MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 1

An Interpretive & Educational Instrumental Exploration:

An Experimental-Based Curriculum for 4th Grade

Brandon Morris
MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 2

Transfer Goals 

● Can play a variety of pitched and nonpitched instruments alone and with others
● Demonstrates playing music of increasing difficulty in two-part ensembles
● Creatively can play melodies of increasing difficulty written on the treble staff
● Can play a given melody on a recorder or other similar instrument
● Demonstrates playing with expression, using dynamics and phrasing

Theme 

The theme for this curriculum is for students to appreciate instruments that they are not used to seeing and
learning more about how the instruments work and function as part of the musical language. This is something
important for musical learning because singing isn’t the only thing that represents music, the instruments also
represent music. This is also good for students because if students like music but don’t want to sing, they can
find their own path for music through an instrument of their choice.

Overview of Unit 

Day 1:​ ​For this day, students are going to be learning about both the Xylophone and the Glockenspiel and how
to play those instruments.

Day 2:​ For this day, students are going to be learning about the Recorder and how to play that instrument.

Day 3:​ For this day, students are going to be learning about different unpitched percussion and how to play
those instruments.
 MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 3

 Expression About Xylophones & Glockenspiels (Day 1)

Overview 

For this day, students will be learning about the Xylophones and the Glockenspiels within the classroom as
part of this instrumental unit. How I will be teaching about these instruments is first to show the students how
to properly take really good care of the instruments when removing the different bars and using the different
sized mallets on those instruments. Then, I will play with the students a little engagement game of “Simon
Says” to get them not only learn how to play the instrument but to interact with the students to make sure
they are participating within the class

I Can Statements (learning goals) 

● I can identify which instrument is the Xylophone and which instrument is the Glockenspiel
○ EI.10 The student will demonstrate preparatory instrumental basics and playing procedures
● I can copy the instructor by playing what they’re asking for
○ EI.2 The student will echo, read, and perform simple rhythms and rhythmic patterns, including
whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, dotted half notes, dotted quarter notes,
and corresponding rests

Materials 

● Xylophones with the correct mallets

● Glockenspiels with the correct mallets
● Timer

Detailed Process 

Time Required
2 mins 1) Begin the class by explaining what the difference between the Xylophone & the
Glockenspiel is and how students can tell that difference is

5 mins 2) Then, divide the classroom into two groups and have each group explore their
assigned instrument and learn how to properly take care of it.

5 mins 3) Next, have the groups switch instruments and explore the other instrument and
learn how to properly take care of it

10 mins 4) Then, I will have those groups stay where they are and play “Simon Says” with
them to assess that they are taking care of the instrument with care and that they
are playing the instrument correctly

2 mins 5) Finally, I will ask students to tell the class something they learned about the
different instruments and what they took from this experience that day, to assess
that they remember what they learned
 MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 4

Assessments 

● As groups of students explore the different xylophones and glockenspiels within the class, make sure
that they aren’t getting off task and are participating with the classroom instruction
● The “Simon Says” game will help the instructor make sure that from the exploration stage they are
retaining that information and using it for participating in the game

Adaptations 

Size If groups are uneven, I’ll join a group of students and play alongside them. If they aren’t
enough instruments for a group, have the students take turns playing the instruments
within the groups

Color If a group is playing too loudly than others, then I’ll ask the group to not play once so I can
hear the other groups play their instruments

Pacing If this lesson plan finishes early, have students improvise with playing the instruments to
continue that exploration. If we don’t finish the lesson plan on time, continue this lesson
next class

Modality If a group is getting off task with their instruments, then I will ask groups to switch around
and try out other instruments. If that doesn’t work, then ask that group to not play for a bit
 MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 5

 Expression About Recorders (Day 2)

Overview 

For this day, students will be learning about the Recorders within the classroom as part of this instrumental
unit. How I will be teaching about this instrument is first to show the students how to properly take really
good care of the instrument when holding the instrument in a comfortable position and the use of fingering.
Then, I will play with the students a little engagement game of “Telephone” to get them not only learn how to
play the instrument but to interact with the students to make sure they are participating within the class

I Can Statements (learning goals) 

● I can play certain notes on the recorder and sustain those notes
○ EI.11 The student will demonstrate proper instrumental techniques
● I can copy what is played by another student and play it to someone else
○ EI.15 The student will perform simple rhythmic and melodic examples in call-and-response
styles.

