Music



Stair Elementary Music Grade 4

__ Ohio ____ Academic Content Standard: __ Creative Expression and Communication Students sing, play instruments, improvise, compose, read and notate music.

__ Benchmark: __ Read, write, improvise and compose melodies and accompaniments.

__ Indicator: __ Improvise and compose short compositions using a variety of classroom instruments and sound sources.

__ Technology: __ In this lesson students will use audio recording technology to record their short compositions, and play the compositions back on MP3 players.Students will use their compositions along with their graphic designs from art class to create a movie/commercial using Windows Movie Maker and a software editing software such as Audacity.

This technology use would be considered **__ “new and innovative.” __**This lesson uses newer technology.In the traditional classroom students are not given the opportunity to use MP3 players, digitally record their work, or use software such as Windows Movie Maker to create a presentation.

__ Rain Forest Technology Lesson: __
 * Play a variety of pre-selected musical MP3s intended to sound like the rainforest
 * Break students into small groups
 * Each group will have access to classroom instruments
 * The groups’ challenge is to use the classroom instruments to compose a melody that sounds like the rainforest.
 * Students are encouraged to use anything available to aid in their final product.
 * Once students have completed their melodies, students will use Audacity recording software to digitally record their work as MP3s.
 * Students will play their work back on their MP3 players and students will vote on the composition they feel most reflects the sound of the rainforest.
 * To extend this lesson, groups will use their MP3 as well as the graphic designs “Save the Rainforest” they made in art class to create a movie using Windows Movie Maker software.

__ Supporting Research: __ In the article //Making Music Multimodally: Young Children Learning with Music Technology// by Janet McDowall, the author shows that using computer-based music technology provides students with the opportunity to learn using multimodal techniques. The author continues to promote technology in music education by stating that such practices “enable children to participate in musical culture in ways that can be seen as a complex blend of richly multimodal practices. These experiences can comprise a valuable addition to the range of multiliteracies that are part of contemporary children’s lives (2009).

__ References: __ McDowall, J. (2009). Making Music Multimodally: Young Children Learning with Music Technology. //International Journal of Learning//, //16//(10), 303-315. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.