as a class and in reviewed ideas in groups.