Entry 3-2 | Instructional Planning

The candidate plans instruction that supports every student in meeting rigorous
learning goals by drawing upon knowledge of content areas, technology, curriculum,
cross-disciplinary skills, and pedagogy, as well as knowledge of learners and the
community context.

The candidate should complete a ​unit of instruction​ (included below) and submit for
this entry a unit plan detailing content knowledge, use of technology by teachers and
students, integrative content, and multiple pedagogical strategies.
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Key Signatures 1

Facilitator: Ryan Dillon

For: JCHS Concert Choir

(Mixed, 9-12th grade, non-auditioned)
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Overview 3

Lesson Plans 5
Lesson 1 - Introduction 5
Lesson 2 - C, F, G 9
Lesson 3 - Bb/D 13
Lesson 4 - Eb/A 16
Lesson 5 - Study Guide 19
Lesson 6 - Summative Assessment 20

Appendix 21
Student Handouts 22
Lesson 1, 2 22
Lesson 2, 3, 4 23
Lesson 5 (Front/Back) 24
Assessments 26
Pre-Assessment 27
Formative 1 29
Formative 2 30
Summative (Front/Back) 31
Lesson Artifacts 33
Lesson 1 33
Lesson 2 34
Lesson 3 36
Lesson 4 37
Lesson 5 39
Lesson 6 (Review) 41
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Overview

Specifics
● Focus: Development of student music literacy
● __________ HS Concert Choir
○ Mixed, non-auditioned ensemble
○ Grades 10-12
● 6 class periods
● 5 lessons
● 4 formal assessments

Student Learning Goals

● Students will...
○ Be able to build the key signatures for the keys of C, D, F, G, A, Bb, and Eb
Major.
○ Understand the mechanics of what makes a key signature and identify its
function.

Objectives
● Students will…
○ Identify the interval pattern of a major scale.
○ Identify the order of sharps and or flats in a key signature.
○ Build a major scale from any given starting pitch.
○ Build key signatures for the keys of C, G, D, A, F, Bb, and Eb Major from
memory.

National Standards
● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
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rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Assessments
● Pre-Assessment - Build key signatures for keys of C, G, D, A, F, Bb, Eb.
● Formative 1 - Identify Key Signatures of C, G, F.
● Formative 2 - Identify Key signatures of D, Bb; Identify major scale pattern; Identify
size of whole step; identify half steps in c major scale; Identify half steps in solfege.
● Summative - Build Key signatures for keys of C, G, D, A, F, Bb, Eb; Build a major scale
from any given starting pitch.
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Lesson Plans

Lesson 1 - Introduction
Duration: 30 min

(Note: The pre-assessment was administered during the class period prior to the
implementation of this lesson plan).

National Standards Addressed:

● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Objectives:
● Students will…
○ Learn about whole and half step intervals.
○ Identify the interval pattern of a major scale.

Materials:
● Lesson 1 Handout
● Lesson 1 SMART Board presentation

Vocabulary:
● Key
● Major
● Minor
● Key signature
● Whole step
● Half step
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● Interval
● Major scale

Warm-up:
● T instructs Ss to pick up a handout on their way into the classroom.
● T leads Ss through singing a major scale in solfege.
○ T expands this to highlight the half step intervals in the scale.

