"Keep Your Hand on the Plow" (Classes 2 and 3)

With classes 2 and 3, I had the opportunity to redeem myself from my first lesson! These next lessons went a lot better because they were better sequenced to help the students.

Some of the major changes I made were:

• Splitting up the review of expressive qualities by reviewing a particular quality, then listening to recordings of "Keep Your Hand on the Plow" to identify that particular quality. Then I'd move on to the next quality, listen again, and so on.
• Giving students a physical way to identify expressive qualities. For example, when identifying tempo, students would keep the beat in their bodies. When identifying dynamics, students would "measure" the dynamic of what they heard with their hands. When identifying articulation, students would conduct in a legato style or a staccato style.

(See the link at the end of the post for a full lesson plan and the corresponding google slides)

Here's an example of class 3 "measuring" the dynamics of "Keep Your Hand on the Plow":

After I taught this lesson to class 3, Mrs. Hamilton pointed out a really cool moment that had happened with a student who usually caused trouble in class. In the middle of the lesson, when I had been asking about differences in a particular expressive quality between performances of "Keep Your Hand on the Plow," this student raised his hand. He offered an answer that showed he had completely comprehended what had been taught and he was able to compare the two performances correctly. I was satisfied to know that the class seemed to be understanding, but hadn't thought much more of it. However, Mrs. Hamilton said this was a rare occasion for this student. Although this student got distracted later in the lesson, it was really cool that the music had been able to engage this student for a moment and he was able to learn.

My lesson wasn't perfect of course (for instance, you can see one student in the video who didn't participate in "measuring" dynamics), but I was really proud of taking a lesson that hadn't worked well and making it much more successful.

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Link to view Lesson Plan

Link to view Google Slides

"Keep Your Hand on the Plow" (Class 1)

For the next set of classes, Mrs. Hamilton said she would love to explore the Civil War. After toying with some ideas, I decided to use a spiritual called "Keep Your Hand on the Plow" (also known as "Hold On" and "Gospel Plow") to teach about slavery in the United States as a precursor to the Civil War. My musical objective for the students was to be able to differentiate expressive qualities such as dynamics, tempo, and articulation between two performances of "Keep Your Hand on the Plow."

Here are the performances that we listened to:

Mahalia Jackson - Keep Your Hand on the Plow

Odetta at Carnegie Hall - Hold On (Gospel Plow)

I spent a long time putting this lesson together and was very excited to teach it. I mean, everyone loves spirituals, right? However, when I taught the lesson, it did not work out. It was obvious that I only had about a third of the class engaged at any given point.

Afterwards, Mrs. Hamilton and I talked for a while about the lesson. I could tell that Mrs. Hamilton wasn't feeling particularly optimistic, and I was also a little frustrated that the lesson hadn't gone as I imagined.

However, I was determined to fix the lesson so that it would work. I felt that I had lots of great content, but the sequence of activities had disengaged the class. We had spent too much time sitting and reviewing expressive qualities before we ever got to listen to the music. Furthermore, part of the reason we spent so long talking about expressive qualities was because I hadn't effectively scaffolded the review of expressive qualities. Instead of a review, it felt like I was teaching the students about these expressive qualities for the first time, even though they did know a lot already!

Just because a lesson doesn't go well doesn't mean that it should be thrown out. In the case of this lesson, I had lots of great ideas, but I just didn't present it in a sequence that worked for the students. By analyzing what went wrong, I was able to fix this lesson and try it again with a new class! Stay tuned for the improvements.

"Yankee Doodle" (Classes 3 and 4)

We continued to do the “Yankee Doodle” lesson with the next 5th grade class, but I invited my mentor, Jen Purdy to come to watch so that I could get some feedback on how it could be improved. Rather than tell me what went wrong and what went well, Jen asked me what I thought of the lesson. I told her that I felt it had gone pretty well: I felt that my objectives were mostly met, and my classroom management was getting better, too. I was also proud of myself for being brave enough during the lesson to identify a time when the students weren’t clapping the beat. Instead of moving on, I identified it and we fixed it.

However, I had noticed in teaching this time that the students struggled when I asked them to improvise their own rhythm towards the end of the lesson. This had also happened in my other lessons, but I hadn’t paid enough attention to it. During this lesson, some students just kept the beat, instead of improvising a rhythm. Others would just go crazy, not really doing any kind of rhythm, just hitting the table.

Jen had noticed this too. I didn’t know how to fix it, but Jen suggested that I give more rhythmic examples to the students before I let them improvise. She also suggested that we could clap some notated rhythms to help give the students some ideas. So when I came back to teach this lesson for a fourth time to the final 5th grade class, I added these slides to my lesson:

During my lesson, we clapped some of these rhythms before I let the class try to improvise their own. I think it helped all of the students to create better rhythms. Of course, there were still some students who could’ve used more help. If I had more time, I would’ve loved to walk around the room to assess their rhythms and perhaps help some of the students who were still struggling. But I think that adding these slides to my lesson did help a lot! I’m grateful to Jen for her suggestion to do so.

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Link to view updated Google Slides

Link to listen to Class 3

Link to listen to Class 4

"Yankee Doodle" (Classes 1 and 2)

Because of the way that Mrs. Hamilton's music classes are set up, I will have the opportunity to teach in each of the four 5th grade classes that she teaches! We will be able to teach the same lesson a few times, exploring with the students. This is wonderful, because we will be able to learn what works for the students and what doesn't. 

