Objective Six:

Demonstrate ability to develop differentiated approaches to reading instruction and comprehension.

"If I try to say the joke to myself, making the word mean three different things at the same time, it is like hearing three different pieces of music at the same time, which is uncomfortable and confusing and not nice like white noise.  It is like three different people trying to talk to you at the same time about different things."

the curious incident of the dog in the night - time

page 8

Teachers, parents, and students are always faced with the difficulty of learning.  The problem is that each person learns differently.  Some people are visual learners, while others are auditory.  I remember growing up, my mom would help me with my homework.  She would read the assignment and begin explaining concepts to me.  Many times I would look at her with a blank expression, wondering where she was getting this information from.  I would do this because what she was saying  was not what my teacher was teaching.  After a few minutes of explanation, I usually understood where she was coming from, and we could start working.  Often times, she was the reason I was able to complete a project.  She would teach the lesson from a different point of few and I would understand.  This is a technique that many teachers have and do not use.  Due to my learning difficulties in school, I feel that using a variety of comprehension techniques will allow more students to become actively involved in the classroom. 

I have always been aware of this tactic, but never thought of or had to use it until this semester.  I began teaching a variety of styles in numerous classrooms.  During some of my lessons, I noticed students not participating, becoming disengaged, or confused on a certain task.  When I stopped to get those students back into my lesson, I realized that they could not relate to the level I was teaching.  Immediately, I had to think of another approach to the topic to make the students understand the lesson.    Below are a couple of the lessons I taught.  The reflections include the moment I had to find additional approaches and how I accomplished them. 

Observation Sight - reading Lesson in Combination with One on One Sight - Reading

While Albion had Fall Break, I took advantage of my free time and did some teaching at my observation sites.  While the lesson plan and reflection included below does not include the one on one sight - reading, I will include that in an additional reflection.  The one on one sight - reading occurred during a private lesson with one of the band members from the class I taught. 

Sight Reading Lesson on Flourish

 Standards: (P.6) Sight read, accurately and expressively, music with a moderate level of difficultly. 

Learning Goals:  The students will learn the STAR method to sight reading, and improve their current sight reading skills. 

Comprehension Strategy: I will place star vertically on the board and fill it in. Using the process of chunking, I will show the students the order to rehearse from most to least important.

Materials/Preparation:  Hand out music

                                         On board STAR

                                         Have the music face down on the stand

Introduction:  I will begin by asking the student what they do when they sight read,  I will take three or four answers.  Then I will write STAR on the board.  While saying, “Today we are going to create a sight reading system.”

Activities:

1.      STAR - This word tells you some of the things you should look for when you are preparing to sight read a piece.  Please turn your music over now. 

2.      S- is for signatures. Real quickly, look through your piece for different key signatures, and new time signatures. 

                        Notice the piece starts and ends in ¾ and there isn’t any meter changes. 

                        The measure before B = key change.  And four after C we are back to the

                        Original key.

            T – tempo changes.  Now look through the piece for time changes.

            A – accidentals.  Scan the piece for accidentals

            R – repeats.  Including D.C. al Fine, D.S. al Coda

3.  To increase our accuracy of reading, we have to do one more thing.  I call it

      SLINGERING! – meaning we will sing and finger the piece as an entire band.

4.   You have a choice of whether you want to sing the rhythms on ta, or actually count out the rhythms to the tempo I give you.  For example, horns the first bar could be sung like this, or like 1, 2, 3, 1-----------.  You also need to finger the notes as you are singing.  Are we ready?

5.  Slinger!

 Closure:  Play the piece.

 Anticipated Concerns:  I am a little worried that the students will take one look at the piece and take it as a joke since the notes and rhythms are relatively simple.  Maybe I should let them know that even though the music looks simple, it is the form of the piece that makes it difficult.  Another concern is that the students will not feel comfortable singing and fingering so they will not be able to hear the rhythms before they play.  As a result, their accuracy reading the piece will decline. 

