670 Portfolio Essay 2-2

Lessons that engage students are vital to a teacher's success in the

classroom. Student engagement is the foundation to a good lesson

plan because the quality of the lesson plan doesn't matter if it doesn’t click with the

students. Engagement in the lesson is how students can actively learn and grow in a

subject as well as retain essential information. This includes the different interfaces

of teaching, including books, technology, or any other tool that can be used to teach.

Cross-curricular connections, especially ones between seemingly unrelated subjects,

are a good way for students to see the value of the material because of the links they

make between the two subjects. Using these different methods to teach is a great

way to get students to think critically and creatively.

A key aspect to make these techniques of teaching work is effective

communication between the teacher and students. The teacher has to communicate

the value of a lesson and why the students should want to learn it. The students

should also feel comfortable enough in the classroom to ask their peers and/or

teacher questions when necessary. Students should also feel comfortable

enough to engage in the dialogue going on in the classroom. During group projects

where collaboration is required, the students have to work together whether it be

through discussion or separate duties. Effective communication can make or break a

classroom. A teacher needs to be able to affect communication in ways to make it

effective.

During cross-curricular lesson between language arts and music, students

used characters from the book "Holes" and created a customized playlist for each of
the main characters. This engaged the students by connecting two (seemingly)

unlike subjects together, as well as drawing from the students' knowledge of music

to develop the playlists. There were no right or wrong answers for what song

applied to a character; the songs were entirely up to the students' discretion. As a

teacher, I looked for the why in my students' choices. My students just needed to be

able to simply explain why they choose the songs they choose.

Another cross-curricular lesson I did was between history and music. I read

the students a history of composer Scott Joplin and provided a brief history over the

racism that occurred in the United States. This set the background of how Joplin

learned the piano and transitioned into the music he composed.

Artifacts are on the next page

 Artifact 1:

Text title: Holes

Character Playlist Lesson Plan

Objectives:
1. Students will create a playlist that represents their characteristics.
2. Students will create a playlist that represents the characteristics of characters of
Holes.

Standard: RI.8.3 – Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions
between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or
categories).

Materials:
-Display & Audio Technology
-Laptop
-Google Slides
-Music Recordings (Spotify)
-Character Descriptions

Procedure:
Introduction: (5 mins.)
1. “Have you ever wondered what is on Jennifer Lawrence’s iPod? What type of
music does she listen to? Based off of what we know about her and her
characteristics we created a playlist we think represents her personality.”  

Lesson: (20 mins.)

1. “You are going to create the same thing for yourselves. What songs represent
your personality and characteristics? Chose 7 songs to sum up who you are, use the
ideas on the Powerpoint and the college students around the classroom to help
you.”
2. Students will create a playlist for themselves. (10 minutes)
3. “Does everybody have 7 songs? Thumbs up if you got 7 songs on your playlist.
Awesome, save those playlists for later. Now we are going to put you into groups of
four.”
4. Teacher will put students into four groups by numbering them off. ( Groups are
Stanley, Zero, X-Ray, The Warden (Ms. Walker), position the college students
throughout the groups to facilitate thinking)
5. Students will create a playlist for the character comprised of 7 songs. (College
students feel free to use technology to help) (10 minutes) -
Conclusion: (20 mins.)
1. Each group reads their character’s description and shares their playlist.
2. “Did anyone have one of the songs on Stanley’s playlist? What song was it? How
are you like Stanley?” -
 3. “On the back of your playlist list pick one of the characters you relate with and
why.”
4. Students will relate the character playlists to themselves.

Assessment:
1. Teacher will collect the playlists to informally assess the students critical
thinking.
2. Teacher will return the playlists for the students to use for future analysis of the
book.

Character Playlist Lesson Plan

Objectives:
3. Students will create a playlist that represents their characteristics.
4. Students will create a playlist that represents the characteristics of characters of
Holes.

Standard: RI.8.3 – Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions
between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or
categories).

Materials:
-Display & Audio Technology
-Laptop
-Google Slides
-Music Recordings (Spotify)
-Character Descriptions

Procedure:
Introduction: (5 mins.)
2. “Have you ever wondered what is on Jennifer Lawrence’s iPod? What type of
music does she listen to? Based off of what we know about her and her
characteristics we created a playlist we think represents her personality.”  

Lesson: (20 mins.)

