Creating Engaging Phrases in Music and Prose

Abigail Huck

When the Stars Began to Fall by Fred Allen

Instrumental Music
Grade: 8
 CAL Secondary Lesson Plan

Teacher(s): Abby Huck Grade Level: 8th Date Taught: 10/23/18

Lesson Title: Expressing Expressions Subject: Music

Music Standard MU:Pr4.3.8a

Perform contrasting pieces of music, demonstrating as well as explaining
how the music’s intent is conveyed by their interpretations of the elements
of music and expressive qualities (such as dynamics, tempo, timbre,
articulation/style, and phrasing).
Literacy Standard W.8.1
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant
evidence.

Lesson Objective Students will identify different expressive elements of musicality and
demonstrate the correct usage of those elements in their pieces of study.
Vocabulary Musicality
Dynamics
Tempo
Timbre
Phrasing
Rubato
Assessment/Criteria Exit ticket with rationale for debate used in class.

Materials  Instruments
 Repertoire for the ensemble (When the Stars Began to Fall)
 Pencil & Paper
 Internet Access
 Teacher laptop and projector
 Electronic device (phones, iPads, etc.)
 Venn Diagram
 Arguments Chart
 Brainstorm Web
Setting  Classroom

Est. Lesson Activities

Time Write out detailed lesson procedures. Be sure to include 4-5 important questions you will ask during the lesson and the expected student
of responses. Your plan should be detailed enough for another teacher to teach it without having to ask you any questions. Numbering and/or
Task bullets are encouraged.
 7 The students will arrive in the classroom to a prepared Kahoot on the projector. They will put
together their instruments and prepare their electronic devices to play the kahoot on the
Beginning

screen. The kahoot will consist of different questions regarding expressive markings and
Engage

vocabulary in music. This will introduce the concept for the day, and once the kahoot is over,
the students will fill out the graphic organizer listing the different types of musical devices.
Then, they will transition to the next portion of the lesson where they will prepare the piece
written on the board. (When the Stars Began to Fall, Allen)
36 -The teacher will lead the students in playing the first section of When the Stars Began to Fall.
This first time playing through will BE RECORDED for use later.
- The teacher will cut off the ensemble and ask them to remember what the Kahoot topic was.
(The students may not remember, prompts can be given by showing accent cards)
-The teacher will tell the students to divide into their pods (predetermined small groups).
-The teacher will give each pod a different eight measure phrase to shape using dynamics,
timbre, tempo, and other musical aspects, along with a building arguments worksheet (one for
each group).
-The teacher will tell the group that in their pods they will be required to use three musical
Explain/Explore

devices discussed to create the best sounding version of their phrase to present to the class. The
Middle

ideas will be presented as if it is a conference presentation. There will be a secretary, performer,

and lecturer in each pod. They will need to verbally explain their ideas with a written rationale
as well as perform an example of them.
-Students will begin their work on presentations, while the teacher observes and ensures
everyone is on task.
-Students will be given 15 minutes to create their musical arguments.
-At the end of the allotted time, each group will present their ideas, perform, and hand in their
rationale on the arguments worksheet.
-The students will write down the presenting group’s ideas in their music, using standard
musical notation.
-Cycle through the groups, repeating the above step after each presentation.
7 -The teacher will instruct the students to go back to their ensemble places.
-Once there, the ensemble will run through the beginning chunk of music again, using each
group’s musical ideas.
This run through will be recorded for later use.
-The teacher will play back the two recordings and ask the students to fill out the before/ after
Evaluate

diagram with what they heard.

End

-After this, the class will have a short discussion.

Using the two recordings as reference, the class will discuss the following questions.
(Ex. How was that different? How did that make you feel? Could we have done something
different instead? Is it okay to disagree about the musical elements? Do we all have to play the
same ones?)
-The students’ written rationales act as an exit ticket.

Modalities: What Visual: Kahoot, Accent cards, written rationale

modalities did you utilize
in this lesson? How?
Strategies: What
instructional strategies
did you utilize in this
lesson? (Ex: graphic
Auditory: performing examples
Kinesthetic: moving around the room to different positions
Tactile: Kahoot, Instrumental performance
Cooperative learning
Discussion
Technology Integration
Teacher Observation
organizer, cooperative Project based learning
learning, discussion,
technology integration,
etc.)
Before Strategy

The before strategy that I chose to use is the following flow chart. I thought that the

students having a list of possible options to choose from once they start their project would

be helpful, and this way the students are creating the categories instead of simply reading

them from a list. This will give the students more autonomy and will ensure they

understand the concept before they begin. This activity will be planned into the class

period while we are doing our introductory activity. The page will be on their seats when

they arrive for class, and they will be able to write down the information that they think is

pertinent. Cohesion throughout the entire lesson will be achieved by using this first activity

as a guide for the main activity, tying the points together. The students will learn (or be

refreshed on) the types of musical styles available to them in their music.

