In 8th Grade, the students will demonstrate a knowledge of their skills in rhythm, melody, structure, harmony, timbre. They will show an understanding of music in relation to history and culture, and analyzing music. The students will demonstrate the 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 8th grade students will demonstrate different rhythms and they will create their own rhythms through a hands on approach. They will listen to samples and they will read different rhythms. At the end of the unit, each student will play their rhythms alone and with others. Their rhythms will demonstrate simple and complex rhythms. The rhythms are audio recorded for portfolio and analyzing purposes only.

Melody / Harmony

The 8th grade students will demonstrate how to play melodic lines on a melodic instrument called the keyboard. A review of their 7th 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 8th grade students will explore music of their favorite artist. The students are expected to work on this project individually. Each artist will expose the students to a certain genre of music, facts about their origin, and where they are from. The students will research their artist through selected online journals. By doing so they are exposed to related artist, cultures and any influences that help create the genre of their artist's music.

The end result is a presentation that includes; slide show, music samples, research paper and a list of 10 facts. Each presentation is video recorded for grading and reflection purposes only.

Structure / Form / Singing

The 8th grade students will play the guitar. The pieces of music demonstrates how melody and harmony works together using simple ABA form. The students will work with partners and or in small groups. The first goal is to play alone and the second goal is to play 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 then with a friend.

Composition

The 8th grade students will compose 4-6 minutes of music. The music contains digital sounds, original sounds produced by the students and ten seconds or less sound clips using music from their favorite artist. (Credits of the artist will be given appropriately) Now, we all know that composing music can be difficult. However, at G.B.S. we make learning fun! We like to keep up with the times and use technology to help us understand how to arrange music. This process allows the students to connect sounds from different sources and insert them into measures and use dynamics to create dramatic effects.

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)