MYP Unit Planner
Unit Title
Scale your way to the top!
Teacher(s)
Kathryn Redling
Subject/grade level
Level 2
Time frame/duration
1st Quarter
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our
focus?
Why have we chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What do we
want our students to retain for years into
the future?
Human Ingenuity
To improve you world, start with yourself.
MYP unit question
How will improving myself affect others?
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
Criteria A – Students
Criteria B – Students will be recorded on their scales
Criteria C – Plus Delta of how scale playing progresses
Criteria D – Teacher and student feedback on scale playing
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have
understood? By the end of the unit, students will understand the importance of scales and technical exercises.
They will be able to demonstrate this by performing specific tasks with the class and individually.
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
ABCD
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used? Criteria A: demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the
elements of the art form studied, including specialized language, concepts and processes.
Criteria B: apply skills, techniques and processes to create, perform and/or present music.
Criteria C: Use feedback to inform their own artistic development and processes.
Criteria D: demonstrate curiosity, self-motivation, initiative and a willingness to take informed risks.
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning activities through
inquiry
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to
respond to the unit question? What intercultural connections are being made?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be
unpacked to develop the significant concept(s) for stage 1?
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Students will play alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Students will read and notate music
Students will listen to, analyze and describe music
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to
learning skills?
Collaboration with other students and teacher on listening and evaluating concept through rubrics and writing
journal.
Learning experiences
How will students know what is expected of them?
Will they see examples, rubrics, and templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and
practise the skills required? Students will use basic
knowledge acquired from previous year and will e
instructed through student, teacher, and professional
demonstrations (i.e. listening to symphonies). They will
be required to practice the given material, scale sheets,
at home and record practices times on a chart.
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How
will we know? Yes, Students be able to play the
scale in the normal scale patter which we will
perform in class together for an informal
assessment. The scale patterns will differentiate for
the upper levels and students that are more
advanced in scale playing such as playing scales in
3rds, 4ths, or 5ths.
Teaching strategies
How will we use formative assessment to give students
feedback during the unit? Students will perform alone and
with other in class and receive feedback from teacher and
fellow classmates.
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
Students will learn by observing, listening and reading
various technical exercises. They will then further their scale
reading by playing extra scales. Students will also use
different method books to learn new scales and arpeggios.
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all?
How have we made provision for those learning in a
language other than their mother tongue? How have we
considered those with special educational needs?
Before and after school tutorting will be available for those
that need extra assistance. Players that are more advanced
at the method will be given an option to help tutor those that
need additional help. Mastery on the scales will allow them
new versions of the required work.
Resources
What resources are available to us? Essential Elements Book 1 and 2, Fussell Exercises for Ensemble Drill,
and playlist.com
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate
students’ experiences during the unit? Students will be able to
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further stimulus questions at
the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for
student-initiated action?
Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject
groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How
did I make sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?