Activity 1:
● T: “Today we’re going to start working on learning key signatures. A ​key​ is the
range of pitches which a song will use. Knowing it helps us to sing the music in the
correct range and helps us to identify what the song should sound like as we read it.
○ “That range of pitches, or key, will be either ​minor​, (T plays C minor chord)
think sad, or ​major​ (T plays C Major chord) - think happy. For the next few
weeks we’ll focus on ​major​ keys.
○ “We’ll start with the key of C. (T plays a C on the piano) Let’s sing through our
solfege with C, the note I just played, as Do.
■ Class sings through solfege scale on Do.
■ “Did the scale we just sang sound minor (T plays C minor chord on
piano again), or major (C plays major chord on piano)?
● T calls on Ss. Ss replies, “Major?”
● T: “Correct! The solfege scale which begins on Do (note: our
system uses La based minor) is a ​major scale​. What that
means is that it is the complete range of pitches that a song in a
major ​key will typically use. Let’s break down the pattern of a
major scale​ using solfege.
■ (T plays C Major scale on piano while explaining) “A ​scale​ is built of 7
steps​ (which are also called ​intervals​). Sing the scale with me again.
Ss sing through the scale as T numbers the intervals on the smart board.
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● “Do you hear how close together Ti and Do are? ​T sings Ti-Do
and motions for Ss to echo​. If we were to sing them at the same
time, it would make a pretty clashy sound. Let’s try it!
○ T has half of the room sing Do and the other half sing Ti.
● “Now let’s sing Do-Re. ​T sings Do-Re, Ss echo.​ Do you notice how
much easier and more relaxed that feels? I bet those two
pitches would sound much more consonant if sung together.
Let’s see.
○ T has half of the room sing Do, and the other half sing
Re.
● “The reason Ti-Do sounds clashy while Do-Re sounds easier is
because all intervals are not created the same. Intervals can be
either small steps like Ti-Do (​T sings​) or larger steps like Do-Re
(​T sings​). We call the small steps ​half steps​, and we call the
bigger steps ​whole steps​. Now let’s see if we can figure out
which intervals are half steps and which are whole steps in our
major scale.
■ (Using the solfege major scale written out on the Lesson 1
Handout/Smart Board slide, T performs a Think Aloud.) “Alright so let
me share how my brain thinks through this. I already know that Do-Re
is a ​whole step​ because we sang it, so I’ll mark that as a ‘w’ for ​whole
step​. ​(T marks a W in between Do-Re).​ I also already know that Ti-Do
is a ​half step​ because the pitches are so close together, so I’ll mark
that as an ‘h’ for ​half step​. ​(T marks an ‘h’ between Ti-Do).
● “Now that those are marked, we can use those as a reference as
we figure out the other 5 intervals.
○ “Re-Mi sounds more like Do-Re than it does Ti-Do, so it
must be a whole step. ​T marks another ‘w’ between
Re-Mi.
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○ “But what about Mi-Fa. It sounds pretty small. (​T sings

Mi-Fa, then Ti-Do)​. I think it’s a half step too. ​T marks an
‘h’ between Mi-Fa.
○ “Fa-Sol, what does that sound like? A whole step or a
half step. (​T calls on Ss to answer​).
○ T utilizes Ss response to complete Sol-La and La-Ti as
well.
● “​So then, looking at all the work we just completed, it looks like
the pattern for a ​Major scale​ is ​WWhWWWh​. ​T fills in the
blanks on the SMART Board​. Mark this on your handout.

(Note: My first time implementing this I covered very little of the background information
listed above. Reviewing the plan post-assessment, I’ll use the information presented above as a
stand alone first lesson and move the application to the C Major scale to ​Lesson 2. This will
cause the artifacts in this Unit Plan to be slightly off from these lessons​).
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Lesson 2 - C, F, G
Duration: 30 min

National Standards Addressed:

● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Objectives:
● Students will…
○ Learn that a whole step is equal to two half steps.
○ Build C, G, and F major scales using WWhWWWh.
○ Review the function of both a sharp and a flat in music.
○ Identify C, G, F, key signatures

Materials:
● Lesson 1 Handout
● Lesson 1 SMART Board presentation
● Lesson 2 Handout
● Lesson 2 SMART Board Presentation

Vocabulary​:
● Flat sign
● Sharp sign

Warm-up:
● T leads class through C major scale on solfege.
○ T calls on a Ss: “_____, Ti-Do is an example of what in a major scale?”
■ Ss: “A half step?”
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■ T: “Correct”
○ T calls on another SS: “____, what is the other half step interval in a major
scale?”
■ Ss: “Mi-Fa!”
■ T: “Correct!”
○ T asks for a raised hand. “What is the interval pattern for a major scale?”
■ Ss: “WWhWWWh”
■ T: “Correct!”
● “So since we know that a major scale pattern is WWhWWWh, we’re going to apply
that pattern to make a major scale that begins on C. But first, let’s cover a few more
background details.
○ T draws a flat sign on the board.​ “This is called a​ flat sign​, it ​lowers​ a pitch by
a half step.”
○ T draws a sharp sign on the board​. “This is a ​sharp sign​, it ​raises​ a pitch by a
half step.
○ T pulls up a​ C Major scale​. ​“Just like in solfege, there are ​half steps​ between
the 3rd-4th pitches and the 7th-8th pitches. It’s hard to see from this view,
but you’ve got to know that there are two pitches in each whole step interval.
A whole step is equal to two half steps​.
■ T pulls up a ​chromatic scale beginning on C​ ​and marks where each
syllable, Do-Do would sit.
○ T pulls up the piano on the ​student handout​.​ “Another way to think of it is to
look at a piano. All of the white keys have a black key in between them except
for E-F (the 3rd and 4th steps) and B-C (the 7th-8th steps).

