Lesson One Analysis

For the first lesson, I introduced a “slide whistle” vocal activator warm-up to begin class.

The students “played” their imaginary slide whistle on an “ooo” to strengthen their head register

while still having fun. In the recording you will see students echoing after my slide whistle and

later be able to create their own patterns and echo after each other.

For the next activity I introduced the song “There She Goes”. Students were already

familiar with echoing rote so this part was a review for them. Last class, students already learned

what meters were so this was also a quick review. The main objective of this lesson was to learn

how to read rote (music notation). In the recording you can see the music notation of “There She

Goes” on the board as well as new melodic patterns where students had to figure out the

direction of notes in relation to the pitches.

One adjustment I made from the original lesson plan was skipping the movement activity

where students moved their bodies in relation to the notes and pitches on the staff. The main

reason for this was simply time sake. Since this was one of my first lessons I fully taught by

myself I was still working on time pacing. I also had students stay in their seats when I explained

what a staff was so it would save more time and students would stay on track.

Since I was teaching in front of the classroom the majority of time, I would just look

around and observe if students were paying attention and focused on the lesson. At the end of the

lesson when students were answering the question “How are pitches represented on the staff”

with a partner, I walked around to see if students needed any help or assistance.

For the next lesson, I want to focus more on grabbing student’s attention because at times it

seemed like they weren’t interested. I also want to incorporate more movement activities because
this whole lesson they sat in their chairs for 45 minutes straight and didn’t get a chance to get up

and get their bodies moving and energy up.

 Lesson 2 Analysis

Lesson 2 started with the slide whistle warm-up and a review of “There She Goes”

(students echoed the rote and then read it on the board). After the review, students learned how

to sight-read with new patterns on the board. In the recording you can see them working with a

partner figuring out the correct solfege syllables and then singing on the correct pitches and

rhythms. I then went back to the board and pointed to each note and helped correct mistakes if

needed. After, students continued with the folk dance from last class (this wasn’t a section that is

a part of the STP).

Just like last class, I monitored students by walking around the classroom when they were

having their turn and talk discussions. I would also observe if students' eyes were on me and that

their eyes were on the board at all times for reading decode. In the recording, I did mention a few

times that it is very important to do so or else they are not completing the step correctly.

Contrary to the last lesson, I didn’t have to make any major adjustments from my lesson plan

because they seemed to be understanding the assignments and would ask me for help if needed.

Next lesson, I would like to spend less time with turning and talking because in the

recording I noticed most students would figure out the patterns quickly with their partner and

then sit there not having anything to do. I think this is especially important for the review

patterns because they’ve already seen and worked through them last class so there is no need to

give them excess time to complete.

 Lesson 3 Analysis

For my last lesson, the activity I focused the most on for my STP was writing music

notation. I started class with the normal slide whistle warm-up and then introduced a “Turkey

Gobbler” song and activity (I chose not to use this as a part of my STP). After, students reviewed

how to read familiar and unfamiliar (sight-reading) patterns from last class.

The main activity of this lesson was for students to learn how to write music. As seen in

the recording, I demonstrated how to properly trace, fill, and copy the notes on the board. The

other side of the paper was writing proper solfege syllables to match the notes written(as

reviewed on the board). Students were to work alone and raise their hand if they needed any

help. I monitored this by walking around the class a few times and checking that student’s voices

were off and that their eyes were on their own paper. Shown at the bottom of the page is an

example of a completed student paper.

One adjustment I made was having students answer the turn and talk of “How do I write

music notation accurately” when they were all lined up at the door instead of in their seats. I did

this because we were running out of time and it went by a lot faster this way. After seeing some

student’s completed work, next class I would like to review how to properly write music notation

and especially how to fill in the note heads as a few student’s did not complete that on the paperI

would also do a review on what do looks like written out so they have a better understanding

how to start.