Becca Warfel

Lesson Plan 2: Take Five

I use Vygotskys theory of the zone of proximal development in my lesson. This theory states that
students learn best when they are working with more experienced people. The zone of proximal
development is what the student can do with help. During this lesson I will play Take Five for the
students, then with them, and then they will play it on their own. This method of scaffolding places
them within the zone of proximal development and by the end of the lesson they will be able to play
the piece without my help.
1. Time Needed 5-7 minutes
2. Materials Needed Each student will need their music and their instrument. I will need a chair,
stand, tuba stand, and my score book.
3. Learning Objectives The students will learn to play Take Five with correct notes and interesting
dynamics.
4. Assessment The students will play Take Five with correct notes and interesting dynamics.
5. Personal Objective I will give clear directions and I will not just tell students good job.
6. Procedures
a. I will tell the students to turn to Take Five in their books.
b. I will tell them we are going to work in playing all of the notes correctly.
c. I will tell the students to listen and finger along as I play the piece.
d. I will then model the piece with the right notes. If I mess up, Ill play it again so they can hear
it played correctly.
e. I will ask the students if they ran into any notes that confused them.
f. I will tell the students that play Take Five together and then we will play it.
g. I will tell the students to play it without me and I will remind them to pay close attention to
their notes. I will set my tuba down and walk around to see if I hear any missed notes.
h. I will point out a section that played the notes correctly and I will complement them. If I
know I heard a specific group missing notes I will tell them that was a good first try, but I
heard a few missed notes. Then I will have them play it again. If Im not sure who missed
them Ill say that I heard some missed notes Ill say that I heard some and I will have them
play it again.
i. Once everyone is getting the right notes Ill tell the students we are going to work on making
the piece more interesting. I will tell them to listen to me and see if they can tell me what Im
doing differently than before.
j. Ill play the piece with clear dynamics.
k. Ill ask students to raise their hands if they heard something different. Then Ill ask them to
keep their hands up if they can tell me what I did. I will call on one. When they answer, I will
tell them if they are correct or not.
l. I will tell the students to play with me with the added dynamics.
m. I will have them play on their own and I will listen to see who does the dynamics. I will ask
the students what they thought about the playing. After they answer, Ill say who I thought
did well and I will make any needed dynamic corrections.
n. If needed, we will repeat.
o. When the dynamics sound good I will close the lesson.
7. Closure I will tell the students that Im proud of the good work they did today. I will encourage
them to practice notes and dynamics on their own by adding dynamics to the pieces they practice
for homework. I will also encourage them to look up some songs on youtube and see what
dynamics they hear.

Inclusion of Zone of Proximal Development/Scaffolding Step c: The students finger along

while I play the piece for them. Step f: We play the piece together. Steps g-h: The students play
the piece without my help.

Process Standards Performing (The students perform Take Five throughout the lesson.)
Responding (In steps jk I ask the students what I changed during my playing to make the piece
more interesting.)

Anchor Standards Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation. (The
students work on getting the right notes and refine their dynamics during the whole lesson.)
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work (Steps i-k)