Activity 1:
● “So using that information, let’s build a scale beginning on C. This one is fairly
familiar since we’ve just gone through it so much, but let’s make sure you
understand.
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○ T builds C Major scale with Ss, counting half steps on the piano.
○ “So since it begins on C, we call it the C Major scale.
● “ Moving onward, a ​key signature​ is the marker at the beginning of each line of
music which informs us what ​key ​(or group of pitches) we are using. We add any
sharps or flats which are included in the major scale used in the song in the​ key
signature​. Looking at our ​C Major Scale​, it doesn’t look like we needed to add any
sharps or flats, so this key signature will also include no sharps or flats.
○ “One thing to note, ​key signatures​ will either include sharps or they’ll
include flats. T​hey will never include both.​ It only depends on the pitches
required to complete a ​major scale​ in the key.

Activity 2:
● “So now’s the time for us to increase the level of difficulty. We’re going to build a
major scale starting on a G. In a C major scale, there are two naturally occurring half
steps. Just for reference, can someone tell me where the two half step intervals are?
○ Ss responds: “Between E-F, and B-C”
○ T: “Correct. Now the way written music is built, it operates in a way that
makes the Key of C the foundation for all other keys and scales. What this
means is that those two half-step intervals (E-F, B-C) are going with you
regardless of which scale you build.
○ “In solfege, which intervals are half steps?”
■ Ss: “Mi-Fa, and Ti-Do
■ T: “Correct. So in this new key of G, we start with G as Do. If we follow
our​ WWhWWWh​ major scale pattern, then our G Major scale would
include G, A, B, C (remembering that B-C is already a ​half step​), D, E,
F#​ (E-F is a half step, so you must increase it by one more half step to
make the required ​whole step​), G (up one half step from F#).
■ So since in this key there is one ​sharp​, F#, that would be the only
sharp we add to our key signature.
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● “So let’s add one more key today. Let’s build our scale on an F.
○ T leads Ss through process of building an F scale and key signature.

Assessment: ​Formative 1
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Lesson 3 - Bb/D
Duration: 30 min

National Standards Addressed:

● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Objectives:
● Students will…
○ Build Bb and D Major scales using WWhWWWh
○ Learn the order of sharps and flats
○ Build key signatures for Bb and D major keys using the correct order of
sharps or flats.
○ Review the key signatures for C, F, G, Bb, D

Materials:
● Lesson 3 handout
● Lesson 3 SMART Board Presentation
● https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/keysig

Vocabulary:
● Order of sharps/flats

Warm-up:
● T lists various questions on the board and has Ss answer them for the group:
○ Major scale pattern
■ WWhWWWh
○ Key with 1 sharp
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■ G
○ Key with 1 flat
■ F
○ There is a half step interval between which two pairs of ​notes​? (Letter
names)
■ E-F, B-C
○ There is a half step interval between which two pairs of ​solfege syllables​?
■ Mi-Fa, Ti-Do
○ W=__h
■ W = 2h

Activity 1:
● “Before we dive in to learn two new keys and build the scales, we need to learn
something that will help up to build the ​key signatures​. We need to learn the ​order
of sharps/flats​.
○ T writes on board: FCGDAEB.​ “Fat Cats Go Down Allies Eating Birds. This is
the ​order of sharps​. Our first sharp is F#, next C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#. Each
sharp is a 5th apart from the previous one.