Materials 

● Recorders
● Fingering Lead-Sheet
● Timer

Detailed Process 

Time Required
10 mins 1) Begin the class by explaining about the Recorder and what family this instrument
belongs to. Also, show the students how to hold the instrument and the different
notes we will be learning that day (G, A, B)

10 mins 2) Then, divide the classroom into two groups and have each group explore their
recorders and create their own song with those three notes

5 mins 3) Next, have the groups perform their creations to one another

5 mins 4) Then, I will have those groups stay where they are and play “Telephone” with them
to assess that they again know how to play the different notes on the Recorder

2 mins 5) Finally, I will ask students to tell the class something they learned about the
Recorders and what they took from this experience that day, to assess that they
remember what they learned
 MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 6

Assessments 

● As groups of students explore and improvise with the Recorders within the class, make sure that they
aren’t getting off task and are participating with the classroom instruction
● The “Telephone” game will help the instructor make sure that from the exploration stage they are
retaining that information and using it for participating in the game

Adaptations 

Size If groups are uneven, I’ll join a group of students and play alongside them. If they aren’t
enough instruments for a group, have the students take turns playing the Recorders within
the groups

Color If a group is playing too loudly than others, then I’ll ask the group to not play once so I can
hear the other groups play their instruments

Pacing If this lesson plan finishes early, have students combine the two songs they created from
earlier and see if they can go together. If we don’t finish the lesson plan on time, continue
this lesson next class

Modality If a group is getting off task with their instruments, then I will ask groups to disassemble
their Recorders. If that doesn’t work, then ask that group to not play for a bit
 MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 7

 Expression About All Of Those Unpitched Instruments (Day 3)

Overview 

For this day, students will be learning about all of the different kinds of unpitched instruments within the
classroom as part of this instrumental unit. How I will be teaching about these instruments is first to show the
students how to properly take really good care of the instruments when holding the instruments. Then, I will
play with the students a little engagement game of “What’s That Instrument?” to get them not only learn how
to play the instrument but to identify which of the unpitched instruments is creating that sound

I Can Statements (learning goals) 

● I can understand how each of the instruments is played since each and every one is unique
○ EI.10 The student will demonstrate preparatory instrumental basics and playing procedures
● I can identify what the name of the instrument is based on the sounds I hear
○ EI.9 The student will define and use musical terminology found in the music literature being
studied

Materials 

● Variety of different unpitched instruments (Triangle, Cowbell, etc.)

● Timer

Detailed Process 

Time Required
3 mins 1) First, I will explain to the class about the different unpitched instruments we will be
using for the experience and why they are called “unpitched”

30 mins 2) Then, I will split the class up into different groups for each of the instruments and
have them explore and learn how to play each instrument, rotating instruments
every 5 minutes

5 mins 3) Next, play with the students a “What’s That Instrument?” game to assess that
students know how to identify which instrument makes that sound.

2 mins 4) Finally, I will ask students to tell the class something they learned about the
different unpitched instruments and what they took from this experience that day, to
assess that they remember what they learned
 MUED 380 Leadership Portfolio Project - Curricular Design Brandon Morris 8

Assessments 

● As groups of students explore and learn about the different unpitched instruments within the class,
make sure that they aren’t getting off task and are participating with the classroom instruction
● The “What’s That Instrument?” game will help the instructor make sure that from the exploration
stage they are retaining that information and using it for participating in the game

Adaptations 

Size If groups are uneven, I’ll join a group of students and play alongside them. If they aren’t
enough instruments for a group, have the students take turns playing the unpitched
instruments within the groups

Color If a group is playing too loudly than others, then I’ll ask the group to not play once so I can
hear the other groups play their instruments

Pacing If this lesson plan finishes early, have students think about which unpitched instruments
can go together with the instruments we learned earlier from this unit and see if they can
go together. If we don’t finish the lesson plan on time, continue this lesson next class

Modality If a group is getting off task with their instruments, then I will ask groups to switch early to
another unpitched instrument. If that doesn’t work, then ask that group to not play for a bit