MU.02

Improvised Accompaniment Banner.jpg

SUMMARY

KEY INFORMATION

Through this Cornerstone, students will learn how music can be used to communicate the dramatic elements of a story. Using instrumentation, movement and improvisation, students will accompany a narrative, communicating aspects of setting, tone and character emotions. Driven by experience, students will learn the basic elements of music through contrasts (loud/soft, high/low, fast/slow) and connect these elements to communicating physical, emotional and dramatic elements of the narrative. Students will engage in a cycle of creation, improvisation, feedback and presentation to produce their final work.

GRADE
Elementary

TOPIC
Accompaniment

LESSONS
Download Download Download

DURATION
3-4 Days

INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL
Performance Preparation

AUTHOR(S)
Nathaniel Rodgers, Maury ES

RESOURCES

The lessons for this Cornerstone require the resources listed below. More information regarding the use of each of the resources can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

TEXTS AND WEBSITES

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin

SUPPLIES & TECHNOLOGY

Unpitched Percussion Instruments

CURRICULUM INTEGRATION

Cornerstones are relevant, rigorous, and aligned to national learning standards. Use the tabs below to learn more about aligning to standards, embedding the Cornerstone in your unit of study, and preparing to teach the Cornerstones.

STANDARDS

MU:Cr1.1.Ka: With guidance, explore and experience music concepts (such as beat and melodic contour).

MU:Cr2.1.Ka: With guidance, demonstrate and choose favorite musical ideas.

MU:Cr3.2.Ka: With guidance, demonstrate a final version of personal musical ideas to peers.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE AND EXTENSIONS

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Students will need to be able to identify the major contrasts in music and movement: high/low, loud/soft, fast/slow, big/little. Students will need to understand how to use their voices, bodies, and classroom instruments to demonstrate these concepts. Students will need to be familiar with any specific techniques necessary for playing selected classroom instruments.

PLACEMENT

BEFORE

Students have been exploring and labeling large contrasts in music and movement. They are becoming familiar with big/little, loud/soft, and fast/slow.

DURING

Students will build a music performance vocabulary by imitating contrasting musical elements and concepts.
Students will apply their music performance vocabulary by organizing contrasting musical elements and concepts.
Students will create a performance that demonstrates their knowledge of contrasting music performance vocabulary by improvising an accompaniment to a teacher-read narrative.

AFTER

Students will continue to label contrasts in music. They will also continue to make their own compositions more musical by adding contrasts of their own.

PLANNING

To plan for this Cornerstone, read the summary, consult the rubrics and lesson plans, and utilize student work provided.

INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH

The teacher will be monitoring student performances throughout the exploration and planning process to ensure students are incorporating contrast into their work. The teacher and students will have worked together to plan what their eventual performance will look and sound like. The teacher will use a four-point rubric to evaluate the student-improvised performance which accompanies the story read by the teacher.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The key concepts in this lesson are the major contrasts in music and movement: high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, and big/little. Students who are new to these concepts are mainly apt to confuse high with loud and low with soft, especially when using voices. The teacher will need to pay extra attention to these differences to ensure students are using intended pitch levels and dynamics.

LESSON PACING

Below is a recommended pacing for this Cornerstone and the objective for each lesson. More information regarding each lesson can be located in the Cornerstone lesson plans.

LESSON	OBJECTIVE
Lesson 1	Students will explore and demonstrate understanding of contrast by creating and practicing a movement vocabulary as a class to accompany a story.
Lesson 2	Students will explore and demonstrate understanding of contrast by creating and practicing vocal sounds as a class to accompany a story.
Lesson 3	Students will explore and demonstrate understanding of contrast by creating and practicing instrumental sounds as a class to accompany a story.
Lesson 4	Students will explore and demonstrate understanding of contrast by practicing and performing previously created movements, vocal sounds, and instrumental sounds to enhance a story.

District of Columbia Public Schools
1200 First Street NE, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20002

This content was developed by the teachers
and staff of DC Public Schools.
DCPS.CORNERSTONES@DC.GOV

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Links to an external site..