○ “The ​order of flats​ is the opposite of the order of sharps. ​T writes on board,
BEADGCF.​ BEAD-Greatest Common Factor. Our first ​flat​ is Bb, then Eb, Ab,
Db, Gb, Cb, Fb.
■ With flats, each flat is a 4th apart from the previous one. However, it
may be easier to just remember the order of sharps and then flip that
order for flats or vice versa.

○ “This applies to our key signatures because as we begin to delve into keys
with two or more sharps or flats, we’ll need to write them in this order,
which is not exactly the order in which they will be written on the scale.
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Activity 2:
● “So we’ll come back to apply that. First, let’s use our ​major scale pattern​ to build a
scale starting on Bb.
○ T guides Ss through scale referring to both piano and chromatic scale for
visuals.
○ “Now that we’ve got our scale, how many sharps does it have?
■ Ss: “2”
■ “According to our ​order of flats​, if it has 2 flats those flats should be
Bb and Eb, let’s check our work. Is this correct? ​Ss respond that it is​.
Great let’s write those 2 flats on our ​key signature​ in order.
● T guides Ss through same process for ​the key of D.

Activity 3:
● T leads Ss on a quick review of the key signatures covered so far through
Musictheory.net​.
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Lesson 4 - Eb/A
Duration: 30 min

National Standards Addressed:

● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Objectives:
● Students will…
○ Build Eb and A Major scales using WWhWWWh
○ Build key signatures for Eb and A major keys using the correct order of
sharps or flats.
○ Review key signatures covered (C, F, G, D, A, Bb, Eb)
○ Take ​Formative Assessment 2.

Materials:
● Lesson 4 handout
● Lesson 4 SMART Board Presentation
● https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/keysig
● Formative Assessment 2

Vocabulary:

Warm-up:
● Ss come to the board to answer the following questions:
○ The major scale pattern is ___________________.
○ There is a half step between which two pairs of notes (letter names)?
○ A whole step is equal to _____ half steps.
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○ The key of D major has ______ sharps/flats (fill in blank and circle either
sharps or flats)
○ The key of Bb major has _____ sharps/flats (fill in the blank and circle either
sharps or flats)
○ The order of sharps is ______________
○ The order of flats is________________
○ The website where you can study/practice this is www._________________.net

Activity 1:
● let’s use our ​major scale pattern​ to build a scale starting on Eb.
○ T guides Ss through scale referring to both piano and chromatic scale for
visuals.
○ “Now that we’ve got our scale, how many sharps does it have?
■ Ss: “2”
■ “According to our ​order of flats​, if it has 3 flats those flats should be
Bb, Eb, and Ab, so let’s check our work. Is this correct? ​Ss respond that
it is​. Great let’s write those 3 flats on our ​key signature​ in order.
● T guides Ss through same process for ​the key of A.

Activity 2:
● T leads Ss on a quick review of the key signatures covered so far through
Musictheory.net​.

Activity 3:
● Ss take ​Formative Assessment 2
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Lesson 5 - Study Guide

Duration: 30 min

National Standards Addressed:

● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Objectives:
● Students will…
○ Review the concepts covered during the unit in preparation for the upcoming
exam.

Materials:
● Study Guide
● SMART Board Presentation (Study Guide)

Activity 1:
● Utilizing student response and the concepts we’ve covered, T guides Ss through the
completion of the study guide.
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Lesson 6 - Summative Assessment

Duration: 30 min

National Standards Addressed:

● MU:Pr4.2.8b When analyzing selected music, sight-read in treble or bass clef simple
rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic notation.

Objectives:
● Students will…
○ Complete and submit the ​Summative Assessment​ for this unit.

Materials:
● Review
● Summative Assessment

Warm-up:
● T leads Ss through ​review​.

Activity 1:
● Ss complete and submit the ​Summative Assessment​.
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Appendix
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Student Handouts
Lesson 1, 2
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Lesson 2, 3, 4
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Lesson 5 (Front/Back)
25
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Assessments
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Pre-Assessment
28
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Formative 1
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Formative 2
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Summative (Front/Back)
32
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Lesson Artifacts

Lesson 1
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Lesson 2
35
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Lesson 3
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Lesson 4
38
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Lesson 5
40
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Lesson 6 (Review)