Rationale

Paige Williams Rationale

This lesson can be an important part of instruction in my field because it not only addresses a function of music (symbolic representation), but it also makes connections across disciplines (music, art, history, English, etc.). In the music education field, there are three standards that are often ignored. These are standards 6, 8 and 9: “listening to, analyzing, and describing music”, “understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts”, and “understanding music in relation to history and culture”. My lesson plan is based on these three standards. Students are listening to music that depicts heroes, and analyzing/describing how the music does so. The lesson also allows students to make connections between music and other disciplines such as English and history. Through comparing how different cultures define a “hero”, students understand music in relation to history and culture.

This lesson plan is a small lesson that can be expanded into a unit on the function of music as symbolic representation. Other lessons involving music symbolizing characters, places, themes, etc. can be done in this unit, in addition to this lesson plan. It is essential that students in music classes understand the functions of music. Why music? What is the purpose of music? These questions help give students a better understanding of music in their lives and give students a focus.

My lesson plan, in addition to the whole unit, helps support several literacy learning goals. In this lesson, students are “calling up and connecting relevant prior knowledge”, as well as “determining the most important ideas and events and summarizing what they have read”. These are techniques that help students improve their literary skills. These techniques also make it easier for the learners to understand and apply the knowledge they acquire, and research the idea on a deeper level. For the larger unit, “KWL” charts can help make the unit more personal for each of them, and make the unit something they want to do and learn. The charts can help the students visually compare and contrast to notice similarities and differences, cultural influences, etc.

Two other concepts that address literacy learning goals are seen in the lesson plan. “Cluster maps” help the students visualize details of the concept they are learning, and help them pick apart/break down words to enrich meaning. The maps also improve organizational skills. “Art-ifying” is a concept from Rick Wormeli’s __Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject__. By the students illustrating a hero and walking viewers through the process, they are getting the opportunity to be creative and focus on specific details of the concept they are learning. This is a perfect way to help visual learners. Certain activities may be adapted kinesthetically (by “dramatizing” or charades) or auditorally (describing and composing).

Overall, this lesson plan and unit is a great basis to connect music to other disciplines and to help students understand music in relation to history and culture. The unit can be tweaked and modified based on the needs of the students or the goals of the teacher.