INTRODUCTION

PROFILE

For this project, I worked with the Central Dauphin High School Period 1, Music Theory I class. The class is High School Open, so all grade levels can be enrolled in this course. My cooperating teacher Mr. Bitner has set the prerequisite of active participation in a school ensemble. There are four students in the class; one student is a senior, two students are juniors, and one student is a sophomore. One of the junior students was accepted into the course without active participation in an ensemble; the exception was made due to his experience in guitar performance. Music Theory I occurs during 1st Period, everyday of the week. The course is an elective with the potential of a three year/tiered track (Music Theory I, II, and Advanced Placement). At the time of my Student Teaching Project, I will have taught this course for 11 weeks. I have established great rapport/trust with the students, and each class often moves at a very individualized pace (as possible with a very small class enrollment).

PURPOSE

This Student Teaching Project functions as a transition from the Rhythm Creation unit to the Rhythm Interpretation unit. Students will have completed a final project on song-form and a final project on rhythm/notation– creation and aesthetics in various meters. In planning this mini-unit, the goal is for students to apply an advanced conceptual understanding of rhythms to a performance context. Prior assessments confirm student achievement in rhythm creation and aesthetic notation. Now, can students connect their ‘mathematical’ and aesthetic experiences to a real world context? By presenting opportunities for further creation development, and challenging students in reading/performing the complex rhythms, students will be well prepared for future music study.

SERIES OF LESSONS

Class Description:

This is the Music Theory I class, occurring during the first Period of each school day. All grade levels are able to enroll as long as they are actively participating in a Central Dauphin High School (CDHS) choral/instrumental ensemble. There is one student in the class who has an exception to this prerequisite on the basis of out-of-school music experience. Two of the other students are principal chairs in the CDHS auditioned Wind Ensemble. The fourth student is an active participant in the selective Men’s Singers, CDHS Choir, and CDHS Spring Musical. Each student has very different backgrounds in music, and thus it has been a joy to explore varying activities/instructional-strategies to meet each student where they are at.

Prior Learning:

Three students are active participants in high-level, in-school music activities. One student is a participant of general music activities outside of school. All students have taken general music classes from early elementary to 6th grade. It is worth noting that the CD School District does not have an agreed upon methodology for early rhythm development. Each elementary/middle school curriculum approaches rhythm differently. This has provided a unique challenge in meeting the individual needs of each student as reflected in their diverse early educational background. This year, my cooperating teacher and I have established a baseline for meter, pulse, rhythm, and music notation principles. Students are entering this mini-unit following a two week long unit on rhythm identification/creation/notation. Their previous final assessment was a partners-project in creating rhythms that are accessible to students of varying skill levels.

Main Learning Goal:

By the end of this mini-unit, students will be able to apply an advanced conceptual understanding of rhythms to a performance context.

Student Engagement in Creating, Performing, and Assessing:

Students will be engaged in creating through the introductory synthesis activity in Lesson 1. In this activity, students connect familiar songs from a class playlist to advanced rhythm understandings. This activity also promotes real world application of rhythm learning: where do I experience rhythms everyday? I funnel the creative outputs towards a specific objective, as I pick the song excerpts, the amount of measures, and each individual student’s meter. The intent is to have a diverse showcase of rhythmic examples that are accessible enough to approach from Takadimi, Kodály, and Numbers methodologies. Students have a lot of creative freedom here, however; I am intentional in the scaffolding to ensure examples provide foundation to subsequent learning goals. Students also engage in creation through quintuplet and septuplet syllabic assignments in Lesson 2. 

Performing carries the most weight in this lesson series. Students are continually engaged in performance opportunities across all three lessons. With the limited time-frame, efficiency and differentiation in instruction is a must. Students will be engaged in performance through teacher modeling, peer-peer modeling, group performance, pairs performance, solo performance opportunities with/with-out teacher guidance. Students perform using body percussion, counts, and syllable vocalization (Takadimi/Kodály/Numbers). In lesson 1, I scaffold complete performances of student-created examples. In lesson 2, I begin with a fun performance activity, continue the student created example activity, and engage students with the performance of excerpts created by me. In lesson 3, students participate in group performance within the cut-out rhythms activity. Students are then assessed 1-on-1 in rhythm reading/performance. 

In lesson 1, students are actively engaged in assessing themselves and their peers. Following the independent notation of student created examples on the whiteboard, I facilitate a discussion on aesthetic/division corrections that students notice for each example. Students are expected to supply constructive criticism in an appropriate manner. Following Lesson 2, I will collect their papers with written student created examples. I do not plan to score the paper, rather I will leave brief feedback and reflect on overall student achievement and teaching effectiveness up to that point. This will showcase student participation in the activities. Across all lessons, I will be actively assessing observed participation and efforts in all performance practices. Students are expected to contribute to discussions, attempt syllabic assignments/performance, and attempt final body percussion performances. Lesson 3 centers around the final 1-on-1 assessment for this mini-unit. I will use a 30 point rubric to assess the proficiency of each student in reading and performing various rhythm examples. This final summative assessment will be documented to represent the achievement of each individual student over the three days. This documentation will also support me in adapting and developing my instructional practice. 

