Lesson Plan

Name: Chris Beller Date: 10/26/20

Grade: 5th Grade Class Type: General Music

1.Measurable Objective(s):
 Students will have a more solid understanding of the function of Fa in music by
exploring its use in Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae (covered recently by
Ritt Momney). [Teacher’s Note: Put Your Records On is somewhat of a placeholder
for any popular song that a group of students might know. The teacher would have to
do a little bit of extra work in the background to ensure that the songs that they are
choosing are popular, known by the class, and work with our level of Kodaly
instruction]
 Students will continue to develop their understanding of the major pentatonic scale.
 Students will continue to perfect their performances of various popular and folk songs
with a focus on the major pentatonic scale with added syllable Ti.

2.Assessment:
 Students will have shown novice understanding of Fa when they’ve been able to
employ its use in at least two scenarios during class, using proper tuning, syllable, and
hand sign.
 Students will demonstrate their approach to mastering the pentatonic scale by fluently
interpreting sol-fa with hand signs, singing externally and internally.
 Students will demonstrate their understanding of the major pentatonic scale with Ti
when they successfully perform both Put Your Records On and Soldier, Won’t you
Marry Me?

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Creating
MU:Cr1.1.5b Generate
musical ideas (such as
rhythms, melodies, and
accompaniment patterns)
within specific related
tonalities, meters, and simple
chord changes.
National Standards
Performing
MU:Pr4.1.5a Demonstrate
and explain how the selection
of music to perform is
influenced by personal
interest, knowledge, and
context, as well as their
personal and others’ technical
skill.
Responding
MU:Re7.1.5a Demonstrate
and explain, citing evidence,
how selected music connects
to and is influenced by
specific interests,
experiences, purposes, or
contexts.

MU:Pr4.2.5a Demonstrate
understanding of the structure
and the elements of music
(such as rhythm, pitch, form,
and harmony) in music
selected for performance

MU:Pr5.1.5b Rehearse to
refine technical accuracy and
expressive qualities to
address challenges, and show
improvement over time.

Connecting
MU:Cn11.0.5a Demonstrate
understanding of
relationships between music
and the other arts, other
disciplines, varied contexts,
and daily life.

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Creating
Refine and complete artistic
work. Improvise and
compare different versions of
a single musical idea (e.g.,
adding flourishes, altering
rhythms). (5-6.M.Cr.03)
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Mass 2019 Arts Standards
5th – 6th Grade Music
Performing Responding
Develop and refine artistic Interpret intent and
techniques and work for meaning in artistic work.
presentation. b. Develop Use specific vocabulary to
awareness of where the identify details about a
natural break in one’s singing musical work. (5-6.M.R.08)
range is located and how to
cross the break and even out
the voice in this range.
Connecting
Synthesize and relate
knowledge and personal
experiences to make art.
Describe and demonstrate
one’s personal musical style
and preferences. (5-
6.M.Co.10)
Relate artistic ideas and
works to societal, cultural
and historical contexts to
deepen understanding.
Identify influential music
from different periods and
how they impacted music at
the time and potentially
today. (5-6.M.Co.11)
 5. Required Prior Knowledge and Skills: (What must students know to be successful.)
 S have had a lot of experience working with the Curwen hand signs, and should be able
to sign and sing fluently and consistently.
 S are skilled at improvisation, and are prepared to do at least one improvisation
exercise during each class.
 S have worked on the songs Soldier, Won’t you Marry Me? and Pleeng Chaang in
previous classes, as well as many other folk tunes that use the pentatonic scale, or the
pentatonic scale plus Ti.
 Fa may or may not have been sung in the past, but not given an explicit hand sign. S
may have an intuitive understanding of the note given the kind of popular music that
they’d be likely to listen to, but have not developed vocabulary for their understanding.
 S are familiar with the concept of Active Listening and would be familiar with the
process of writing their musical ideas and thoughts in a listening log for homework.
 S have experience with internal singing, but those skills are still being developed with
these classes.

6. Material, Repertoire, Equipment needed:

Repertoire: Soldier, Won’t You Marry Me? – Folk Tune (Link:

http://kodaly.hnu.edu/song.cfm?id=1104). Put Your Records On – Corinne Bailey Rae
(Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjOhZZyn30k, Cover by Ritt Momney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmZ0mV-rHTw).

Equipment: White board with dry-erase markers. Sound system/speaker with computer/phone
connectivity capabilities.

7. Review Needed:
 Daily review of the Curwen Hand Signs is very important in getting these students
familiar with the method.
 The sound of the pentatonic scale, while likely well understood at this point, should be
reviewed for struggling students.
 The first verse of Solder, Won’t You Marry Me? will need to be reviewed to ensure that
all students are on the same page with the tune.
 Always remind students that improvisation is something that is personal and
expressive. Make sure that they know not to sing their improvised parts as fast as
humanly possible simply for the sake of singing a lot of notes. Showing off is only cool
when its done for a good reason.

8. Accommodations:
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  Since lots of this class will be seeing and doing, ELLs will be on a relatively equalized
playing field when it comes to their success compared to 1st languagers. In the case of
an ELL, it may be beneficial to give them a translation to their native language for the
songs that we are learning. This will help them connect to the tunes on a emotional
level without having to worry about also perfectly translating on the spot.

