Music Unit Planner Yr1/2

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Music Unit Planner UNIT/THEME/TOPIC: Music Appreciation (Carnival of the Animals) and Dynamics (loud/soft) and Tempo (fast/slow) BAND: Junior Primary YEAR LEVEL: 1-2 OVERVIEW OF THE UNIT Students will develop an understanding of different musical dynamics, specifically the differences between soft/loud and fast/slow sounds, through activities that involve listening and moving to Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals, and playing instruments in that style. CLASS PROFILE: Students in this particular classroom have done two previous units in music; a unit focusing on getting students to recognise beat using chants, marches, clapping games and songs, and a unit on pitch focusing on melody, that required students to create a song and play it with a partner using two different instruments. This unit also focused on exploring high and low sounds, which students utilised when creating their song the unit’s theme, weather. The students themselves have had very little music experience since they came to school, apart from singing along with recordings of songs, and many experienced their first chance at playing musical instruments in the last unit. The class is involved with a SOSE unit focusing on the ethical issues involved with keeping animals in zoos and as a result, several other subject areas are using the theme of animals in their planning. The students have two zoo visits planned (Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Zoological Park) to complement this theme which they will undertake during this unit. Essential Learnings focus: ❏ Futures ❏ Identity ■ Interdependence ■ Thinking ■Communication Key competencies focus: ❏ collecting, analysing, organising information; ■ communicating ideas and information; ■planning and organising activities; ■ working with others in teams; ❏ using mathematical ideas and techniques; ■ solving problems; ❏ using technology. ICTs: (e.g. camera, computer software, etc.

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Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Strand/s:

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Unit Outcome(s)

Arts Practice

Arts Analysis and Response

Key idea Children spontaneously express and communicate their feelings and ideas about the past, present and future through the images and forms they create. relating to Outcome 1.1

Conceptual - Understand the difference in the dynamics (loud/soft) and Tempo (fast/slow) - Listen to and appreciate different genres of music - Recognise that music is Relevant Standard played/created for a 1.1 purpose (i.e. to Confidently uses play and represent an element of imagination to create/rean animal, such as he create arts works within each pecking of the Hens and arts form. Cocks) Key idea Children engage in arts experiences and performances/presentations as audiences/viewers/users in a range of contexts for different purposes. KC6 They gain understanding of the arts and use the variety of communication and thinking modes in each of the arts forms. relating to Outcome 1.4 Relevant Standard 1.4 Distinguishes between the characteristic features of each arts form and responds to performance/presentation using appropriate communication modes.

Weekly outline of lessons

Skills - Enhance listening skills - Move to music in ways that complement the music - Play instruments in ways that represent an idea and image

Affective - Develop a positive attitude towards different styles of music - Develop and nurture an interest in music - Begin to develop cooperative classroom skills - To improve confidence within students

Overall References:

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Haines, B, Joan, E & Gerber, Linda L 2000, ‘Children and Music’ in Leading Young Children to Music, Merrill Publishing, Upper Saddle River, pp 316

Week 1 Lesson 1 – Introduction and movement to fast sounds In this lesson, students will listen to ‘The Aviary’ piece from the Carnival of the Animals and will answer questions, and move to this piece of music.

Marsh, K & Young, S 2006, ‘Musical Play’ in The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development, eds McPherson, Gary E, Oxford University Press, Oxford pp 289-310

Blooms Taxonomy (Appendix 3) Track 10: The Aviary (1.21secs) CD player

[See Lesson Write-up A for full lesson outline] Lesson 2 – Listening, visualisation and Movement to The Swan (slow sounds) Introduction: Seat students on the floor. Explain to them that, like the last lesson, we are going to be listening to a song from the Carnival of the Animals, and that the song that they are going to be listening to will be about an animal. {Play The Swan} After listening to this piece, students will be asked - What animal do you think this song is about? - Why do you think it is that animal? [it is important to accept all answers in this activity] Development: Students will listen again to The Swan again, with their animal in their mind and think of what that

CD player Track 13: The Swan (3.15 seconds)

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

animal may be doing, such as eating, moving, sleeping etc. When they have an idea as to what their animal is doing, they can move around the classroom doing their action. Tell students there is no right or wrong answer here. Encourage individuality by praising different movements from students {Play the Swan, twice if necessary.} Once students have had a chance to practice their movements, sit students in a circle and pick threefour students to come into the middle of the class and show their movements. Students in the circle will be asked - What animals did you see? - What were they doing?