INDIVIDUAL LESSON ANALYSES

Lesson 1

LESSON PLAN: Introduction to Reading Rhythms (Creating/Performing)

Evidence of Student Learning:

(00:56–1:16) Students learned that complex rhythms exist in real world contexts. Students created rhythm keys by listening and isolating rhythms from song excerpts. Students then learned critical analysis and constructive criticism in the context of student created rhythm examples. (1:17–1:57) Students learned/reviewed the concepts of ice-cube trays and half-way points. These concepts are crucial in rhythm aesthetics. (3:10–4:01) Students engage with my scaffolding of the Takadimi method. We assign Takadimi syllables to the 4/4 example. (4:02–4:44) Students perform the 4/4 rhythmic example multiple times using Takadimi method. Students show growth in confidence in rhythms from 1st to last group performance. (4:58–5:25) Students learn and apply the Numbers method: confidence in both individual and group body percussion performance. (5:27–6:16) Students show evidence of learning and achievement through confident performances of 3/4 rhythms using both Takadimi and Numbers methods.

Adjustments:

In general, I over-planned for this mini-unit. I intended to introduce/practice the 4/4 rhythm worksheet, but I ran out of time. For the last 3/4 example, I wanted to notate the syllables/counts on the board, but class time did not allow. Upon realizing how much time was left in class, I decided to have the students write both methods in their notebooks only. I would then spend the remainder of class time scaffolding a final performance of the 3/4 example with review of Takadimi and Numbers. The other adjustment I had to make was when a student asked why the 4/4 rhythm notation was aesthetically incorrect. I decided that it would be more beneficial to review the ice-cube tray and half-way points concepts instead of rushing to the next planned item.

Monitoring Student Learning:

I monitored student learning by walking around during individual work time. The independent time during the rhythm synthesis warm-up and the whiteboard notation activity allowed great opportunities for individualized instruction/feedback. I continually monitor student facial expressions during instruction, and I provide ample time for consideration following “any questions?” In this way, students provide me with direct feedback on their learning and areas of difficulty. For this lesson, I am able to observe and immediately assess the group performances of each rhythm example. If I hear two students consistently missing a syncopated rhythm, then I am able to address that need. There was one moment in the lesson where I heard all students clap the rhythm with complete accuracy premature to what I had planned. In monitoring student achievement in this area, I can respond by moving forward or creating a new challenge within the same concept. 

Looking Ahead:

In my next lesson, I will hand out the 4/4 rhythm worksheet and attempt to review as many examples as possible. Because I shifted this assessment preparation activity to tomorrow, I will have to adjust the time spent on either student created examples or my Challenging Examples practice. If time allows, I will review the 9/8 and 3/4 worksheets, as well. I am preparing to change the assessment to 4/4 only if  the 9/8 and 3/4 review is not feasible in the allotted class time. Tomorrow’s warm-up activity and Kodály introduction takes precedence over accomplishing all the planned rhythmic practices. With regard to specific student learning needs, one student is showing difficulty with processing each methodology in context. Scaffolding: tomorrow, I would like to isolate rhythms within the review worksheet, rereview methodologies, simplify the syllable options if necessary, and commit to repetitive practice. In introducing Kodály, this might be an easier methodology for this student to understand. I will rework my scaffolding tomorrow and see if the student grasps the concepts better. 

Lesson 2

LESSON PLAN: Creating, Applying, Practicing (Creating/Performing)

Evidence of Student Learning:

(6:42–7:27) Students learning and practicing tempo consistency in performance. Students can also be observed contributing to discussion on application of Numbers in the Sea Lion Rhythm Activity. In the final performance, students are placing rhythm inside of the pulse through counting and clapping. (7:55–8:23) Students show evidence of learning through active participation in the discussion question, “what is the difference between Takadimi and Kodály?” Students learn critical thinking skills in rhythm context and learn to connect principles across different methodologies. (8:24–9:30) Students learn how to assign Takadimi syllables to rhythms in a compound meter. Students show evidence of learning through shared enthusiasm with the material and active contributions to assignments when called on. (9:36–10:10) First and last student performance with the 9/8 example can be observed. Following Takadimi scaffolding and isolated rhythm practice, students performed the example with correct syllables and complete rhythm accuracy.  

