In 7th 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 7th grade students will continue to 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 16 measures of rhythms. These 16 measures are played alone and along with others in their class. The measures ARE written down. They are audio recorded for portfolio and analyzing purposes only.

Melody / Harmony

The 7th grade students will continue to learn how to play melodic lines on a melodic instrument called the keyboard. A review of their 6th grade music will be their first two pieces of music. 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 7th grade students will explore music from countries around the world. This unit connects with the 7th grade geography unit. The students are partnered into groups of 2 - 3 and they are given a country from around the world. Each country exposes the students to a certain genre of music, facts about their country, and composers from that area. The students research their country and genre of music through journals and online research. By doing so they are exposed to different artist, 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 7th grade students will play the guitar. 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 play alone and with others. Each student has three pieces to work on. Each piece is made up of no more than four strings. The notes range from D on the fourth string and G on the first string. After each piece is learned the student will present their piece alone and or with a friend. At first this can be difficult but each student tries really hard and they want to give their best.

Composition

The 7th 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! We like to use the same approach from the 6th grade lesson. However the results are more detail oriented.

The students have to use ABA form. The teacher has each student create one measure of music in 4/4 time. The notes can only range from middle C and G above. The teacher will write each of the student's measures on the board. The students are then ask to create their own first measure using C as their starting note. Then the students can randomly select three other measures. This will give them their A section. The second A section has to have the last note to be C. Section B is created by having the students randomly picking four different measures.

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)