Track 13: The Swan (3.15 seconds)

Students who performed will be asked - What their animal was? - What their animal was doing? - Did the action change? Why? [Repeat this activity 2-3 times so that many students have the opportunity to present to the class] Conclusion: Students will be told that the piece of music is called The Swan, and will be asked to listen to the piece of music and imagine what the swan is doing. If time permits, play the song again and allow students to move to the music how a swan might. - What do you think the swan is doing? - Does the music match what the swan is doing? Week2 Lesson 3 - Listening, movement and playing instruments to The Kangaroo (loud/soft sounds)

Track 13: The Swan (3.15 seconds)

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Introduction: Have students sit in a circle and give them the name of an animal (elephant, lion, cow, dog, monkey, duck, sheep). When they hear the word go, tell students to close their eyes and make the sounds of their animal. Using their listening skills, students find other people that are the same animals. This activity could be done several times, swapping the animals over each round.

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Russell-Bowie, D. 2009 ( 2n edition) MMADD About the Arts-2; An Introduction to Primary Arts Education, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW

Development: Have students sit on the floor comfortably. Explain they are going to be listening to a song from the Carnival of the animals called the Kangaroos. {Play the Kangaroos} After listening, students could be asked… - Why do you think this song is called the Kangaroos? - What do you think the kangaroo is doing in this song? Why? (here students should mention loud and soft sounds. If not, mention whether they hear a kangaroo hopping when listening) Students will then be asked to move like they know a Kangaroo moves. Once students have an idea, give them an instrument and let them explore hopping sound using instruments. Give students the opportunity to play and explore the instruments for a few minutes, then as them to play their instruments replicating these scenarios using loud and soft sounds - A kangaroo hopping - A mouse sneaking towards cheese - An elephant stomping in the jungle - A lion sneaking up on a dear - Dog chasing a cat Conclusion:

CD player Track 6: The Kangaroos (0.50secs)

Instruments

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Sit students in a circle on the floor and ask 3-4 students (per example) to show the class how they would play their scenario. Students will be asked after playing - Why they chose to play like that? - Would you play it differently if (the elephant was a turtle/the cat was chasing the dog/the mouse was running?)? How would you play it differently? What sounds would you use? Week 3 Lesson 4 – Reviewing fast/slow and loud/soft sounds and playing instruments for a purpose In this lesson, students will play a game to review their understanding of fast/slow and loud/soft sounds and will further this understanding by playing an instrument while a partner moves to it. [See Lesson Write-up B for full lesson outline] Week4 Lesson 5 – Reviewing fast/slow and loud/soft sounds and playing instruments for a purpose

CD player Music from the Carnival of the Animals Russell-Bowie, D. 2009 ( 2n edition) MMADD About the Arts-2; An Introduction to Primary Arts Education, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW

[Note: by this lesson, students will have been to the zoo and observed animal and the ways that they move and behave] Introduction: Start the lesson by having students stand up in the middle of the classroom so that they can not hurt anyone else. Play a range of songs from the Carnival of the Animals and get students to move around like any animal they want. When they hear the music get quieter, tell them you want to see slow movements, but when the music gets very loud, you want to see quick movements. To extend the activity, introduce scenarios such as

CD player A variety of songs from the Carnival of the Animals Russell-Bowie, D. 2009 ( 2n edition) MMADD About the Arts-2; An Introduction to Primary Arts Education, Pearson

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

- You are a tiger stalking its prey, what would happen when the music got louder? Softer? - You are a mouse, and have seen a cat! What might be happening if the music got louder? Softer? Let students move to these scenarios.