6. “You are going to create the same thing for yourselves. What songs
represent your personality and characteristics? Chose 7 songs to sum up who you
are, use the ideas on the Powerpoint removed sentence to apply to a single teacher
classroom to help you.”
7. Students will create a playlist for themselves. (10 minutes)
8. “Does everybody have 7 songs? Thumbs up if you got 7 songs on your playlist.
Awesome, save those playlists for later. Now get into groups of 4
9. Teacher will put students into four groups by numbering them off. (Groups are
Stanley, Zero, X-Ray, The Warden (Ms. Walker). Teacher walks around the room to
facilitate thinking
10. Students will create a playlist for the character comprised of 7 songs. In the
original lesson plan we gave the students descriptions of the characters. In this
revised lesson plan, the students will base the playlist based off of their own
interpretations of the characters. (10 minutes) -
Conclusion: (20 mins.)
 5. Each group reads their playlists and why they chose those songs based on what
they know about the character.
6. “Did anyone have one of the songs on Stanley’s playlist? What song was it? How
are you like Stanley?”
7. “On the back of your playlist list pick one of the characters you relate with and
why.”
8. Students will relate the character playlists to themselves, then share with the
class.

Assessment:
3. Teacher will collect the playlists to informally assess the students critical
thinking.
Before

I would introduce the book Holes and tell the students what the main goal of
the unit is. Once we get into the lesson, I would show a few snapshots of the
movie Holes, and have the students create a their own stories of what they think the
book might be about. If they have already read the book or seen the movie, I would
tell them to create another story based on the pictures and pretend they don’t know
what happens. This would be to get their creativeness going and predict what might
happen. It would also hopefully get the students more interested in the unit. The
students would learn how to form a cohesive and realistic plot based on a small
sample size of pictures to predict what will happen throughout a story.
After the pre-write, I would have them write down questions they are
curious about before reading the book. This gets them thinking, but also to read
with a purpose. Reading with a purpose will help engage the students because they
are reading for something specific, and because they are reading a certain way, the
book might have different meanings to each person since everyone will have
different questions. If I were to hand the students the book without any context and
said read the first the chapters before next class, they wouldn’t read into it, and it
would become a chore. By giving them something to read and look for, they can
come up with their own interpretations.
I would give very brief descriptions of certain characters and tell the
students to make a short playlist that describes each charter. I would collect those
lists and give them back after the students finished the book so the students
could revaluate the list.
During

During the reading the students will have a sheet of paper they use to write
down quotes they think are important. Blow those quotes the students will write
down their reactions to the quotes. (The quotes don’t have to be dialogue; they
could be bits of information outside of what a character says). This helps them study
and understand the readings more. On that same sheet of paper, the students will
write down their pre-reading questions. As they go through the book, they will write
down the answers to those questions, and write a short 1-2 sentence description of
how the answer is different that what they thought it might be.
 The students will get into pairs or groups and discuss the readings. They can
talk about character development, plot, questions, and anything else that they feel
relates to the book. The goal would be to understand other people’s perspectives
and understandings of the readings. It would be emphasized that the group work is
not for one person to do the work and catch up other group members on the
readings. I would ask the students to volunteer and share their perspectives of the
readings.
Another thing I would ask the students to do is look for any foreshadowing
they come across, and anticipate what might happen later in the reading. They can
write down their guesses on the same sheet of paper listed above.

After
To open the first class after finishing the book, I would ask for reactions to
the reading. What surprised them? Were they not surprised because they
anticipated something? After that I would have the students refer back to their sheet
from the “During” section. Then I would have them write 1 paragraph on any main
characters that had notable character development. They would write about the
character at the start of the book, and what events or turning points the character
had to experience for the change to occur. They would write down anything they
were right about or anything that was way different than how they guessed the
book would go. They would then pair up and share their findings. I would then ask
to volunteers to share with the class. This is important because it gives the students
a chance to reflect on what they read, and again see how people can have different
perspectives.
Finally, the students would create a playlist for each character. They would
compare the playlist they created from the pre-reading. They would then write a
paragraph about why they chose different songs than they initially did, which
relates back to the character development. They could also write about why some
songs may have stayed the same. Perhaps some songs relate to the character at the
beginning as well as the end. There are no right answers; just students’
perspectives.

Artifact 2
“As previously stated above, history is one of the most important and easiest
cross-curricular connections to make with music. When we know who wrote a
piece, where they were from, whether the piece was written about a specific
event, etc., that can determine a lot about the style of the piece and how it should
be played. Connecting to math, notes are fractions of other notes. For example, a
whole note consist of four beats, and half note two beats, a quarter note 1 beat,
eighth note ½ beat, 16th note ¼ of a beat, etc. Music also applies to physical
education. Professional musicians stretch before playing their instruments
because of how physically involved playing an instrument is. In relation to this
unit, the students are dealing with many actions, dances, and skits to help them
understand the concepts being taught in the unit.”
Artifact 3

Goals: The students will learn about/review the concept of segregation, a brief
history of Scott Joplin, a visual map, and syncopation

Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

Identify Maple Leaf Rag and the composer (Scott Joplin)

Identify syncopation
Define segregation
Identify forms in music
Define forms in music

Standards:

Re.3.5 Demonstrate and explain how the expressive qualities (such as dynamics, tempo,
timbre, and articulation) are used in performers' and personal interpretations to reflect
expressive intent.
Re.2.4 Demonstrate and explain how responses to music are informed by the
structure, the use of the elements of music, and context (such as social and
cultural).
Re.2.5 Demonstrate and explain, citing evidence, how responses to music are
informed by the structure, the use of the elements of music, and context (such as
social, cultural, and historical).
Re.2.3 Demonstrate and describe how a response to music can be informed by the
structure, the use of the elements of music, and context (such as personal and
social).

