Monday, May 6, 2013

Final Project

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AverQgXi7bnLdDBWWHNtLXg3THVzU1VtR3p2TkpmdEE&usp=sharing

I used a lesson plan that we worked on last semester in the English Language Learners class on teaching students how to read notes on the treble clef staff and associating them with the proper pitches. To start off this lesson, students need to be familiar with the pitches. They need to know what they sound like and how to reproduce these sounds. Since they are used in music we hear every day, this is actually easier than it seems. Once they are familiar with the pitches, the next step is to teach them what a staff and treble clef are. Then the notes are taught. I use the color method for younger students. The color method is when you give one color with each note. For example, A is Red for Apple, and G is Green for Grinch.

In the first row, the standard I used says that students will be able to identify sound sources, such as rhythmic patterns, and notes. Technology can be very helpful in achieving this standard. Students should be able to utilize the technology available to them, which would mainly be a keyboard with a MIDI adapter. After teaching them the notes, the students would work in groups at a keyboard, press a note, be able to hear the pitch, as well as see it on the staff because of Sibelius. Sibelius writes down whatever notes you play on a keyboard as long as it is hooked up through a MIDI cable.

The next row covers the standard in which students will demonstrate their understanding of these basic concepts of rhythm (which they already know), and pitch. In this lesson they will use technology to create their own short pieces. The teacher would first review using a smart board and having the students color in the proper notes. Then he would demonstrate what they are going to be doing. In groups the students will use the MIDI keyboard and Sibelius to record their short melody. By doing this, they will be able to get the idea they have in their head and write it down. This teaches them how to do that, eventually without the help of Sibelius.

The next 2 standards go hand in hand with each other. One says that students will be able to clap and sing what they read on a treble clef staff. The other standard says that they will be able to sing with proper vocal production for their age. This will be demonstrated when they sing the exercises. This lesson will start off by the students singing and clapping rhythms and melodies that the teacher plays for them. It is a call and response in which they copy the teacher. Then he would put up an excerpt on the projector and the students would perform it. Another activity that can be done is to work in groups and sing and clap excerpts into smart music which records what you sang and tells the student where the mistakes were.

There are many different ways interactive technologies can be used in this lesson. The most important one is the computer because everything is run through that. a MIDI microphone and keyboard are a really effective way of showing students how the sound they are producing translates onto paper. Smartboards allow the whole class to be able to see the correct answer written on the board instead of just hearing it because sometimes, a student may miss it, or you very well have many students who learn much better visually than aurally. These visual aids help them a lot. Smartmusic is an overall amazing tool for a music classroom because it does the job of the teacher for each individual student when the teacher cannot do that because of how many students in the class. It records, shows, and corrects everything you sing or play and tells you why it was wrong or right. 

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