Lesson Plan
Lesson: Chris Teeters Time Signature and Tempo
Length: 45 min
Age or Grade Level Intended: 4th grade
Academic Standard(s):
4.5.5 Identify and apply an expanded vocabulary of music terms as found in notated music.
Performance Objective(s):
Given the definition from the book of time signature, the students will count out the pulse of a musical piece and be able to determine and define the time signature of pieces that will be played 70% of the time.
Assessment:
The students will be assessed on whether they can clap out the pulse of the song. The students will either clap, pat, or snap out the pulse to three different pieces. I will play a recording of “Joe Turner Blues”, “St. Louis Blues”, and “The Chicken Dance” to assess the students on whether or not they understand and hear the pulse. They will also be assessed on whether or not the can correctly tell me the parts of the time signature and define time signature.
Advance Preparation by Teacher:
I will need to read the pages 56 and 57 of the Silver Burdett’s Making Music, and be familiar with each of the pieces. I will also need to have the recording of the pieces so that the students can clap out the pulse (CD 3-14, CD 3-17, and CD 3-1).
Procedure:
Introduction/Motivation:
Have any of you wondered what the numbers at the beginning of the songs you play in your recorder books are? Well today we are going to talk about what tell performers how they can determine the pulse of a song by just looking at the music sheet.
Step-by-Step Plan:
1) See if any of the students know what time signature is.
2) Have the students get their book and return to their seats, and start reading the section.
3) Have a student read what time signature is out loud to the class.
4) Explain time signature by use of a visual on the board.
5) Introduce them to “Joe Turner Blues” by playing it to them once.
6) Then play the song again and have the students keep the pulse of the song by use of pat, claps, and snaps. Have the students pat their legs on beat one, clap their hands on beat two, snap their fingers on beat three, and clap their hands again on beat four with the song “Joe Turner Blues” from CD 3-14 (Gardener: Musical/Rhythmic and Bodily/Kinesthetic).
7) Introduce W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues”, from CD 3-17, to the class by playing it one and then have them do the same pulse exercise to the song.
8) Then ask the students to make up their own way to count the pulse by use of snap, claps, pats, or other gestures (Gardener: Bodily/Kinesthetic).
9) When they have decided tell them we will be doing that pulse counting to the chicken dance. Ask them since you have all already herded the chicken dance what do you think will happen with the tempo (Bloom: Application)? Will it be constant or change (Bloom: Comprehension)?
10) Then have the students do their counting exercise to “The Chicken Dance” from CD 3-1, and observe to see if they keep the pulse.
11) Have the students return their books and return to their seats.
12) Have the students split into groups and to have them tell me the time signature. I will ask the students to tell me what the time signature is of what I have written on the board, and I will only take the answers from the group leader that is chosen.
13) Have the students move their chairs back to their original spots and have the students line up and wait, quietly, for their teacher to pick them up.
Closure:
Know what is it that we learned today? In a time signature what is the top number, and what is the lower number? Time signature is there to help you know the pulse of the song and helps you so you can follow the conductor.
Adaptations/Enrichment:
Student with Learning disability in reading comprehension
I will have the words read to them in the class and will be doing activities and visual examples so that the student will understand time signature and pulse.
Student with ADHD
I will have the student be interactive in the class by having them clap, pat, and snap out the pulse of a song.
Student with Gifts and Talents in Creativity
I will allow the students to pick a way that they would like count out the pulse of the song, which allows them to let them think.
Self-Reflection:
Write out the questions that you will use to evaluate yourself.
Did the students understand the concept of time signature and tempo? Should I have had them write their own time signature or personally tell me what a time signature is? Did the activity hold their attention through the class?