Grade: First Teacher: Lianne White School: EBCA
Integrated Content Areas: Music & Language Arts
Unit Title: Performing a Classroom Song
Essential Question:
How does performing a song help reinforce literacy skills?
Integrated Learning Outcome
(The art shows the understanding of the ELA/Math content)
Students will gain a beginning level of music, while developing their literacy skills. The main music focus is on
rhythm and its connection to poetry. The primary literacy focus is on the elements of poetry. The secondary
literacy focus is on syllabication.
Authentic Performance-Based Summative Assessment
Students will do a video performance showing the connection between literacy and music.
Visual and Performing Arts
Prior knowledge:
1) music class in kindergarten which taught rhythm
2) listening attentively to music
3) using body percussion
Content Standards:
1) Music Content Standard 1.1 Read, write, and perform simple patterns of rhythm and pitch, using beat, rest,
and divided beat.
2) Music 4.2 Describe how ideas or moods are communicated through music.
3) Music 4.1 Create movements to music that reflect focused listening.
4) Music 2.1 Sing with accuracy in a developmentally appropriate range.
5) Music 2.2 Sing age-appropriate songs from memory.
6) Music 2.3 Play simple accompaniments on classroom instruments.
7) Music 5.2 Describe how the performance of songs and dances improves after practice and rehearsal.
8) Music 3.4 Use developmentally appropriate movements in responding to music from various genres, periods,
and styles (rhythm, melody, form).
9) Music 2.4 Improvise simple rhythmics accompaniments, using body percussion or classroom instruments.
Skills:
1) repeating a rhythm and extending the pattern of the rhythm
2) Solfege hand signs
3) identifying notes on a staff
Other Content Area(s)
Prior knowledge:
1) literary genres from kindergarten
2) phonemic awareness in kindergarten began training their ear to hear sounds and listen attentively
3) identifying the alphabet
Common Core State Standards:
1 ) ELA.1.RF.3 Know and apply grade level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation
and in text.
2) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories and poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the
senses.
3) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.10 With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for
grade 1.
Skills:
1) Students will be able to decode words found in the text/poems
2) Students will learn the characteristics of poetry and identify these characteristics
3) Students will review concepts about print
Text
1) Open Court Unit One “Let’s Read” Rags, Hey Diddle Diddle
2) Open Court Unit One “Let’s Read” Firefly, If I Were a Mouse
3) Open Court Unit One “Let’s Read” Ryhme Stew, Purple Cow
Creative Process
(These phases of the creative process can be arranged in whatever order makes sense for this project. Phases will
likely be repeated and will overlap as the project is worked on over time. In this section, describe the strategies
used to activate these five phases.)
Imagine / Examine / Perceive
(What pieces of the unit of study require students to examine the world, perceive artwork or imagine something
new?) Students will learn to perceive poetry as it is connected with songs. They will learn that poetry is basically
lyrics without the melody.
Explore / Experiment / Develop Craft
(Which activities ask students to explore the content, experiment with ideas and get build new skills?)
Reading the selection of poems in the Unit One “Let’s Read” of Open Court and examining the four characteristics of
poems.
Create
(What pieces of the project are devoted to students creating their artwork?)
Students created a rhythm to go with poems and extended existing rhythms.
Reflect / Assess / Revise
(Which activities ask students to reflect on their work, assess their progress and revise their project?
Students had to rate the poems based on the characteristics of poems that they had learned. Their ability to decifer
whether or not a selection contained 1-4 of those characteristics was evidence s to how well they were able to
recognize the characteristics themselves.
Share
(How will students share their work with others?)
Students created rythms and shared them with the class during carpet time.
Formative Assessment of the Visual and Performing Arts Content
List tools or strategies.
1) Smartboard was a very valuable tool utilized often
2) You Tube was great for providing background knowledge and relevance
3) Poetry Big Books provided a great visual as well
Formative Assessment of Other Content Areas
List tools or strategies.
1) Students had to fill in the blanks of a sentence frame (using ryhming words) in order to complete a poem.
2) Students completed a multiple choice assessment regarding vocabulary found in the poems studied.
3)
Summative Reflection
Teacher: Lianne White
Student(s):
Reflections about the big idea
Originally, I was going to focus more on phonics and how that connected with music. Then, as I began
planning my first Open Court unit, I realized poetry was the perfect lead in for introducing music in the
classroom.
I discovered that doing scales together helps speech students and those shy talkers who don’t project their
voice enough. Rather than saying speak up several times, as I have done in the past to no avail, I have them
repeat a few notes on the scale with me. I never asked them to project their singing voice, but it happens
naturally or out of a past habit. It really makes me curious as to the effects singing has on speech therapy.