PRE-WORK FOR SKILLS NEEDED

Day 1(Middle School Plan)- Singing on our major triad. Previous skills needed include
navigation of solfege major scale using hand signs, as well as major triad using low so. Rhythm
website (Rhythm generator) was used to sight read a rhythm using a counting system (1,2, T
and 4). Sung on solfege Do, Mi, and So. Class split and sang do and mi while I filled in So.
Switched. Sang 2 times through, first on do then mi, or 2nd group was mi and then do.

Modifications: Taught HS Days 1 and 2 together.I gave the HS the option when singing through
on our I chord to choose their second note, as long as it was different from the note they first
sang. Added in our SATB ensemble the additional “Fa” to our V chord because we had voices
that we could do a 4 part divide. They sang on So Ti Re or Fa, and resolved accordingly.

Day 2- Students started on our Do, Mi, and So triad as an extension of their warm-ups. This
time, we used our low So, and stacked a triad onto our So. Explained why we call Major triad I
chord, and So Ti Re our V chord, as it was built on So. Practiced singing a V chord in a 2 part
divide, either on So or Ti and I filled in Re, had everyone first resolve to Do. Then, asked So
people to stay, and explained to them that that was our common pitch between the 2 chords.

Day 3(Or day 2 for HS)- Filled out worksheet (See attached doc) for the key of F, which is the
key we are working in. For MS, filled in F scale with only the notes that we needed for our I and
our V chord and omitted Fa and La. Filled in the blanks and talked about what the I and V chord
in the key of F look like on the staff.

Modifications: In the high school, added Fa and gave it a title of a leading tone.

STP STARTS:

Day 1 -
Objectives:
Students will be able to successfully differentiate between I and V chords, and sing them on
different pitches of the triad.
Students will be able to perform an accurate chordal resolution to a V chord.
Students will be able to compose on noteflight, 4 bars of rhythm in 4/4, using certain parameters
to ensure their success in navigating noteflight.

Warmed up and practiced singing our solfege I and V chords in both schools. Explained again
why we call them I and V. Used a variety of rhythms to sing pitches of chords. First time through
at the middle school they sang so, 2nd time through we did do as to mimic V-I motion. We
adjusted the rhythms to be simpler after the first time was a little difficult for our middle
schoolers. Then added a 2 part harmony to the same rhythm on So and Ti, and had them both
resolve to do 2nd time through. I sang the missing Re to Mi, Mentor teacher sang the So
continued, asked them which pitch stayed. They were able to identify So.
High School Modification- Had students split by voice part on a V chord, and then resolve
correctly to a I chord. Talked about the way resolutions go and why tendency tones are
important, and drew a visual on the board of that resolution direction. Switched the voicing of
the chords on different rhythms to practice the resolutions in each interval.

Advanced Ensemble- Have them add a IV chord in mixed voicing during warm ups, and sing
different rhythm patterns on solfege.

Was going to have them move around, and this did not work. Stayed on pitches by voice part.
They were able to successfully sing a I-IV-V-I on the same rhythm in mixed voices. Talked about
the motion from a IV chord to a V chord, and tendency tones as well.

ALL CLASSES: This day we introduced noteflight and navigated how to use it through
demonstrating on the board. Students were to compose 4 bars or rhythm, the last 4 were extra
credit. This was mostly to help them become familiar with noteflight without adding pitch too
early. We had originally thought to do this in one day, but after seeing how long it took them to
navigate noteflight, decided to do rhythm only first as to not overwhelm the students. We limited
it to quarter notes, eighth notes(if beamed together to make it sing-able), half notes, and quarter
rests in 4/4. STUDENTS WERE TO TURN IN A PDF OF THEIR WORK FOR THIS RHYTHM
ACTIVITY

Assessments: Individual check ins, aural assessment as a class. Individual submitted

Materials: Rhythm Generator, Noteflight, Chromebooks.

