670 Portfolio Essay 3-3

A teacher must be equipped with many different tools in their toolbox to

effectively teach their students. All students are different and learn differently.

Therefore, it is important for the teacher to be prepared to teach in ways that reach

all students. There are many different activities that a teacher can use to teach.

Socratic circles, journals, portfolios, projects, etc. This provides the students with a

variety of activities to keep them interested, but also helps them find out their own

learning styles. Using different activities can also guide the teacher when assessing

how their students learn.

Included in the lessons taught for a fifth grade class, I covered time

signatures. I used the same poem; but changed the rhythms to match the time

signature we were in. Kinesthetic, aural, and improvisational activities were used in

these lessons. Walking, jumping, and patting were utilized in the kinesthetic

portions of the unit. Kinesthetic activities are important in an elementary music

classroom because actively moving helps the students understand the concepts

being taught by associating a specific movement with a certain concept. Moving

around also helps keep the students focused and engaged because elementary

students do not retain information well from a lecture-setting. In order to keep the

students interested in the lessons, I had to think of different ways to engage the

students. I did this by including activities based on individual work, group work,

movement, improvisation and creation.

In a fifth grade class I taught, I had the students walk around the room as

music played. I direct my students to express themselves through movement

according to the different style of songs being played. The concept of the lesson was

to aurally identify key signatures. 2/4 was represented by marches, 3/4 represented

by waltz, and 5/4 I described to the students as "irregular" in terms of feeling. The

good part of this lesson is that the students did as I asked and they aurally identified

the songs being played. Something I made more difficult for myself is the noise I

asked the students to create without planning on it being noisy. For example, to

start identifying songs I asked the students to stomp and march for march songs, but

with 20-plus kids stomping, the room can be very loud and then difficult to provide

further instruction. This is something I need to keep in mind for future lessons.

Artifacts are on the next page

Artifact 1:

Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students will have completed and
demonstrated proficiency of learning multiple time signatures through the use of
body percussion, and variations of the song/poem “Chick Chick Chatterman.”

Goals: The students will improve their knowledge of time signatures and use of
body percussion

Standards: Pr.2.5.b When analyzing selected music, read and perform using
standard notation

Materials:

Laptop/ipad
Chick Chick Chatterman Poem
White Board
Projector
Chick Chick Chatterman poem page 61 of the Grade Five Game Plan Book

Sequence:

- The teacher will greet the class

- The students will sit in their chairs
- The teacher will give a review of the previous lesson (Take Five) and what the
students learned/the information that was reinforced (5/4 time signature, what the
top number is and what the bottom number is)
- The teacher will ask if anyone has any questions before moving on and answer any
questions as necessary

- The teacher will split the poem into halves (3rd Chick Chick Chatterman is start of
the second half0
- The teacher will say the poem four times
- The teacher will say the first line of the poem, and will have the students repeat.
This repeats until all lines of the first half have been repeated by students
- The teacher will then say the first two lines, and the students will repeat
- The teacher will say the last two lines, and will have the students repeat
- The teacher will repeat the last four steps with the second half of the poem
- The teacher will have the students recite the whole poem. The teacher will stop
and offer help/comments as needed

2/4

- The teacher will display the poem on the projector

- The teacher will have the students recite the poem as a refresher (this step only if
this lesson spans over multiple days)
- The teacher will display the music of the 2/4 time signature
- The teacher will have the students clap the rhythm and speak the rhythm on
syllables (syllables or numbers?)
- The teacher will have the students recite the poem to the rhythm
- The teacher will pair the students up
- The teacher will tell the students that the person on the left is 1, will have these
students raise their hands
- The teacher will repeat for the students on the right, who are number two
- The teacher will tell the students that 1’s clap on beat 1, and 2’s clap on count two,
for alternating claps
- The teacher will have the students perform the poem to the rhythm while clapping
- The teacher will have the students switch parts
- The teacher will have the students recite the poem again

Assessment: The teacher will assess the students based on accuracy of words,
rhythms, and clapping

3/4

- The teacher will display the music of the 3/4 time signature
- The teacher will have the students clap the rhythm and speak the rhythm on
syllables (syllables or numbers?)
- The teacher will have the students recite the poem to the rhythm
- The teacher will alternate pats and claps on quarter notes, while resting on beat
three (visualize the rests with hands) and repeat four times
- The teacher will have all students join in
- The teacher will say part two is this (rest rest clap) and repeat four times
- The teacher will say 1’s pat and clap, 2’s rest rest clap
- The teacher will have everyone perform their body percussion at the same time
- The teacher will have the students perform the poem with body percussion
- The teacher will have the students switch parts
- The teacher will have the students recite the poem with body percussion
Assessment: The teacher will assess the students based on accuracy of words,
rhythms, and body percussion

5/4

- The teacher will display the music of the 5/4 time signature
- The teacher will have the students clap the rhythm and speak the rhythm on
syllables (syllables or numbers?)
- The teacher will have the students recite the poem to the rhythm
- The teacher will pat, clap, rest, clap, rest four times
- The teacher will have all students join in
- The teacher will say part two is this (rest rest clap rest clap) and repeat four times
- The teacher will have everyone perform their body percussion at the same time
- The teacher will have the students perform the poem with body percussion
- The teacher will have the students switch parts
- The teacher will have the students recite the poem with body percussion

Assessment: The teacher will assess the students based on accuracy of words,
rhythms, and body percussion

Closure: The teacher will review that the students worked in a 2/4 and 3/4
time signature, and finally combined them to create a 5/4 time signature.