Materials:
Projector
Laptop/iPad
White Board
Marker
CD/Recording of Maple Leaf Rag
Music Memory Book
Visual Map of Maple Leaf Rag (in Music Memory Book)

Sequence:

- The teacher will greet the class

- The teacher will have the students sit in their chairs
- The teacher will ask “Does anyone know what February the month is recognized
as?”
- “Black History Month”
- The teacher will bring up segregation, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks
- The teacher will give a brief history on each of those topics
- The teacher will explain that because it is Black History Month, the next few
lessons will be spent learning about a black composer
- The teacher will ask if anyone has ever heard of Scott Joplin
- The teacher will ask the class if anyone knows what instrument he played
- The teacher will call on the students
- “Piano”
- The teacher will read a brief history of Scott Joplin
- If there is enough time in the class, the teacher will bring up syncopation (if there
is not enough time, the topic will be brought up later in the lesson for more
explanation)
- The teacher will ask if anyone knows what a listening map is, and then explain
what it is
- The teacher will show the students the listening map
- The teacher will say a listening map is a map you look at to follow something, in
this case the music
- The teacher will ask if the students know what form is in terms of music
- The teacher will draw ABA on the board
- The teacher will explain what the letters mean in terms of form in music
- The teacher will draw A B C D on the board, and say these are the different forms
in the song
- The teacher will ask the students to look at the visual map and count how many
different leaves there are
- “4”
- “What do you think each leaf represents?”
- “The forms in the song”
- The teacher will have the students listen to how the four different leaves sound,
but to listen to the similarities of how each same-leaf sounds the same throughout
the song
- The teacher will play the recording and point to the visual map of which leaf is
being played at that time
- The teacher will ask the students if they have any questions
- The teacher will provide comments as necessary
- The teacher will ask the students to raise their hands if they know what
syncopation is
- The teacher will call on students
- The teacher will provide comments as necessary
- The teacher will pat at a consistent tempo and have the students join in
- “Keep going, don’t do what I do”
- The teacher will clap on the off beats
- The teacher will ask the students if they heard anything about the placement of the
teachers’ clap in relation to the students clap
- The teacher will call on students and provide comments as necessary
- The teacher will draw four quarter notes on the board
Depending on grade level being taught:
3rd:
- The teacher will have the students clap and count the rhythm using syllables
- The teacher will replace beat two with two eighth notes
- The teacher will have the students say that rhythm on syllables
- The teacher will circle the second eighth note and say this is on the “upbeat”
- “This is where I started my clap. Your claps were the big down beats; my claps
were on the upbeat
- Syncopation is when the focus of the rhythm is on the upbeat instead of the
downbeat
- The teacher will draw the four different rhythms in the Music Memory book on the
board
- The teacher will have the students clap and count these rhythms on syllables
- The teacher will explain that these rhythms are common in Maple Leaf Rag
- The teacher will play the recording, pointing to the visual map, and tell the
students to listen for these rhythms

4th
- Same process as either 3rd grade because they do not know how to count on
numbers yet

5th
- The teacher will have the students clap and count the rhythm using numbers
- The teacher will replace beat two with two eighth notes
- The teacher will have the students say that rhythm on numbers
- The teacher will circle the second eighth note and say this is on the “upbeat”
- “This is where I started my clap. Your claps were the big down beats; my claps
were on the “and” of the beat
- Syncopation is when the focus of the rhythm is on the upbeat instead of the
downbeat
- The teacher will draw the four different rhythms in the Music Memory book on the
board
- The teacher will have the students clap and count these rhythms on syllables
- The teacher will explain that these rhythms are common in Maple Leaf Rag
- The teacher will play the recording, pointing to the visual map, and tell the
students to listen for these rhythms
-- The teacher will teach have the students perform each rhythm using different
body percussion (A- clap B- Pat C- Stomp D- Snap)
- The teacher will play the recording again and will have the students perform each
rhythm using the appropriate body percussion during the appropriate form in the
music
If extra time:
- The teacher will have the students listen to the song and raise their hands when
they hear a different form in the song.
Assessment:
The teacher will conduct an informal assessment by asking the students for a brief
history of Scott Joplin, Maple Leaf Rag, and syncopation.

Closure: The assessment will be the first part of the closure of the lesson, and then
the teacher will tell the students what they will be doing next class period