Lesson Information Form

Lesson # 1/3 Date of lesson: 11-14-13

Objectives:

Students will be able to identify the different elements that make up a score.

Activities/Strategies: Assess

This assignment was meant to serve as an introduction to composition. Since the students have
only been playing for a year, their knowledge of how a composition is created is limited. I
wanted to give the students a chance to understand the physical properties that made up a score
of music.

The assignment was to create a list of as many physical items that the students saw on a score of
music. I laid out copies of Beethovens Octet in Eb Major. Students wrote down the different
elements that made up the score, such as title, clarinet, key signature etc. We had a contest
to see who could write down the most number of items on their sheet. We discussed our sheets
afterwards and compiled a list of important elements that we wanted to use in our own
compositions.

Assessments:

The assessment for this assignment was informal. We took the time to compare our notes and
compile a list of all of our work.

Materials:

Copies of Beethovens Octet in Eb Major

Class Groupings:

A small group of 9 students



Individual Lesson Analysis:

This lesson was meant as an introductory lesson to begin to prepare the students for their
composition. It was my goal for the students to walk away from the lesson with a greater
understanding of how a composer pieces together a score. There are more elements that go into a
score than just writing down a bunch of notes. A composer has to identify the key, time
signature, decide on instrumentation etc. My hope was that this lesson would aid in the
development of the final lesson, where students wrote their own piece. All of the elements that
make up a piece of written music wouldnt come as a surprise when the students made their own
piece.
In order to assess student learning, we played a game together as a group to see who
could write down the most number of elements they saw from the score. Each student made a list
of what they saw. We compared our lists at the end of class to make sure we ended with a
complete list of everything we saw. The students saved these lists so they would be able to
reference them during future lessons. I was able to look at these lists while the students were
working. This was more of an introductory lesson than a place for me to assess student learning.
More importantly, it was an opportunity for students to assess a new concept and analyze music
from a new perspective.
Overall, I thought the lesson went quite well. The students spent most of their time
looking through the score rather than hearing me talk/lecture. They were really excited
afterwards and told me that they enjoyed the activity. I would do this lesson the same way again,
except I would add a component where the students created a finalized list of things that they
wanted to include in their composition. I think this would help tie in this lesson and its concepts
even better. Plus, it would give the students more of a say in their work.






Lesson Information Form
Lesson # 2/3 Date of lesson: 11-18-13

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate their ability to compose a short piece of music using the guidelines
given.

Activities/Strategies: Create, Assess

This activity allows students to create and assess their work. Students were given a three page
worksheet. The worksheet has students compose music two measures at a time, following
specific guidelines for each measure. For example, the students may have had to write two bars
using the given pitches and rhythms. In the end, they combined all of their short segments of
music to create a song (8 measures long.) On an individual basis, I played the song for the
students on my clarinet. They were able to listen to the piece and identify the elements that they
liked or wanted to change. There was a section of writing where the students reflected on their
rough draft. They had the opportunity to revise their work before writing the final draft.


Assessments:

The assessment here came from the students themselves. The students analyzed their work and
made adjustments accordingly. There was a section of writing that allowed the students to think
through their thoughts and organize them in preparation for writing the final draft.


Materials:

Introduction to composition worksheet (created by myself, can be found on the next tab)

Class Groupings:

A small group of 9 students







Individual Lesson Analysis:
In this lesson, the students learned that they are able to create their own music! For most,
this was probably their first time creating a piece of music. I think the most important lesson that
was taught here was that anyone can create their own piece. It was meant to be an ice-breaker
more so than a composition pedagogy worksheet.
Once the students completed their worksheet, they brought over their rough draft to me to
perform on my clarinet. This gave them the opportunity to assess their own work. Afterwards,
there were a few open-ended questions that allowed the students to reflect on their work. This
allowed the students to think about any changes they wanted to make before they wrote their
final draft. For example, I had a student write down that they didnt like one of the measures of
their music because the pitches were too repetitive. This type of assessment works great since it
not only allows them to self-diagnose, but it allows me to see their thought process.
The lesson was designed so that students would be able to discover their ability to
compose on their own. During the lesson, I just made sure that students stayed on task. I was
able to assess their learning after by reading their assessment paragraphs and playing through
their compositions at the end of the worksheet.
During the lesson, I had to adjust one of the worksheets since I had a student who could
only read in bass clef. Next time, I will be sure to have the worksheet tailored to fit the needs of
all my students. Otherwise, the worksheet worked really well and the students enjoyed working
on it. They were really surprised at the end to hear their composition played.



Lesson Information Form

Lesson # 3/3 Date of lesson: 11-21-13

Objectives

Students will demonstrate their ability to compose and perform their own piece of music.

Activities/Strategies: Create, perform, assess

This activity is the final project for the mini-composition class that I have been teaching. This
project combines all of the elements of the first two lessons into one larger, final product. The
students will write a piece of music that includes a title, dynamics, key signature and time
signature. They will then perform their piece for the entire homeroom class.

Assessments:

While there is no formal assessment for this project, the students are playing their composition as
they are writing it. They are constantly assessing their work in their head and making
adjustments, using their ear, as they go. They are motivated by their final performance to the
class and are striving to do a good job.

Materials:

Final worksheet with composition directions (created by myself)
Staff paper
Instruments

Class Groupings:

A small group of 9 students

















Individual Lesson Analysis

The students in this lesson learned about the very basics of composing music. This was
an introductory assignment where the students began exploring their creative side. The students
hopefully gained the knowledge that they are able to be composers as well. They learned that
they can write music anytime that they wish and that composing is not a scary thing to do.
After looking at the end result, we can see that the students did learn something through
this series of lessons. Having students stand up in front of their peers and perform is a
monumental task, especially for 7
th
graders. I was amazed at how many students participated and
were excited to perform their music at the end. You could tell that they were proud of what they
had written.
I did not make any adjustments to the lesson as I was teaching. The goal was to leave the
assignment as open-ended as possible so that the students would be able to be as creative as
possible.
In order to monitor student learning, I made sure that I gave the students a few days in
class to work on their assignment. They had the opportunity to ask me questions or to play
through their music while they were working. As long as they were staying on task during the
work period, I knew that they would be working hard. If I was able to continue with more
lessons, I would work with the students on polishing up their pieces. For example, a few students
had too many beats in a measure. I would also work with them on performing their piece, since
some of the students did not play their piece 100% accurately.