Unit Lesson Plan

Teacher: Kevin Joseph

Dates: 11/14/2016-11/16/2016

Subject: General Music Elementary

Unit: Rhythm! Keep the Beat!

Time: 30 minutes/day
State Standards:
MU:Cr1.1.2a: Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and musical ideas for a specific purpose.
MU: Cr1.1.2b: Generate musical patterns and ideas within the context of a given tonality (such as major
and minor) and meter (such as duple and triple).
Unit Rationale:
This unit will be beneficial to determine the students ability to keep steady rhythm when learning to play
music. Students are introduced to rhythm through use of body-drumming and tapping to demonstrate
steady pulse. Once that is introduced, students will learn how emotion is created through the use of major
and minor chord progressions.
Goals:
The students will learn how to clap, tap and move in tempo. Students will learn how to differentiate
between major and minor sounding chords.
Objectives:
Students will learn what tempo is and clap along to a steady beat. Students will aurally understand what a
major or minor chord sounds like and be able to verbalize what they hear.
Lessons/ Main Activities

Lesson 1: Alternating Steady Beat!

Activity: Students will participate in clapping a steady beat together to a track playing from the speaker.
There will be slight modifications with tapping on various body parts. \
Assessment: Students will be evaluated on their engagement in the class room and the attention to
instructions.
Lesson 2: Alternating Steady Beat!
Activity: Students will participate in clapping a steady beat together to a track playing from the speaker.
The slight modifications are still present, but now the kids will work with alternating hands to tap various
body parts.
Assessment: Evaluated on engagement and details to instructions.
Lesson 3: How did Mr. Kitty Feel?
Activity: Students will sit around the story mat and listen to a story being read. This story will have
varying events that shines light to how Mr. Kitty is feeling.
Assessment: Attention to major or minor sounded chord.
Assessment for Unit
Students will be assessed through formative assessment which will monitor their progress throughout the
course of the unit. The students will be provided with direct feedback on how they can improve.
Differentiated Instruction:

If the student is having a hard time learning how to tap a steady beat. We will have them listen to
one of their favorite songs and see if incorporate that wont change the outcome. Sometimes
students are confuse by the monotonous droning of a metronome or a simple beat to understand
the concept of rhythm and tempo, so bringing something that is familiar to them might help

manipulate the situation and breakdown the root of what is causing the misunderstanding. This
can also be applied to learners with learning disabilities, where you might lightly tap on the
shoulder of the student and ask them to verbalize something every time they feel a tap. That in
itself can have the student feel a steady tempo and rhythm and from there incorporate the
methods being used for the rest of class.
Materials:
Nothing but our bodies!