9. Agenda:

Do Now: (in the Brief Opening section)

Warm-Ups
New Syllable
A Familiar Tune
Solder Soldier

10. Lesson Sequence

A. Brief Opening: A.…………………...

Written on the board, questions to consider in increasing difficulty:

What was the last song that you listened to? Without singing aloud, do
you remember a melody from it? Can you write a measure in sol-fa?

B. Learning Activities: B
1. Welcome back and brief discussion on the Do Now: Who found 1. 2 Minutes
it difficult to use the inner voice to find Do? How about for writing a
measure of sol-fa? What do we think we can do to help develop our
inner voice?

2. Warm-Up and Covert Introduction: First, lead students in a 2. 5 Minutes

physical warm up selected to teach one of the following: 1) Good
posture, 2) breathing, or 3) support. Continuing next to vocal warm-
ups, use different motifs from Put Your Records On with hand signs. S
will practice using sol-fa, then neutral syllables, then vowels, then
finally as an inner voice. Ex: M D M R. D R M D R M D. M S L D’ L
S M). Next, some Pentatonic Scale practice by freely leaping from any
tone to any other tone. Frame this as some call/response, as well as
improvisation. Last warm up should be a descending pentatonic scale
that moves in thirds – Ex: M’ D’ R’ L D’ S L M S R M D R L D.

3. The Function of Fa: After students have been sufficiently warmed 3. 2 Minutes
their voices and bodies, begin some instruction about the function of
Fa. First, ask students about what Ti wants to do, then continue
concrete instruction. “In the past, we’ve learned how Ti usually wants
to move to Do. The half step between the two notes make them want
to resolve to each other. Fa is kind of like Ti, but instead of wanting to
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 resolve up to Do, it wants to resolve down to Mi.”

4. The Function of Fa – Practice: T will lead the class in getting 4. 5 Minutes

them to feel the half step between Mi and Fa. Start first by singing Do
and Ti, then by improvising phrases that incorporate other notes in a
pentatonic scale. Then, slowly introduce Fa, improvising phrases that
drop Ti, but instead use Fa. Next, improvise phrases using Ti and Fa.
Finally, for the final phrase, sing a V7 chord (S, T, R F) and resolve to
Mi to help the students really feel how Fa wants to function in this
chord. Congratulate the class on successfully singing a dominant
chord.

5. Introduction to Put Your Records On: T will now sing the strong 5. 2 Minutes
motif in the pre-chorus of Put Your Records On, getting S to repeat the
phrase back (M F M F M. M F M F R). T will ask if anyone
recognizes this melody from a song that they might’ve heard from
TikTok recently. If no one offers anything, add in the chords on the
piano, continuing the harmony into the chorus. If no one recognizes it
at this point, sing the melody directly, adding in the lyrics. Ask the
class if they remember some of our warm up exercises today, and if
they’re able to hear those melodies in this song now that T has pointed
it out. Congratulate the class in already learning some of the important
motifs of the song. Consider repeating these motifs from the verse
with hand signs, having the students sing back in sol-fa.

6. Put Your Records On – The First Verse: T can play a recording of 6. 7 Minutes
the song up to the end of the first chorus to ensure all students have
heard at least a part of it. T will now begin to instruct the class on the
melody of Put Your Records On, in order from beginning to end.
Make sure to note those strange moments where Ti fails to go to Do,
and give a quick explanation for why we might do this in music
(deceptive movement). This should take some time to get through, but
will be a good place to start in the following class. Mention something
about this song’s form (verse, pre-chorus, chorus…) will be a good
preview for the future lessons.

7. Transition – Soldier, Won’t You Marry Me?: T will instruct all 7. 1 Minute
students to stand up and stretch, shaking out some of their stored
energy from this intensive learning activity.

8. Soldier, Won’t You Marry Me? – Review: T will review the lyrics 8. 3 Minutes
and melody of the tune, inviting the students to sing along with them.
Remind them that this song starts on a pickup, and to make sure that
we come in on the correct beat. T will ask the class what solfege
syllables are in this song. Then, sing the scale (D R M S L T D’)
ascending and descending with hand signs. Once again, this song uses

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 Ti not as a tendency tone, but as part of implying harmony in the
vocals.

9. Soldier, Won’t you Marry Me? – Second Verse: T will provide the 9. 5 Minutes
lyrics to the second verse on the board, and begin to instruct the
students on this portion. This will be easy to learn, since we already
know that A section so well, which is almost the same as the previous
A section. After getting a good sense of the class’s understanding, try
singing the whole song from the beginning to the end of the second
phrase with both lyric sets.

10. Soldier, Won’t you Marry Me? – Third Verse and Final A: 10. 5 Minutes
Similar to the last teaching steps, go through the third and final verse
with the students with the new lyrics. Once they’ve made the proper
modifications, try the entire song. Play guitar accompaniment if
possible to get that authentic folk tune feel.
C. Closing/Wrap-up: C.
After wrapping up Solder, Won’t you Marry Me?, T will quickly
review the new concepts by demonstrating the proper hand signal for
Fa and by singing that “M F M F M” motif from Put your Records on.
Let students know that, during the next class, we’ll continue working
on that tune, but we’ll start first with Pleeng Chaang, our Thai folk
tune.
D. Assignment: D.
Actively Listen to at least one song before next class, and write about
it in your listening log.

11.Reflection Prompt: What do you think went particularly well? How did this strength impact
your students’ learning?

12.Reflection Prompt: If you could teach this lesson again, is there anything you would do
differently? How would this have impacted your students’ learning?

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