Re-purposing Technology Lesson Plan

TE 831: Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology

Summary Box


Lesson Objectives: The student will be able to identify short and long rests and notes in
Johnny Caught a Flea. The student will sing the song using appropriate air support. The
student will create and perform their own eight beat rhythm patterns on their iPads.

Michigan Grade Level Content Standards for Music Education: ART.M.I.1.7,
ART.M.I.1, ART.M.I.1.4, ART.M.I.1.8, ART.M.I.1.9, ART.M.II.1.6,
ART.M.III.1.2
Student NETS Standards Alignment: 1a, 2a, 6d

Materials: Class set of iPads with Smart Notebook App installed, desktop computer,
projector, Smart Notebook Interactive Viewer, Wii remote interactive whiteboard

Lesson Procedure:

Before (10 Minutes)
Students will sit on their risers and do their class job if they have one. With the teacher,
students will warm up their voices by completing rhythm and vocal exercises. These will
all be repeat after me and will include the notes Do, Mi, Sol, and La and rhythms using
quarter notes, eighth notes, and rests. Students will learn the song Johnny Caught a Flea
and play the circle game using the song.

During (25 Minutes)
The teacher will transition to the interactive whiteboard and open the notebook file called
Johnny Caught a Flea using the SMART Notebook Interactive Viewer. On the first page,
the students will review the song by singing along with the included piano
accompaniment. On the next page, students will identify the differences between the
pictures of the fleas. Students will describe some as in color, some as black and white,
and some as small. The teacher will ask students to make guesses as to why the fleas all
look that way. Then students will listen to the song and decide that the blank fleas have
no sound and the smaller fleas happen faster. As students have previous experiences with
Lesson title: Rhythm in Johnny Caught a Flea
Prepared by: Maura Foley
Subject area: Music
Technology used: Wii remote Interactive Whiteboard, iPad, Smart Notebook App for iPad,
Smart notebook interactive viewer for desktop computer, projector
Length of lesson: 40 minutes
Suggested grade level: First


musical rests, they will identify the blank fleas as rests. Additionally, students will relate
the big and small fleas to short and long musical notes. Half of the class will play the
rhythm on non-pitched percussion instruments while the rest of the class sings.

The teacher will then pass out the iPads with the file open. Students will turn to the third
page with the teacher. On this page, students will work to re-create the rhythm to Johnny
Caught a Flea using short and long icons. Students may work with one partner to help
work through the song, but each student must complete the rhythm on their iPad. Once
students have their answer, they will take a screen shot of their page and e-mail it to Ms.
Foley with the subject Flea.

Once students have finished re-creating the rhythm, they may move on to the last page,
which asks them to make their own eight beat rhythm using shorts, longs, and rests.
Students will then practice performing their rhythms with the included piano
accompaniment. Students will find a partner and perform the rhythm their partner
created. Students will again take a screen shot of their rhythm and e-mail it to Ms. Foley
with the subject First, Rhythm.

After (5 Minutes)
Students will check their iPads back in to Ms. Foley and sit on their risers. Ms. Foley will
review the concepts from today: short, long and rests. They will do class jobs and line up
to leave.


Additional Resources:

Warm-ups








J ohnny Caught a Flea






Game Description
Students will stand in a circle, facing a partner. In the first measure, students will
wag their fingers at each other. In the second measure, students will grab at pretend fleas.
In the third measure, students will switch places while pretending to cry. In the last
measure, students will jump three times half way around. They will end back-to-back
with their original partner facing their new partner. The game will continue until the
circle has gone all the way around and students are back with their original partner.