Examples: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/4510621187440640
https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/4898374089703424

Showed students how to identify “measures” and duration in chrome song maker. Had a
color-code displayed on the board of Do, Mi, and So, and told students to have 4 measures to
start. They were to only use the colors I had shared as to follow the chord
progression.Navigate starting in the Key of F, and the duration for middle school being set to
quarter notes. Show them a visual that the first “measure” should have a I chord and
demonstrated what that looked like in my example. They practice. We then add another
measure of the I chord, and I introduced the “colors” used for a V chord. Explain the idea of a
progression. They see on the board I-I-V-I which was their first progression. (Because they did
this quickly, we added a chord progression of a V-I-V-I as an additional 4 measures.)

The high school,something similar, they are able to add a IV chord as well in their progression in
the second half. Discuss the IV-V motion, most of them do that intuitively. They are allowed to
use Fa as a passing tone, talk about how you can use passing tones if they are intentional. The
high school can change their subdivisions to eighth notes, if they wanted to.

The biggest thing was to make sure the kids know that it should be “sing-able”, and a melody
that is fairly easy to follow. After saying this, a lot of their scores changed.
Assessments:
Individual check-in after 4 measures, and then submitted via google classroom after 8
bars individually.
Guidelines for the composition were followed, if not, turned back over to them.

STUDENTS ARE TO TURN IN A LINK WITH THEIR CHROME SONG LAB, AND I WILL
CHECK THEM INDIVIDUALLY AFTER 4 BARS TO MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTOOD HOW
TO USE IT

Materials needed: Chrome Song Lab, Noteflight, Dry-erase board, markers, Chromebooks.

DAY 3: Combining Rhythm and Pitch

Objectives: Students will be able to combine both pitch and rhythm by exporting their melody to
noteflight, and merging it with their already composed rhythm.
Students will be able to use their knowledge of “sing-ability” to create a melody that fits with their
rhythm.

This day, all classes are provided with a guided worksheet to fill out when we are discussing
exporting their song-lab compositions into noteflight. They have 2 windows open, one with their
rhythm, the other with their chrome song lab composition. They are told to look for a rhythm they
like, and change it in their chrome music lab as most of them have straight quarter notes or
eighth notes. Teaching them through a visual how to omit pitches if they didn’t like them, and
allowed them to make a bit more intricate rhythms, as long as they can demonstrate they can
sing it.
Also telling them they are not to create NEW pitches, as we spent so much time making sure
our “colors” were correct, and that these notes corresponded to those colors of our triads. They
will combine their rhythm and pitches with a little assistance, and I make my way around to
suggest creative ideas for how to decide what to keep and change. I let them know that we will
be adding lyrics soon, so these rhythms might change, so keep a draft of what you have for
now.
How can this be more sing-able?
What makes it difficult?
How might we make this more melodic?

High school, I allowed them to use passing tones as long as they could identify the knowledge
and awareness of the passing tone in their compositions. If they knew where it was and how it
was being used, it was okay.
Materials needed: Guided Noteflight Combining Worksheet, Noteflight, Chrome Song Maker,
Chrome book, headphones.

ASSESSMENTS: Students meshed projects were turned in and graded based on the
parameters listed. Students who had scored lower had a chance to redo this section with
no penalty.

DAY 4 AND DAY 5: Poetry unit

Objectives: Students will be able to write their own poems in AAB, ABBA, ABAB using the topics
listed, or of their choosing.

Students will be able to add this poem that they have written in their compositions using correct
rhythm, and notation.
We looked together at poems that the students found interesting, and wrote down their favorites.
Explained AAB, ABBA, ABAB, and AAB forms, and had the students write their own poems
using a rhyme scheme. The students had examples online for their poems, and were asked to
speak and clap syllables to start to think about how it could fit into their music they had written.
After they had selected their favorite, I showed them how to fix rhythms to match their syllables
on my own computer (this is the day we are missing video). These poems were then put into
their music. Students were then shown how to combine rhythm and pitch into one document,
and use a creative process to come up with a final composition using these parameters.

Materials Needed: Poem worksheet, noteflight, chromebook, headphones.

ASSESSMENTS: Students were to turn in their final compositions which were graded on
a rubric.

LAST DAY STUDENTS COULD PERFORM PIECE FOR EXTRA CREDIT