Week #4

This past week in class we really went over a lot of material. We learned a variety of actual music information but a majority was also learning for our own knowledge of how to create a lesson plan. We continued to review steady beat and rhythmic beat while learning new songs so that we could experiment with different movements on how to teach the songs. One actual music concept that we learned was the rest. We went over the different types such as; whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, eighth rest, and sixteenth rest. We also covered what each one looked like and possible ways to be able to remember the difference between a whole rest and a half because their appearances can often be confusing. We were taught that one of the most important things you have to know about the rest is that when you are tapping the beat however, that may be, you must always signal to your students by changing the movement that you are representing a rest so that they know that is an off beat that is not to be played. We spent a better time of the week being taught how to make a lesson plan in its beginning stages. We learned the different aspects for it to be considered both a well rounded and fun lesson plan. The different parts of a lesson plan are National Standards, Concepts Skills, both music and non music, Objectives, Materials, Procedure, Closure, and Assessment. I believe that the concept, skills, and objectives might be the most important part of a lesson because that is where you are saying what you want the kids to be able to walk away knowing and doing after the lesson is taught. We also learned on Friday the "C" note on the recorder and how to start sight reading different songs.
These different skills and concepts were taught to us in different ways. Because the week was mostly spent on the teaching of actual lesson plans the teacher went about it in a few different ways. When the week first started we really just discussed the lesson plan going down the list for explanation and using past songs as references or examples. The next day though however the teacher wanted us to see how the lesson plan was implemented so we learned another song about a dog and then we as a class were able to pick apart the lesson plan to see how it all really came together. Learning about the rest was also a part of the song being taught for the lesson. The teacher first had asked us to use different movements to keep a steady beat and then a rhythmic beat. It is very important when keeping a rhythmic beat that you do not tap when there is no note to be tapped. I believe that Friday was a very productive day on the recorder. We used our book this past week and started incorporating the different notes into songs that may have been familiar to us so it was much easier to play them. For the different songs students were chosen to go through the measures naming all of the notes so that everyone could be on track, tap the rythem, as well as possible play out what is being asked. I think that for a lot of students it was beneficial to learn this way because they in a way had their own peers going through the teaching with them at the same time.
I believe that it is important for us as future teachers to learn these concepts so we know all of the different aspects that need to be incorporated in order to make a lesson plan successful . I think that this week really showed us that there are a lot of different things that can be taught using a certain song you just have to know how to go about it and not be scared to try. I think that although people were put on the spot it was nice to have students teach the rest of the class the different notes so we were able to learn it from someone other than the teacher. It was important to go over the songs on the recorder to make sure that we were comfortable with the first couple of notes being taught to us so that we could move on and be able to learn more.
To be honest, I don't think that we really learned anything that would be useful to students at this point in time. It is important for children to be able to learn what a rest is so that they understand that there are no sounds necessary for those notes. Students need to know this because it is a part of every song that they are going to be learning and they need to know the meaning. I really think that it can't be stressed enough that in music concepts build off one another. However, I don't really think anything else was really geared at the children this week but more to us so that we would start understanding the basics of teaching.