This is mainly a time to define vocabulary and ensure students understand how to

read core class elements. This specific strategy will help the students because they will be

able to interact with the ideas and vocabulary of the classroom without having their

instruments to their face, having a change of scene to solidify core concepts. Students will

benefit from the fact that this activity is an individual one. Students can remember

whichever elements they gravitate towards, and then will be reminded of ones they forgot

from their group mates later when they are in their small groups. Allowing a student to

forget and then remember a concept can help it become more ingrained into the student’s

neural pathways.

This activity is based on the music standard MU:Re8.1.3a (Demonstrate and

describe how the expressive qualities are used in performers’ interpretations to reflect

expressive intent.) This standard will be used as a building block for the main objective of

the lesson, since it is the first activity. The assessment will be teacher based. The sheets

will be graded for a completion grade, but the teacher will tally the types of musical devices

listed and focus on the ones that were not mentioned as often and ensure that those
concepts are addressed in a later class period to solidify understanding throughout the

classroom.
 Before Strategy

Blank Copy

Expressive
Elements

Answer Key

During Strategy
The during strategy that I chose to use is the following table. I thought that the students

having to put their arguments into words would be a way to ensure they are being

articulate, that their reasons match the argument, and that they are considering musical

topics and reasonings. This will give the students more autonomy and will ensure they

understand the concept. This activity will be planned into the class period while we are

creating our different solutions to the musical problem. Each group will get one page per

group and a recorder will be in charge of writing down all of the groups thoughts. Cohesion

throughout the entire lesson will be achieved by using this activity as a guide for the group

presentation. The students will have to present correct vocabulary relating to musical

terms.

This is mainly a time to learn correct argumentative techniques by showing the logic

behind each point. This specific strategy will help the students because they will be able to

interact with the ideas and vocabulary of the classroom without having their instruments to

their face, while being able to collaborate with their classmates in the process. If students

forget a term, they will be reminded of ones they forgot from their group mates. The group

will also teach each other how to make structured arguments through this process.

This activity is based on the music standard MU:Re8.1.3a (Demonstrate and

describe how the expressive qualities are used in performers’ interpretations to reflect

expressive intent.) This standard will be used as the main objective of the lesson. The

assessment will be teacher based. The sheets will be graded for a completion grade, but

the teacher will ensure that each point has a related and valid reasoning behind it, and that

each argument does relate directly back to the topic.

During Strategy
After Strategy
The after strategy that I chose to use is the following Venn Diagram. I thought that the

students having to reflect on the changes made to the music would help solidify the lesson

we have just learned and help the students understand WHY the lesson was important.

This will ensure the students understand the concept as well as the purpose of the

concept. This activity will occur after creating different solutions to the musical problem.

Each student will get one page after the lesson and it will be used as an exit ticket. This

wrap up activity will remind the students of what they learned, help them express musical

ideas and feelings, and show them why those things are important.

This is mainly a time to reflect on how different solutions can create different sounds

in the music classroom. After this, a lesson could follow about how to decide what musical

solutions fit in specific circumstances. This specific strategy will help the students because

they will be able to remember and respond for themselves, and not have to collaborate

when the Venn diagram topics are so subjective.

This activity is based on the music standard MU:Re8.1.3a (Demonstrate and describe

how the expressive qualities are used in performers’ interpretations to reflect expressive

intent.) This standard will be used as the main objective of the lesson. The assessment will

be teacher based. The Venn diagrams will be graded for a completion grade, but the

teacher will ensure each student has provided an answer that makes sense with the

reasonings behind it, and that they are able to relate musical qualities to the decisions that

gave the music those qualities. The literacy standard in this lesson is W.8.1 (write

arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.) This was

addressed in both the second activity and this last one, where the students are required to

base an opinion or argument on reasonings and present them in front of the class. This

last strategy takes the stepping Stones away and just asks why a piece of music sounds

differently and let’s the students create their own logical argument bridges.

After Strategy