In 5th Grade, the students learn about rhythm, melody, structure, harmony, timbre, understand music in relation to history and culture, and analyzing music. The students learn to play melodic and rhythmic instruments.

Each class starts with a daily ritual. The teacher will supply the students with listening journals. The teacher will play a piece of music and while the music is playing the students are listening and taking notes. The notes has to have words from the music word wall. At the end of the piece the teacher will ask the students what they heard, how the piece made them feel and what they liked or disliked from the piece.

Rhythm

The 5th grade students will learn different rhythms and they will create their own rhythms through a hands on approach. They listen to samples and they will read different rhythms. At the end of the unit, each child will have compose 12 measures of rhythms. These 12 measures are played alone and along with others in their class. The measures are NOT written down. They are audio recorded for portfolio and analyzing purposes only.

Melody / Harmony

The 5th grade students will learn how to play melodic lines on a melodic instrument called the keyboard. After the first two pieces of music the students will add the left hand, which gives the harmony. At G.B.S. we are very fortunate to have a 20 station "MIDI" Keyboard Lab. "MIDI" stands for Music Instrument Digital Interface. This lab allows students to work quietly on their keyboard without being distracted by others. The teacher can listen to any student by using a control center. The teacher and student can communicate to one another by using the built in microphones that are located at each station. The teacher can also connect students to one another to create small groups for peer teaching.

Music History and Culture

The 5th grade students will explore music history and it's culture from the cities around the U.S. This unit connects with the 5th grade geography unit. The students are partnered into groups of 2 - 3 and they are given a city. Each city has a genre of music that was originated in that city. The students research their city and genre of music through journals and online research. By doing so they are exposed to different artist, the culture and any influences that help create the genre of music.

The end result is a presentation that includes; poster, music samples, research paper and a list of 10 facts.

Structure / Form / Singing

The 5th grade students will play the soprano ukuleles. The pieces of music demonstrates how ABA form is being used. The students are allowed to work with one another in any size of groups. The goal is to sing and play alone and with others. Each student has five pieces to work on. Each piece is made up of no more than three chords. The chords are C, G7 and F. After each piece is learned the student will present their piece alone and or with a friend. They have to play the ukulele while they sing. At first this can be difficult but each student tries really hard and they want to give their best.

Composition

The 5th grade students will compose 12 measures of music. The music contains both melody and harmony. Now, we all know that composing music can be difficult. However, at G.B.S. we make learning fun!

To compose a piece of music in an ABA form. The students play a phone number game that decodes each of their digits into a musical letter. In order to get the ABA form each student will need to think of two phone numbers. The first number will be their A section and the second number will be their B section. After this is completed the left hand will add the harmony. The harmony is simple and is only played on certain notes.

Grading

Class Work 20%

Listening Journals 10%

Participation 40%

Presentations 20%

Quizzes 10%

Attendance is taken daily. If you are absent you will miss any listening journal entries which may affect your grade. (All Listening samples and journal entries are located on Google Classroom)

(Please email me for the complete lesson plan pcogan@conval.edu)