InTASC 7 - Table of Contents

Standard #7 - Learning Environment

In Artifact 7.1 I present my 2020-2021 teaching outline to show my planning that includes a varied mix of heterogeneous and differentiated opportunities for elementary general music lessons week by week. As the year passes, I am constantly adding and revising this spreadsheet to plan for the progression of specific students. It also helps me visualize what content I have covered and what will help students most as they develop musical knowledge and skills. Student Samples 7a show evidence of a rhythm assessment that guided my preparation as I tailored lessons on note durations in 4/4 meter during week 23. I gave careful thought to each activity in the lesson series to create a logical succession that built on prior student knowledge, stretched student learning to include new terms and skills, and aligned with WA state creativity, performance and response anchor standards. The result included tactile tic tac toe rhythm reviews, audio-visual video instruction using favorite songs, and kinesthetic singing to reaffirm concepts and practice the application of skills to benefit learners like Elaine (names have been changed to protect privacy) and Newman who enjoy gaming and sometimes struggle with reading.

As some classes absorb content faster than others, I target lessons to meet the needs of a variety of learners. Artifact 7.2 displays how I prepare and outline student-centered lessons using student strengths and by acquiring input from a close colleague during my planning. This artifact details a lesson on lines and spaces in the quavermusic.com district curriculum format. J. Peterman (names have been changed to protect privacy), a first grade music student, enjoys leading and speaking up in class; J. Peterman can also think critically about musical concepts such as theory and note names. To support J. Peterman and the other students, I asked our librarian to share stories with rhymes or mnemonic devices that I could incorporate into the lesson. I knew J. Peterman would be able to lead the class by brainstorming words for a silly mnemonic device that prepared the students for learning the lines and spaces. In this lesson plan, I utilize differentiated activities including singing, moving to music, video, writing in the Chat of the online platform, Zoom, and a race against the clock game to support a variety of learners including J. Peterman (Ormrod et al., 2019).

Student Sample 7b shows some of the mnemonic devices that the students created for the lines and spaces on the staff. The students enjoyed this literary activity so much that I adjusted the lesson plan to spend a few extra minutes building mnemonic devices and foregoing the activity to build a "scaly melody" using lines and spaces. I planned for this flexibility by having a few extra activities ready during the lesson if one proved to be more appropriate for student learning than another. This lesson also showcased classical music connections; I asked students some of their favorite songs and then played them on the piano --including a favorite, Fur Elise! Having the flexibility to add music that reflects student interest, and adding time to build mnemonic devices or play music games can support student success (Edutopia, 2017).

Artifact 7.1 - 2020-2021 Year Lesson Plan Spreadsheet

The orange highlighted section shows the extra lessons I chose to teach on rhythm based on an exit ticket from the first lesson of the series.

Student Sample 7a - Student Sixteenth Note Exit Tickets

The majority of students could identify 16th notes; however, they struggled with counting them in a meter of 4/4. I designed subsequent lessons around strengthening student comprehension and ability using accurate rhythm based on this knowledge from their exit tickets.

Artifact 7.2 - Flexible and Collegial Lines & Spaces Lesson Plan

This artifact showcases my flexibility in planning for student interests and support as well as my ability to research utilizing colleagues who know the students. As the lesson evolved, I added extra time for mnemonic devices and played various excerpts from songs that the students knew or requested during the classical connections slide.

Student Sample 7b - Student Mnemonic Devices

I had originally planned on only spending 3 min. on this slide; however, I included more time on this activity to support student interests and foster content comprehension as the students were engaged and enjoyed brainstorming funny mnemonic devices.