ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

The purpose of this unit is to increase the student’s ability to understand and create music. Over the past twenty years, I have observed that many students do not understand how to use musical elements. They seem to not apply them to their singing, listening, or musical compositions. This unit will be designed to engage the student in the creative process of musical composition, providing them with a meaningful musical experience. By doing this, students should improve their ability to compose and arrange music, using various musical elements in the process. As the students organize their advertisement for their product, they should acquire knowledge and skills that they can use in their future musical endeavors.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding:1. I want the students to understand the creative process of musical composition.  2. I want them to have the skills to either create more music for them which would enable them to further their own musical interests, or to be able to intellectually appreciate another composer’s abilities.
Goal(s):The students will understand the importance of music in a presentation, and how to create music for that presentation.

Questions Answered

Essential questions:1. How can music influence a presentation? 2. How can various elements of music add or subtract from a presentation? 3. What is a musical composition?
Objectives:1. By using various software programs, the students will demonstrate their ability to create music, including 3 out of 7 of the requirements provided in the assignment list.  2. Using a computer and digital camera, students will import pictures into Window’s Movie Maker software with 100% accuracy.  3. Using a computer students will create a slogan for their product, and they will record this slogan and import it into their presentation with 100% accuracy.  4. Using a computer and a rubric form, students will present and evaluate their finished projects during class.  5. They will demonstrate at least 70% of the requirements as listed on the rubric.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?
Quiz and test items which will provide evidence of understanding will include traditional quizzes and observations made by the teacher as the students are working on the project.
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance)will provide evidence of understanding? The academic prompts I use will include questioning by the teacher at the beginning of each new section that will encourage the students to use “brain-storming” techniques in their projects.
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? 1. The performance tasks and projects which will provide evidence of student understanding include the creation of an advertisement which uses visuals and music that the students have created.  2. I must be able to identify their product in at least three visuals within their finished project.  3. The music in their projects must be created and organized by the students.  4. They must also have their product slogan mentioned in their finished project.  5. Students will be asked to identify the slogan, music use, and visuals in a Rubric when the final projects are presented to the class for review.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment)of understanding will you collect?  Other evidence of understanding will include classroom observations, worksheets, and the finished advertisement saved to a CD.

Instructional Strategies

Students will use both inquiry-based and project-based strategies to increase their ability to create music. Through the completion of worksheets, the students will identify and define musical elements. The project-based learning will provide the students with a vehicle with which to use their knowledge of musical facts. This will demonstrate that the student can use their factual knowledge in a real-world context. 1) Students will be given a list of projects to choose from that help them identify and define musical elements. 2) Students will complete assignments from this list to earn points toward the final grade for the project. 3) Students will experiment with various musical genres, creating music by using directions on a worksheet, and through creatively composing on their own.