 REFLECTION:

 I arrived at the classroom early to set – up and prepare the way I saw fit.  I asked Mr. Shaner if it would be alright to set the music on the stand so we would not waste class time handing it out and he told me not to worry about it.  He allowed me to warm – up separately without the band, introduced me to the band, and selected students from each section took music from me.  I was amazed at how orderly this process worked.  It did not take up too much time, and the students were very well behaved and had great focus considering the bit of down time they had. 

 Once all the students had music, I introduced the method I wanted to teach to them.  Some of them knew the system so it was a good refresher, and others learned a new lesson as well.  Unfortunately, I did not have a visual aide to use because the classroom was not set – up appropriately for me to use the board.  So I verbally taught the concept.  While I was on the podium teaching the different letters, an occasional hand from the corner kept popping around.  Finally, I addressed the question and I had a freak moment.  I did not pay attention when I was coping music, and the trombones had to read tenor clef instead of their bass clef.  Fortunately, Mr. Shaner has taught all the clefs, but the students never read the clef so they were clueless.  I had to do something to save my lesson from being a complete failure.  Quickly, I introduced the “A” which stood for accidental.  I told the students to work with their stand partner, find all the accidentals and finger them, while I went and assisted the trombones.  I taught the trombones the most basic concept, and we went through their piece and labeled a pitch in every other measure.  This was enough for them to be able to read the music pretty accurately because they could follow the shape of the line to play the rest of the notes.  I went back up to the podium, asked if there were any more questions, and moved on to the letter “R.” 

The next step was singing and fingering.  I was very pleased with how well this activity went.  I remember being in high school and a lot of students were very intimidated by singing aloud.  They were afraid that someone might hear them and make fun of them.  That was not the case today.  The brass section started the piece and I feel they set the tone for the entire band.  They sang loud and proud and never let up through the entire piece.  When the other sections came in they competed with that and sang with them. 

 To end my lesson, we played the piece.  I felt very comfortable with what happened on the podium.  I surprised myself with how I reacted to the trombone situation.  It proved to myself that I am ready to be a teacher whether I believe it or not.  I thought my pattern was a little too big in the lyrical, soft sections, but Mr. Shaner said it was very good.  Another piece of improvement that I came up with after talking with Mr. Shaner is to make sure I can present the method in some sort of visual or relevant way to the students. The room was not set up correctly for me to use the white board.  As a result, I took them through the word verbally. I could have them think about an actual star with the word going through the middle of it or something.  I could have made different points in the room and had them revert to that area to look for something in their music.  I needed something to allow the kids to focus their attention on.  A lecture of 15 minutes when a student has an instrument in their hands is way too long.  That is something I will improve with over time.  This idea really let my imagination explore new levels in teaching and I am excited to use them in the future. 

Reflection with one on one:

After class I met with my one of my studio students.  The plan for this lesson was to do the usual warm - up and address embrochure and tonality technique problems, and sight - read to select a solo for festival.  All my required warm - ups are memorized, and there was not too much to fix today.  The lesson continued with the sight - reading of Schumann's Romances.  We quickly went through the star exercise, and I asked her if  she had questions on the music and we went on with the lesson.  The reading began alright, but the more the student played the more I wondered what she was reading.  The rhythms were everywhere.  I stopped her performance, and asked her to point to the spot she stopped at in the music.  She pointed where I thought she was, and I realized she missed the key change and did not understand how to place the eighth notes in the music.  I mentioned the key change and she admitted that she did not see it while she was reading.  When questioned on how to singing the rhythms she sang them perfectly.  I was confused on how she could sing in correct, and not play it correct.  I had her play the section again and focused on her body language.  This is when I found that she was not dividing the eighth notes evenly throughout the beat.  I told her those exact words and she looked at me clueless.  So I took a minute to myself and thought about the different techniques I have learned to use with rhythm.  Without further ado, I had a solution.  I told her to say the word "apple" and take notice to the division of the word.  After she said it she told me there were two syllables which divided the word evenly, like two eighth notes do in one beat of music.  I asked her to write in the syllables over the eighth notes on her music.  Then, she played the section again and it was perfect.  This is another example of why teachers need to come prepared with two or three styles of teaching to each lesson.  Students do not learn alike.  Even though you are straightforward and understand everything you teach in the simplest manner, some students will not understand. 