Artifact 2:

Objective: By the end of the lesson, the students will have identified the meter of
the song “Take Five” as 5/4 and participate in an activity of walking and clapping in
order to solidify the identification of the meter

Goals: The students will practice identifying the 5/4 time signature

Standards:

Pr.1.5 Demonstrate and explain how the selection of music to perform is influenced
by personal interest, knowledge, and context, as well as their personal and others’
technical skill.

Materials:

White board
Marker
Temple blocks
Game Plan 5th Grade edition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs
ipad /laptop
Rhythm sticks
Hand drums

Sequence:

- The teacher will greet the class as they enter the room
- The students will sit on their chairs
- The teacher will write a 5/4 time signature on the board
- The teacher will ask who remembers learning about time signatures before the
winter break, and hopefully most of the students raise their hand
- The teacher will ask “what does the bottom number represent?”
- The teacher will call on a student who has their hand raised
- “What note gets one beat”
- The teacher will tell the student they are correct
- “What does the top number represent?”
- “How many beats are in a measure?”
- The teacher will ask “if our time signature is 5/4, what note gets the beat?”
- “Quarter note”
- The teacher will ask “how many quarter notes are in one measure”
- “Five”
- The teacher will draw one bar with five quarter notes on the white board
- The teacher will have the students stand up and push their chairs off to the side of
the room
- “Students, stand on square”

Assessment: The teacher will assess the students’ by the answers they give, and
will provide any feedback that is needed

- The teacher will hit the low temple block once. “When you hear this sound, walk
and travel around the room”
- The teacher will hit the high temple block once. “When you hear this noise, clap
your hands
- The teacher will tell the students to listen to the rhythm pattern
- The teacher will play the rhythm pattern (alternating high and low clicks)
- The teacher will tell the students to start walking and clapping
- After about 45 seconds, assuming the students have demonstrated they know what
they are supposed to do, the teacher will play the new rhythm (one low hit followed
by two high) but will NOT tell the students the change is coming, the teacher will
just do the change
- The teacher will play this pattern for about 45 seconds, and will move on once the
students have shown they understand this pattern
- The teacher will tell the students to stop and listen to the new pattern
- The teacher will play the 5/4 measure (3 then 2)
- The teacher will tell the students to resume the activity after repeating the pattern
4 times
- After about another 45 seconds, the teacher will tell the students to stop and listen
to instructions
- Now on the low clicks, the students will jump, and on the high clicks, the students
will snap
- The teacher will have the students perform the activity
- After about 45 seconds, the teacher will stop the students and transition into the
next activity

Assessment: The teacher will assess based on the students’ ability to walk, clap,
jump, or snap at the correct time
- The teacher will give the expectation that the students will not play their
instruments after they get them; they will wait until the teacher says it is ok
- The teacher will assign instruments to students
- The teacher will draw 1 2 3 4 5 on the board
- The teacher will tell the students to count “1-2-3-4-5”
- The teacher will tell the students on beats 1 and 4, the drums will play, and on
beats 2, 3, and 5 the rhythm sticks will click
- The teacher will keep this activity going until the students demonstrate that they
are able to accurately perform the activity
- The teacher will turn on the recording and will tell the students to keep that
activity going as the song plays, but to also play quietly and underneath the
recording. Voice Level 1
- The teacher will assess whether the students are performing correctly, and will
pause the recording and make comments as often as needed

Assessment: The teacher will assess the students based on their ability to play their
instruments at the correct times and in the correct tempo

Closure: The teacher will conduct another short review about what the bottom
number in a time signature is, and what the top number is

Artifact 3:

Goals: The students will identify time signatures as 2/4, 3/4, or 5/4

Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to aurally identify
2/4, 3/4, and 5/4 time signatures and create a dance move to signify which time
signature is used in the song.

Standards:

Pr.2.5.a Demonstrate understanding of the structure and the elements of music

(such as rhythm, pitch, form, and harmony) in music selected for performance.

Pr.4.5.a Apply teacher-provided and established criteria and feedback to evaluate

the accuracy and expressiveness of ensemble and personal performances.

Materials:

Laptop/ipad
Bluetooth speaker
Recordings:

2/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxgoajDI1WQ Hail to the Chief

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K1Rj0fuTpU Army Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtorKpNdoqo Marines Hymn

3/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoS1_CRS5fA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CShopT9QUzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihVvBCCvA5Y

5/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs Take Five

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXOanvv4plU Mars

White board (if extra time)

Dry erase marker (if extra time)

Sequence:

- The teacher will greet the class

- The students will sit in their chairs
- The teacher will give a quick review of what they learned in previous lessons
relating to time signatures
- The teacher will explain that the lesson will be about aurally identifying time
signatures
- The teacher will ask the class if anyone has questions about what it means to
aurally identify
- The teacher will provide comments as necessary

- The teacher will explain that for this lesson, a 2/4 time signature sounds like a
march, a 3/4 sounds like a waltz, and a 5/4 sounds irregular
- The teacher will ask the students if everyone knows what a march is and what a
waltz is
- The teacher will start a recording starting in 2/4, then 3/4, then 5/4, then
randomly choosing signatures
- The teacher will keep this activity going until class is almost over, or until the
teacher decides it is time to move on

Assessment: The teacher will assess the students based on their movements as
appropriate according to the time signature of the song played in the recording

Closure:

- The teacher will run a final review of everything that has been learned during the
time signature lessons

- If there is extra time, the teacher will mention the next thing to be worked on is
bass clef notes, and the teacher will give the class a pretest on the board by placing
random notes on the bass clef staff and calling on students to answer the question