We have decided to integrate our music teaching with US History, so with some lesson idea help from my mentor, I decided to start with a lesson centered around the song, "Yankee Doodle." Historically, this song provides the opportunity for students to explore the attitudes of the British and Americans in the American Revolution. Musically, I decided that we could also use "Yankee Doodle" to remind the students about the difference between beat and rhythm, learn the dotted eighth note and sixteenth note rhythm, and create a performance of the song by inserting an improvised rhythm section in the middle of the song.

The lesson was split into three parts:

1. Introducing the song, remembering the difference between beat and rhythm, and learning the dotted eighth note and sixteenth note rhythm.

--I clapped the rhythm of the song and students identified the song by its rhythm. We sang the song all together.

--Students sang the song while watching me demonstrate stomping the beat, and then clapping the rhythm. We identified the difference between the two.

--Using notation, students identified quarter notes and eighth notes in "Yankee Doodle" and how many of those notes are within a beat.

--Introduced the dotted eighth note and sixteenth note rhythm in notation. We chanted its rhythm using the words "Yankee Doodle," which is where that rhythm occurs in the song. Also, identified different ways to count a dotted eighth note and sixteenth note followed by two eighth notes (looong-short nor-mal OR 1  a2 + ).

2. Exploring the history of "Yankee Doodle"--how did it come to be and why it is important?

--Invited students to share their ideas with their neighbors and then took some ideas from the class about what they thought "Yankee Doodle" was about. Every time, at least one student already knew that it was originally a song the British sang to make fun of the Americans, but the Americans took it and made it their own. However, we got lots of fun other ideas as well.

--Discussed some of the more unfamiliar terms in the song like "doodle" and "macaroni."

--We sang through the book "Yankee Doodle" by Steven Kellogg, discussing the different scenes we watched the young character move through in the American Revolution.

--Discussed why the Americans took this song and made it their own.

3. Creating a performance of "Yankee Doodle" by singing it as a class with an improvised rhythm section in the middle.

--Split the class into 4 groups. I demonstrated improvising body percussion over 8 beats.

--We practiced each group improvising for 8 beats, each group after the next.

--Put together the song: sang through "Yankee Doodle" once, each group improvised for 8 beats each, then sang "Yankee Doodle" again.

--As time permitted, ran the song again, but each group started their improvised rhythm section with the dotted eighth note, sixteenth note, and 2 eighth notes rhythm.

Reflections

One of the best moments of this lesson occurred right after we put everything together in the third part of the lesson. In the recording (which you can find below), you'll faintly hear one student say, "Let's do it again!" after we finish the song. This was a small comment, but it was highly rewarding! After putting in some really good focus time during the first two portions of the lesson, I was happy that the students were having fun putting everything together.

This first lesson was also a good reminder in how important preparation and classroom management are. One of Mrs. Hamilton's first comments to me after the lesson was something like, "Wow! They respect you. They can tell you're prepared. Classroom management is half of the battle." I was grateful that my lesson was detailed enough that the pacing was fast and helped students stay engaged.

Because Mrs. Hamilton's class is part of a STEAM school, she encouraged me to put my lesson together using Google Slides. This was so effective in my lesson! The students could see exactly what we were doing and I saved lots of time by having all my visual aids in the slides. Mrs. Hamilton considers Google Slides, a microphone, and a seating chart to be three of the most important tools in her classroom. These were all very helpful to me as I taught.

The next week Mrs. Hamilton was going to have a substitute , so we didn't think I would be able to teach. However, after doing this first lesson, Mrs. Hamilton had me come teach the next 5th grade class with the substitute. I'm glad that we're off to a great start!

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Link to view Google Slides

Link to listen to Class 1

Link to listen to Class 2

Introduction

And we’re off!

This is the start of a great semester! I am so excited to be an Arts Bridge Scholar in Mrs. Hamilton’s music classroom this semester. I know that music can bring so much happiness and fulfillment in our lives.

First, an introduction to me:

I am originally from Bakersfield, California, but I’ve lived in Utah since I was eight, so I claim Sandy, Utah as home. I love the mountains, but I also miss the ocean in California and the big Nebraskan skies from my mission. I love being here in Utah though, close to my family, both immediate and extended. Utah’s a great place. 

I am the oldest of 5 children. We are all in college right now, except for my youngest brother who is a junior in high school. My mom recently graduated with her bachelor’s from BYU. Here’s a picture:

I’m a BYU music education major with an emphasis in choral teaching and a minor in math. One day I hope to be a choir teacher! Along with choral music, I also love a cappella music, pop music, and musical theater. I currently work as a piano and math tutor at a local charter school. I also love skiing, boating, going to performing arts events, and having card game wars with my friends.

During this semester, Mrs. Hamilton and I will be working with her 5th grade classes to put together a musical presentation for parents. In our lessons, we will be integrating subjects that the 5th graders are learning about by using music. We’re excited to expand our abilities to use music to help students become well-rounded learners. The presentation will include videos and pictures of what the students have been learning, students teaching their parents about what they’ve been learning, and music-making with their parents. We’re excited to get started!