Teacher: Kyle Karum Course: Choir Period: 1 Time: 9:15-9:27 Date: October 29, 2013 Students: 8

Students are working on Veterans Day program. T: What is the difference between T: Pick up means what? Students answer T: The music gives you more answers then I would.it tells all. The teacher goes from group to group and has them sing from sea to shining sea T: That is that dreaded F (to a student). T: Feet on the ground.deep breathe..teacher helps Noah with from sea to shining sea Teacher helps Amanda with her part. T: Everyone pick up at 45. Teacher sings with each group. T: Amanda when Genesis is here you wont be drowned out. T: Lets go to the Pledge..sit up tall. Is this sang or spoken? Students respond. Teacher walks through with them. Students start singing America the Beautiful T: And we have what tied at the end? S: A brev Teacher explains. T: From the top. Students start from the beginning. Teacher changes his singing pitch as he walks from group to group, singing the way as they should. Teacher stops. T: Sopranos we need to be careful. Lets start again. T: Time to put folders away. They must be in fantastic shape. Good work, good work. Comments: I really liked how you kept going from group to group, changing your pitch to sing with the corresponding group so they could learn what they were supposed to sound like. I bet that can get challenging..and confusing for yourself. I also liked the positive interactions you had with the students; the consistent encouraging words. I liked that you questioned the students throughout the class on topics that had been covered. Ie) pick up means? We have what tied at the end?

Questions: Do you incorporate new terms and vocabulary at the beginning of the year or do you gradually incorporate it into your class as the learning process continues? I do the latter. I work with my students throughout each semester and year to learn new musical terms. I put aside time in most lessons to do what I call Theory Corner. This is a portion of class where we learn and review musical terms and ideas.

How do you decide who will be singing in which group? At the beginning of each semester, I work with the students individually and in groups. This is so I can make individual assessments on their voices. I then place them into sections based on individual vocal range and timbre (tone color). We have four voice parts; soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. We then go through a process called voicing. This is when I have students sing in small groups to hear how they sound in sections. Then I place them in a very specific order according to who would sound best with each other.

Do you pull each group apart from the entire group and work on their part solo? If so what do others do at this time? I do often need to perform differentiated instruction by working with individual sections. More often than not, this only takes a moment so the other students know to be looking ahead in their music to determine what may be coming up. Every once in a great while, we will do what I call sectionals. This is when I have each section go off to a different location in the room and work on their part with their section. I have certain students in every section who know how to lead a sectional. These are very effective because it allows these students to work on their parts and not become thrown off by the other sections. I monitor this closely.

On average, how long does it take to work on one piece of work until it is perfected? This varies depending on where we are in school year. At the beginning, we focus on the process of learning music. This includes learning how to read written music by using rhythms and solfeggio. At the beginning, it may take about a month and half to work a piece to a performable standard. This would also be while learning other pieces. Toward the end of the year, this process picks up while the students become more proficient at demonstrating their abilities to perform written music. At this point I hope to take three to four weeks to rehearse a piece up to the point of a quality performance standard.