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW

Development: Sit students down and talk about how the music that has been used in previous lessons has been telling us stories about animals. Recount this, by asking what the songs The Aviary/Kangaroos/Swan were about. Using the list of zoo animals that students brainstormed in the previous lesson, choose one and create another list of things that that animal might do (i.e. eating, sleeping, hunting, playing, the sounds that it makes). Get students into pairs and give one an instrument. The student without an instrument will act out the movement, while the student with the instrument plays what their partner is doing (i.e. sleeping, eating, hunting). Give students a few attempts, them swap roles. Conclusion: Have students sit in a circle and choose several pairs to show the class what movements and sounds they came up with for the animal. The audience can be asked to guess what the animal was doing during the music. The students presenting can also be questioned for greater understanding - What was your animal doing? - What would have happened if…? Would the music have changed? How would it have changed? Show me (the entire class can participate here)

Brainstormed list from previous lesson

Instruments

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Assessment strategies Teacher assessment of the work throughout the unit This will be accomplished through observation of student work (Appendix 2a) throughout the unit. Several areas of assessment will be focused on, including the students ability to… - Understand the difference in the dynamics (loud/soft) and Tempo (fast/slow) - Listen to and appreciate different genres of music - Recognise that music is played/created for a purpose (i.e. to represent an element of an animal, such as he pecking of the Hens and Cocks) Musical skills, such as their listening skills, the way they move to the music and the way that they play instruments in ways that represent an idea and image will also be assessed using observation. This assessment should be undertake throughout the unit to take into consideration outside factors (i.e. one students may be having a bad day), and to gain a greater insight into what students do and do not know. Questioning Observational assessment will be backed up with questioning throughout the lessons. Student understanding will be tested and their responses will show what they know, what they have learnt, and what they still have difficulty with. These answers can be recorded on the student observation sheet (Appendix 2a), and can be used for further assessment at the end of the unit. Student assessment of the unit In order to gauge student enjoyment of the unit, a short questionnaire will be handed out for students to fill in (Appendix 2b). This will then be used to further develop the course for the following years. Evaluation of unit outcomes: At the end of the unit, students should have a basic understanding of dynamics (loud/soft sounds) and tempo (fast/slow sounds) that can be built upon in later music units. Students should be able to listen to and tell the difference between these sounds, as well as why these different sounds are included in music (i.e. to create mood, to tell a story, to describe something without words, to make the music more interesting). Students will also gain a greater appreciation of the range of different genres in music and will listen to a variety of songs that they may never have heard of before. Students will listen and move to these pieces and create their own compositions in the style of these musical pieces, and will begin to understand that all music has a purpose, whether it is to tell a story, paint a picture or describe something.

Music Unit Planner – Dynamics and Music Appreciation

Tutor: Gwen Phillips

Through listening and moving to the Carnival of the Animals, students should also begin to recognise that music is played/created for a purpose (i.e. to represent an element of an animal, such as he pecking of the Hens and Cocks). This theme is emphasised throughout the unit, and provides a basis for further music education. Throughout the unit, several skills will also be emphasised and developed; including the students listening skills, their abilities to move to music in ways that complement the music, as well as he ability to play instruments in ways that represent an idea and/or an image. Listening skills are particularly important as they are an essential skill across the curriculum. At the end of the unit, students should be able to describe differences in music, particularly related to dynamics and tempo. They should also be able to listen to and describe the mood and feel of a musical piece, as well as suggest what the purpose of the piece might be. The development of skills that include moving to music and playing instruments to represent an image or idea are important as they are elements that will be required for further music lessons, and as such, it is vital that a solid basis is established in the early years. Students should be willing to participate, and move to the music in appropriate ways (i.e. small movements to soft sounds, large movements to loud sounds). Students also need to gain some experience when playing instruments, and this unit will focus on letting students gain this experience. Positive attitudes towards music are also important to develop during the early years, as negative musical experiences in the primary years can lead to an aversion to music latter on in schooling. Therefore, it is important that this unit helps students develop and nurture an interest in music learning while also developing positive attitudes towards different styles of music. This will be accomplished by making the lessons interactive, physically active and hands on, and by having minimal teacher instruction time to focus on musical play. Students can also develop skills that will be useful in other areas of the curriculum areas, such as co-operative classroom skills as well as improving confidence within students, by ensuring that the music classroom is a supportive environment where all students input is valued.