Remedial Lesson with Ms. Goheen

Lesson Plan

Topic:  Introduction to Rhythm and Counterpoint

 Content Standard Benchmark: 

            P. 5.: Read instrumental or vocal score of at least four staffs

            P. 6.:  Sight read, accurately and expressively, music with a moderate level of

Difficulty

Learning Goals: 

            Students will learn the pyramid of notes

            Students will learn to read music from a score they created

Students will learn the concept of tempo

Students will learn the broad concept of counterpoint

Comprehension Strategy:

            Graphic Organizer – pyramid of notes

            Chunking/Layering

Materials:

            Chalk board and chalk

            Hand – outs for students

                        Half page with a blank pyramid of notes

                        Half page filled with staff paper

            Approximately 12 participants

Introduction: (approx. 2 min.)

            I will begin by introducing myself to the class and letting them know I am a music education major and I would like to teach them a little bit about music today.  I will ask for a raise of hands to the following questions: 

Who here listens to music?

Who here has ever played music – meaning singing or an instrument?

Then I will tell them that not only are they going to learn how to read music today, they are going to learn how to compose music. 

Activities:

1.      Give students the hand - out and learn the pyramid of notes/rhythm. (see below) (5min)

2.      Explain 4/4 time, and the bars of music that are already marked out for them and as a group make two measures of music. (5 min)

a.       Do on board and have the students fill in the first two bars of music on handout.

3.      Split students into four groups of three (could we prearrange this?) and instruct them to compose six more measures of music using a variation of the first two measures we did as a group. 

a.      Only the rhythms we used in the first two bars can be used throughout their entire piece.  They can rearrange the rhythms in any particular way but no two consecutive measures are allowed to be the same.  (10 min)

4.      Allow one student from each group to write their composition on the board.

a.       This will be in score form with group one on the top and group four on the bottom.

5.      The entire class will perform each composition together.

Closure: (approx. 10 min)

6.      Through a process of layering the class will perform each piece altogether.

a.       The first group will start and do it until it’s steady. Then the second group will come in and play along with them, then the third and fourth group. 

b.      The students will sing, clap, slap knees, and stomp feet.  This will allow the students to read a score and perform.  (the students will be given a symbol on their hand - out that will identify their form of playing throughout the piece.)

Anticipated Concerns:

1. I am worried that this lesson will take longer than I have planned. 

2. I am concerned that when I allow the class to compose some measures of music on their own that they will use material other than what we used in the first two measures and the concept of counterpoint will not be achieved.

c.       We will reconvene and do each line as a class.

3.      The performance options I have provided in order for each group to play their piece altogether, may not work since they will not be able to hear the sound the entire length of the rhythms. 

a.       In this case, I will have a different vowel sound for each group to sing. 

4.      The class may miss behave, or not be productive

5.      The class may not understand anything I’m trying to teach and the lesson will not work.

Reflection: 

I began the lesson with a question.  Judging by the response from the students, I have to say I captured their attention instantaneously.  I asked them if they ever listened to music, and then if they ever played or sang music.  They all responded affirmative.  One boy said he played in the band in junior high.  I felt if I shared the instrument I played, that this young boy would be able to connect with me and he would share his instrument.  When I asked him what he played he looked up at me, smiled, and very proudly said he played the trombone.  I believe that the short conversation how the trombone was so cool because you could slide and make “Wah – wah – wah” sounds, allowed that student to respect me and I had his undivided attention for the rest of class.  Next, I taught the class the pyramid of notes.  I explained the first note (whole note) and sang it to them.  When I asked them to sing it back to me, they looked at me with the most astounded look.  It was the “you’ve got to be kidding me, we did this in elementary school” look.  Luckily, one of the boys in the class did not care what he sounded like, and he sang it loud and proud.  Once this happened, the rest of the class joined him in singing as we learned the rest of the notes on the pyramid.  I thought the students grasped the idea well.  So we moved on to composing. 

