InTASC 5 - Table of Contents

Standard #5 - Application of Content

Music can be exciting and engaging for students because of the experiential nature of the subject. Entering a room with ukuleles, recorders, different types of percussive drums and xylophones allows students to proactively apply knowledge. During this 2020-2021 school year, I have been teaching 100% online using the Zoom and Schoology digital platforms. Even without the ability to feel and play classroom instruments, I have created content activities for students that are discovery-based and hands-on. In artifact 5.1 I present my adaptation of a popular digital children’s game, Among Us, utilizing rhythm notation. Students actively read and clap rhythm notated on-screen and then think critically to discover a match between an audio clip and the rhythm clapped while keeping track of which rhythm does not belong overall. This game encourages higher level thinking and problem-solving as students kinesthetically clap, critically read and match rhythms, and investigate to find the “rhythm imposter.” As students engage in these executive and exploratory thinking tasks, they may also strengthen their comprehension, literacy, creativity, and right and left-brain connections; “successful problem solvers and creative thinkers usually have considerable knowledge and conceptual understanding of the topic in question...including language and working memory” (Ormrod, 2020, p. 262; Northern, 2019: James, 2018). I show in Student Sample 5a how one student, Elaine, engaged in the learning and expanded her knowledge with an additional asynchronous lesson; this activity required students to think critically and answer questions while keeping track of ten clues to find the imposter. Instead of focusing on rhythm notation, this extension asynchronous activity included more musical elements such as pitch, tempo, and duration.

Artifact 5.2 displays one lesson I created for students to utilize world music. This lesson, Bum Bum Bole Perform, is part of a four-part learning segment focused on the context and connection of performed music. Bum Bum Bole is a traditional children’s song from India that is often sung on Children’s Day, a holiday celebrating children’s rights. As the students discuss the history, social impact, cultural significance, and global impact of creating a safer environment for children, they can begin to better understand the performance of Bum Bum Bole. The greyed out images of the lesson plan denote graphics and screens I designed myself to specifically support my students. Student Samples 5a and b showcase the work of fourth-grade students Frank, Susan, and Estelle (names have been changed for privacy) who wrote rhythms to accompany the song including chord harmony. We were able to play a duet in class where I played the harmony and the students performed the rhythms. By sharing different perspectives of global composers, non-western music and harmonic collaborative performance, students can supplement their own understanding and expand their comprehension while also reinforcing inclusion in the classroom (Soto, 2018). Students may strengthen their musical literacy, memory, and communication skills as well by receiving cross-curricular instruction in this lesson (Ladson-Billings, 2014; Lenski et al., 2005). Bum Bum Bole facilitates a different perspective from traditional western music while providing an opportunity for students to dance and compose using their music literacy, language, and body movement skills. As students engage in cross-curricular learning they may be inspired creatively (James, 2018). Many forms of art like poetry, painting, sculpture, storytelling, writing, photography, dance, music and more help student-minds see things in new ways while fostering improved creativity and variation in learning (James, 2018). Interdisciplinary learning can also aid students in higher-level thinking such as finding patterns, brainstorming and creating; “the more you connect knowledge for a child the better they learn. And this mode [cross-curricular learning] enables learners to perceive new relationships, new models and create new systems and structures in their thinking. So it is not limiting the child in any way. It is unleashing the creative potential of the child” (Kerry, 2015, p. 14; Ormrod, 2020). I can enable my students to make connections in their learning by exploring clear and relevant links across interdisciplinary domains thereby supporting deeper learning.

Artifact 5.1 - Among Us Differentiated Activity

I adapted this activity from the digital game Among Us by InnerSloth LLC and the slides from Music Educators Creating Online Learning.

Student Sample 5a – Asynchronous work Among Us

This lesson I adapted from Christina Snyder for students to work asynchronously.

Artifact 5.2 - Bum Bum Bole Perform Lesson Plan

This lesson is in the district Quavermusic.com format; the greyed out images are digital slides I created specifically to support individual students.

Student Sample 5b – Bum Bum Bole Student Rhythm Accompaniments with Chords

This was a cooperative activity where I accompanied students by playing the chords they notated as they performed their rhythms.