Adjustments:

The first major adjustment I made during this lesson was utilizing the Sea Lion Rhythm activity as a Takadimi and Numbers review. I realized that the fun activity, while showing challenging rhythm examples, did not contribute significantly to the overarching goal of the mini-unit. To benefit the students in preparing for their final assessment, I decided to use class time to analyze, assign syllables to, and perform examples from the Sea Lion Rhythm Activity. Because of the time I spent on this additional review, I did not utilize multimedia in this lesson for the performance with audio/video. I also had to adjust the Numbers/Takadimi/Kodály review to only incorporate the analysis of the 9/8 example, because my priority for this lesson was to ensure students practiced the final assessment material. By the end of the lesson, we only practiced 1-15 on the 4/4 rhythms worksheet. I decided to officially change the final assessment to three 4/4 examples based on the rhythms reviewed in class no.1-15. This adjustment was necessary to ensure I was appropriately assessing student achievement in the content covered during the three day mini-unit.

Monitoring Student Learning:

Student learning was monitored through active observation of student participation in discussions/performances, contributions to group syllable identifications, and applied effort in independent work. In one instance, a student expressed frustration in not understanding Numbers. This direct communication is invaluable to me, because I can validate the student’s emotions, reflect on my own instruction, and then move forward in helping that student find success. In this lesson, I encourage the student to combine aspects of Numbers with other methodologies to support a weakness with complementary strengths. Following practice of more rhythm examples, the student appeared to be finding more success than before. The collection of student created rhythm papers allows me to assess and confirm the participation of each individual student in the class activities. In this way, I can establish the relationship between my teaching, the students’ performance, and their applied efforts.

Looking Ahead:

In the next lesson, I will commit to the multimedia warm-up. Given the adjustment to the final assessment, less time will be needed for review, thus allowing a little extra time to develop critical thinking skills, real world applications, and cultural competency through a musical lens. I will not give the students cut-outs for the 9/8 and 3/4 examples, because those meters will not be assessed at the end of class. I will instead focus all attention on 4/4 meter examples for the cut-out activity. Based on the current level of student performance, I predict that syncopation will be a difficulty in the current level of experience. Tomorrow, I will plan to scaffold syncopation and off-beat rhythm performance in the selection of rhythms for the cut-out activity. After exploring seven or eight examples with the class, I have full confidence they will be ready for the assessment.

Lesson 3

LESSON PLAN: Review and Assessment (Assessing)

Evidence of Student Learning:

(11:30–12:10) Students are contributing to critical thinking discussion. Students are learning to connect class concepts (rhythm, syllables, pulse) to the foundations of diverse musical styles. Students are learning the importance of foundational concepts from other professionals in the music world. (13:34–14:04) Learning is evident in the rhythmic accuracy of performances after introducing off-beat accents and mismatched methods. Students performed each example with a notable increase in dynamic/confidence after applying each concept. (14:07–14:59) This example assessment for Student B demonstrates evidence of overall student learning/achievement throughout the three day mini-unit. The student vocalizes a mixture of Numbers and Kodály to assist in the body percussion performance of each rhythm example. The success of each student in this final assessment, and each student’s use of newly formed tools during the performances, provides evidence of student learning.

Adjustments:

No major adjustments occurred during this lesson. The adjusted 4/4 cut-out activity was prepared prior to the formal lesson. I believe the warm-up extended past five minutes, leaving less time for the Rhythms Review Activity, however; we still had enough time to practice all the challenging rhythms I discussed in the previous analysis. Students performed well on the assessments. I kept a brisk pace while balancing opportunities for immediate and overall feedback for each student. 

Monitoring Student Learning:

Student learning was monitored through observation of student contributions to the warm-up discussion. As with the previous lessons, I observed facial expressions as signs of comprehension/confusion. I monitored the assembly of rhythm cut-outs, and I utilized this independent work time to elicit any specific rhythms of difficulty or provide individualized feedback/instruction. I actively listened during each group performance of rhythm examples, identified areas of difficulty, and then implemented strategies to build understanding. Strategies include teacher modeling, student modeling, patting primary pulse, vocalizing and clapping, and repetition. 

Looking Ahead:

In future lessons, I will strive to be more mindful of timing as I plan activities. Especially under a short time constraint, I should draw a direct line of scaffolding from start to final assessment/achievement. In this mini-unit, it felt a little convoluted and ‘surprising’ at times, with the true final assessment preparation occurring ten minutes before the assessment. I think increasing my pacing and keeping momentum through the first lesson would have helped. My enthusiasm and energy become more natural and apparent in the middle of the second lesson. My first lesson felt slow and under-prepared. In the future, I will create a more direct progression of activities across lessons, make more effort at maintaining momentum through instruction, and continually develop my instructional strategies to best meet the needs of the students.