Lesson 1 Analysis:

In this lesson, my students learned how music can relate to reading

and how it can tell a story. They also learned how to write songs as a

group. In the video, you can see the whole class performing the song

that they composed themselves. Additionally, you can see where

negotiations occur while the students decide whose content will be

used at what part of the song.

I did not adjust the lesson from my original plan. During the lesson

plan, I monitored student learning by keeping track of who participated

and encouraging everyone to contribute to the song. Additionally, I

frequently had students perform segments of their song to make sure

that they remembered it.

In the next lesson, I will talk about the group songwriting process

more before dividing students into groups. The Tuesday group did a

great job with this, but the Thursday group struggled a bit. One

student, who is on the Autism spectrum, was unhappy when some of

his ideas were not used, even though we had used his content earlier

in the song. Before the next lesson, I will stress that in group

songwriting, it is important that we use as many peoples ideas as

possible. Additionally, I will support student learning by assigning them

groups. Before the first lesson, I was unsure if I should assign the

students to groups or let them choose their own groups. After

Tuesdays class, I think the students would do better with assigned

groups. This class has several outspoken people and some who are

rather shy. In the video, you will see the same three students

contributing to the majority of the class, while others remain silent. The

outgoing students tend to group together, so by assigning groups, I

can make sure that they will be balanced with shy and outgoing

students, which will lend itself to a better final product.

Lesson 2 Analysis

In this lesson, students further explored the process of

composing with a group. This is an area of continual growth for

students, especially in the Thursday group. In their small groups, they

identified musical elements that could communicate the main ideas of

a story, and came up with a plan to use these elements in their

compositions. In the videos, students can be seen summarizing the

book, and then composing lyrics that communicate their summary.

Additionally, one of the groups is seen seeking out chords in minor

tonality to communicate the mood of their summary.

One adjustment that was not on my original plan was the journal

prompt and subsequent discussion of group songwriting procedure and

how it differs from individual songwriting. I added this component

because it became clear that one student in the Thursday group was

having particular trouble with compromise and using material from as

many people as possible. Through this discussion, I hoped to prepare

him, and others, for the challenge of working with small groups to

compose a song.

During the lesson, I walked around to different groups of students

to check their progress. I read their summaries, heard informal

performances of what they had composed so far, and offered in-the-

moment feedback on their compositions. With the Tuesday group, I was

quickly able to identify a point of confusion. I had not realized that in a

previous year, the students had done a project where they read a story

to the class and used instruments as sound effects during their

reading. By walking around and talking with students, I was able to

clear up the confusion fairly quickly.

During the next lesson, I will further assist students by continuing

to encourage collaboration. I will read their completed worksheets,

identify areas of confusion or areas of growth, and give appropriate

feedback accordingly. I will work with individual groups as needed and

offer support for their songwriting, use of instruments, or anything else

they need assistance with. This will allow all groups to give a

successful final performance at the end of the class.

Lesson 3 Analysis

In this lesson, students demonstrated their unit-long learning by

giving a final performance of their compositions. We reviewed

performance etiquette for audience members, and student groups

were given a chance to tell the audience why they made certain

musical decisions to enhance the story. Students also got experience

rating themselves and their peers on how well they met the unit

objectives.

With the help of my mentor teacher, I made one adjustment to

the lesson plan. One student refused to participate in his groups

performance because he was unsure of his part and felt that group

members hadnt listened to his ideas. My mentor suggested allowing

him to perform by himself, which he initially agreed to. However, after

thinking it over, he decided that he would rather perform with his

peers. This unexpectedly extended my lesson a week, since that

particular group performed the following class period, with the member

that had originally sat out. This performance, not the original, was

what I evaluated.

During the lesson, I again traveled from group to group to

monitor student learning and make sure that students understood the

feedback that I had written on their worksheets. During the final

performance, I got to assess student learning formally. I used a rubric

to identify how well students understood and met the goals for the

unit. I further got to assess their learning by reading their self-

assessment forms.