The students organized two measures of music as a class.  I split the class into three groups of three, instructed them on how to compose, and let them go to work.  The first group was right on task, and did the activity no problem. I was really excited; I thought I had the perfect lesson and that everything was going to go right.  Until I encountered the next group, the boys were just sitting there discussing what they did at breakfast. When I checked-in they made a valid attempt to learn.  After doing a couple more measures with them, they understood the assignment and were able to finish on their own.  I received a teaching “high” as I left that group, but the last group I found had no clue on what they were doing.  The group had rhythms and notes all over the paper.  One student was trying hard to work his way through it, but his group members were constantly questioning him.  I began to work with them, and learned that although they did the activity of the pyramid, they did not understand how to apply it to composing the rhythms in the staff lines. 

I started to question myself on how I taught that part of the lesson.  What was it that they did not understand?  It is clear and simple; all the other students could do it.  I tried a new approach.  We took the ideas of the first student and said this half note is on beat one.  I had them look at their pyramid and tell me how many beats a half note received.  They answered correctly, and I asked them since four beats are in the measure how many more beats do you have left? One of the students responded two.  Happy this method was working, I asked them to look at their pyramid, and tell me what notes we could use to fill in the next two beats, and they responded correctly again.   Finally, the measure was complete.  They did the next measure on their own and had it correct, so I left them to work.  It was really neat because once they understood the concept you could see the “light bulb” click and they were excited to go on and compose more.  Once all three groups completed their composition they wrote it on the board. 

I explained the concept of a score to the students.  They thought it was interesting.  I asked them if they would like to hear what their composition sounded like and they responded very enthusiastically.  Measure by measure we put half the composition together.  When the lesson was done, the students were quite pleased with all the hard work they did.  I asked them whether or not they ever considered themselves a musician and they responded no, but I reassured them that any one that can develop a score like theirs’ was definitely considered a musician. 

Teaching this lesson was a big step for me.  I taught classes before, but never in opposing subject areas.  During the execution of the lesson, I thought that maybe I expected a bit too much out of the students.  If I were in my own classroom, I think that once I realized the students did not understand how to apply the pyramid to composing I would have stopped the activity and created music on the board, as a group.  I would have had them tell me what they wanted and then sing it through a couple of times so they could understand every aspect.  I would revise the final project to be individual compositions.  I thought that they would understand the fundamentals a little quicker, being high school students.  I was surprised with myself at how quickly I was able to think on the spot to get the students to understand the lesson through a different vision.  I was very surprised that just by breaking it down and showing them every step to think that they were able to understand.  It was pretty cool.  Some techniques I want to fix for the future would be to come in prepared with two different styles to teach instead of having to think on the spot.    I feel I need to learn a class more before I just create a lesson for them.  If I would have known the class better I would have been able to use my time more effectively and I think that I could have got all the students to understand. 

Overall Conclusion of Objective

Each of the above lessons I taught take a different approach to learning the desired topic.  I am fortunate to have the opportunities to observe spectacular teacher in the surrounding area.  Not only have I seen how valuable multi-comprehension technique teaching can be, but I have also experienced it during my own teachings.  During my first lesson I taught in class, I entered with one approach.  I learned very quickly, that I was in the wrong and a very in-experienced teacher.  I had to think fast on my feet to develop an alternative technique to learn the material.  When I noticed some of my students were not learning and not excited about the material, I knew I had to do something.  I could not fail my students.  I was the teacher, and I had to get them excited, engaged, and learning about the topic I was teaching.  Comprehension strategies are tools that we learn in class, and teachers should have them in their pocket for all occasions.  Every child learns different.  Speaking from experience, no lesson plan will be perfect, and one should come to class prepared to use any and all techniques they know to help a student learn. 

Home    Philosophy    Resume    Content Knowledge    Growth and Development    Learners and Learning    Planning and Instruction   

Management and Motivation    Communication    Learner Assessment    Reflection    Collaboration    Conclusion

Student Teaching Experiences    Secondary Literacy Pedagogy Final   

Academic    Professional    F.U.R.S.C.A.