Entry 5 –Elementary School Class Session Template

Lesson Plan for the Elementary Class Session

Objectives:

By the end of centers, students will experiment with composing music through the use of sampled
instruments and beats.

By the end of centers, students will play and know a rudimentary background for the shekere, guiro, and
zills.

By the end of centers, students will apply their knowledge of notes on the musical staff through the use
of a game.

By the end of centers, students will listen to music from the Romantic period and associate it with visual
stimulus.

By the end of centers, students will create their own rhythms with Ta’s, Ti-ti's, Ti-ka-ti-ka's, Ti-ka-ti's, and
rests, visually identify written rhythms, and sight-read rhythms on clapping and syllables.

Standards Being Addressed:

Cr.1.5.b Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms, melodies, and accompaniment patterns) within
specific related tonalities, meters, and simple chord changes.

Re.2.5 Demonstrate and explain, citing evidence, how responses to music are informed by the structure,
the use of the elements of music, and context (such as social, cultural, and historical).

Materials of Instruction:

Shekere

Finger Cymbals/Zills

Guiro

Music Staff Dominos

Laptop with YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOpWNtF9wT8

iPads with Garage Band

Whiteboards, markers, and erasers

Student headphones

Lesson Sequence (lessons may have more or less activities as appropriate):

Entry Activity/Transition: Students will sit on their spots, T will greet them and will briefly explain each
center while laying down the rules (clean up their station for the next group before they move to the
next station, stay at their station). T will then group them up and send them to individual stations.

Each center or station will be 8 minutes and involve a different activity pertaining to what they have
been learning in music or new material to be presented in a fun way. Students will mostly be left to their
own devices, but there will be some monitoring to make sure that they are at least somewhat on-task.
The first day they do stations they will get through two, the next class period they will get through the
other three.

Activity #1: Garage Band on iPads (headphones necessary)

1. Students experiment with making beats and songs on Garage Band and share with
others in their group.

Assessment: T will briefly observe that students are in Garage Band on the iPads and not
using them for other things.

Transition: Instruct students to clean up their space before waiting at their station until
told to move to the next one.

Activity #2: Percussion instruments of the world

1. T will introduce the shekere with a brief history and origin of the instrument (originated
in West Africa with farmers who played it in the fields)
2. T will play shekere for the students
3. T will hand students each a shekere, showing them the broken ones to ensure they are
careful with them
4. T will take students through a basic beat before letting them free play for 30 seconds
5. After having students carefully put shekere away, T will get out the guiro
6. Repeat steps 1-5 with guiro (originated in Puerto Rico, now played throughout Mexico
and much of South America. Started out being a gourd but are now mostly made with
wood.)
7. Repeat steps 1-5 with finger cymbals/zills (used in many Middle Eastern and Arabic
countries, used by belly dancers to give rhythm while they are dancing)

Assessment: T will observe student playing of the instrument to ensure correct holding
and technique.

Transition: Instruct students to clean up their space before waiting at their station until
told to move to the next one.

Activity #3: Music staff dominos

1. Students will use music staff dominos to play one of two games. Note name matches up
with note on the staff and forms chains that way.
2. First game option is each person gets 7 dominos and take turns placing them down, if
they do not have a matching domino they must draw.
 3. Second game option is to make the longest chain possible or to make interesting shapes
while still correctly linking the staff and note names.

Assessment: T will look in on the game to ensure that they are playing correctly and
understand the correlation between note names and their positions on the staff.

Transition: Instruct students to clean up their space before waiting at their station until
told to move to the next one.

Activity #4: Line rider video

1. Students will watch the video pulled up on the laptop with their headphones plugged
into a splitter so that they can hear the music.

Assessment: Teacher will observe students throughout the video to ensure they are not
getting to rowdy or off-task while watching.

Transition: Instruct students to clean up their space before waiting at their station until
told to move to the next one.

Activity #5: Rhythm practice on whiteboards

1. Students will get into pairs or groups of 3

2. Students will write a rhythm on their board that their partner/trio has to then clap and
say
3. Students will take turns doing this, challenging each other and trying to make them
mess up

Assessment: Teacher will observe students to make sure they are on-task and doing the
assigned activity.

Transition: When at last station of the day, students will clean their stations before
going back to their dots on the floor and waiting to sing their winter song or line up

Closure/Summative Assessment: If time, students will rehearse their assigned song for the winter
concert with some guidance from Elizabeth. After that, or if there is not time, they will be called by row
to line up at the end of class.