Slides from notebook file











Reflection

My school recently purchased an iPad mobile lab for teachers to check out and
use in their classroom. While I use my personal iPad at home often and in the classroom
once, I had no experience using iPads in the classroom on a 1:1 ratio. While I was excited
to find a way to use the iPads, I did not want them to be a toy or reward, but instead I

wanted to find a way to integrate them authentically into what we already do, which this
project allowed me to work towards. For the iPads, I downloaded an app called Smart
Notebook, which allows you to both create and open notebook files to use with a
SMART board. Unfortunately, I do not have a real SMART board, but I do have a knock-
off interactive whiteboard that uses a Wii remote to control the board just like you do
with a SMART board. However, in order to open the notebook files, I had to download
Smart Notebook Interactive Viewer for my desktop computer. I use the Wii interactive
board almost daily in class, but the app version for iPad allowed me to share the lesson
with the students, giving them each the opportunity to interact with the lesson by creating
their own rhythms and playing them with the music I recorded onto the lesson.
TPACK had an integral role in the development of my lesson because I wanted
to ensure that the technology I utilized did not replace or hide the content. Along with
TPACK theory, I worked to find a balance between the content, pedagogy, and
technology. I started by thinking of a lesson that I already teach, which had to do with
rhythms in the song Johnny Caught a Flea. Next, I reflected on how I teach this lesson to
first grade students. Finally, I considered which technologies existed that might enhance
my lesson. Once all three came together in my lesson, there was a balance appropriate to
TPACK. SCOT also had implications in my lesson as these theorists would say
technology has no meaning outside of the context in which it is being used. While iPads
are beginning to be common technology, most students would not use them at home to
create and share musical rhythms as they did in this lesson.
While I have not had a chance to teach this lesson with the indicated
technology, I have taught a version before where I allowed students to create rhythms as

a group. However, I believe including these technologies will bring some important
changes to the lesson. Students are very excited when they get to come up and use the
interactive board. However, this method only allows a few students to create rhythms
while the rest of the class watches. Using the iPads will allow all students to create and
perfrom their own rhythms. Additionally, I could connect their iPad to the projector to
share their creation with the class. Students could also take a screen shot of their rhythm
and e-mail it to me, which would allow me to assess their work individually after class
and to post their work for parents, teachers, and administrators to see. In a first grade
setting, I could see potential problems with each student working on their own if they are
not already familiar with how to use an iPad. I fear that I may end up spending a lot of
time getting students back on track and fixing small problems.
There are a number of ways to use iPads in the classroom, but for now I will
concentrate on ways to use this specific app in a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio. Smart Notebook allows
students to import pictures, sound, shapes, and text into the app. Additionally, students
can view other existing notebook apps, which them can import from Dropbox or Google
Drive. To use this app in other ways, I could import a variety of notebook files that
students could then access alone or in a small group as a music center. When I test
individual students, I often struggle to find meaningful activities for the other students to
complete. This app would allow them to easily use notebook files from SMART
exchange, which is an online site where teachers around the country post notebook files
they create. Additionally, the app allows for projects to be easily saved on the iPad,
Dropbox, or Drive, so students could create and share their own notebook app. Ive done
composer unit projects in the past, but have only ever had students write up reports. This

new technology would allow students to find pictures and music to add to their projects
without having to leave the music room, which is where most of the composer resources
are in the school.
This lesson was the first step for me as I work to integrate technology 1:1 in my
classroom. iPads have a wealth of apps available that can serve to enhance content
covered in my class, but I have always feared that they would distract from the main
lesson. However, this lesson taught me that if I start considering a lesson or topic I would
cover anyway and then look for technology to add to the lesson, the technology will serve
as a tool to enhance instead of a tool to distract. I have also been weary that integrating
technology will take more time, meaning I would have less time in class for actual
teaching, but this app takes only slightly more time outside class, and it is preparation I
would do anyway, just in a different format. Working through this lesson also helped me
to see how I can repurpose technology I already currently use in my class. Just because I
have always used something one particular way in class does not mean that it is the only
acceptable way to use that technology. In this case, the interactive whiteboard I have used
many times in class was repurposed to serve as a platform for individual learning instead
of only group learning.