Justin Wisner

Lesson #: 1/3
“Create your own theme song”
STP
November 26, 2018

Educational Context:

 The full activity is divided across three lessons. The first lesson is designed to
have students think critically about theme songs of famous movie characters,
pop culture icons, etc. This is an introduction to how musical theme songs aid
to shape a character’s personality and identity. The students will eventually
compose their own theme song using garageband and perform their creation
among each other.

Objectives:
 Musically critical and descriptive of musical examples
 Understanding the hierarchical role of musical balance, orchestration, and
instrumentation
 Ownership over musicianship

Central Focus:
 The students will listen and analyze several theme songs. They will respond
to a series of questions to aid their critical think of the music. The students
will discuss the effectiveness and elicitation of each theme song. They then
will juxtapose two theme songs with similar characters that elicit very
different emotional moods through music. The students will then move to
exploring the software of garageband and the sounds available. The students
are instructed that the music should be from 1-3 minutes long or about 50-
100 measures.

Materials:
 Paper
 Pencil/Pen
 iPad/Chrome Book/PC/Phone

Standards:
 National Standards: Listening to, analyzing and describing music,
composing and arranging music within specified guidelines, understanding
relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
 Core Standards: Responding, Connecting, Creating
 Michigan Standards: Develop criteria based on musical knowledge and
personal reflections to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of music
performances, describe distinguishing characteristics of representative
 music genres and styles from a variety of cultures, describe artistic
applications of current technology in music
 STP Standards: Assessing

Assessments:
 Begin and facilitate student led discussion about musical styles, motives, and
characteristics in provided theme song examples
 Students will document their basic analyze of the provided music examples
 Discuss basic compositional elements in music and connect how that is
relevant in their own music making
 Observe student collaboration

Hook:
 Play for the students various theme songs from pop culture:
o John Cena (which they love),
o Superman
o Jaws
o Baby Shark
o The Grinch
o Ghostbusters
 Hyperlinks:
John Cena
Superman
Jaws
Baby Shark
The Grinch
Ghostbusters

Middle of the Lesson:

 Group discussion/written response (Juxtapose the Baby Shark and Jaws
theme songs):
o Have the students discuss the musical characteristics of the theme
songs. Major/minor? Fast/slow? Forceful/gentle?
Happy/Sad/Triumphant?
o How does the music reinforce the persona of these characters?
o What are the different musical examples trying to convey about the
characters?
o Discuss how these theme songs are effective
o Discuss musical orchestration and instrumentation: foreground,
middle ground, background, melody, harmony, bass line, percussion,
ranges, ostinato, and texture.
End of the lesson:
 Have the students form groups of two
 Students should collaborate on what they want their theme songs to
resemble
 Have the students explore the software and the sounds
o This will give them a better idea of what they want their theme song
to sound like
Justin Wisner
Lesson #2/3
“Write your own theme song”
STP
November 27, 2018

Educational Context:

 The full activity is divided across three lessons. This is the second lesson in
the trilogy of lessons. The students should have an idea of their
compositional objectives from the prior lesson.

Objectives:
 Creatively expressing their musical ideas through technology
 Understanding aspects of musical form and organization
 Understanding the hierarchical role of musical balance, orchestration, and
instrumentation
 Ownership over musicianship

Central Focus:
 The students are using the program Garageband to create theme songs for
themselves. They previously analyzed various theme songs of mainstream
pop culture. The students are instructed that the music should be from 1-3
minutes long or about 50-100 measures. There should be an emphasis on
basic compositional techniques. The goal is to create a theme that sounds
complete and musical.

Materials:
 iPad/Chrome Book/PC/Phone
 Garageband
o Also possible options:
 Loopslab.com
 Soundation.com

Standards:
 National Standards: Select and develop composed and improvised ideas
into draft musical works organized for a variety of purposes and context,
composing and arranging music within specified guidelines, understanding
relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
 Core Standards: Connecting, Creating
 Michigan Standards: Compose short pieces to communicate ideas and/or
stories, within defined parameters and using standard notation, use a variety
of traditional, nontraditional, and electronic sound sources when composing,
arranging, and improvising
 STP Standards: Creating
Procedure:
 Gather students for the second lesson
 Have them reassemble themselves in their groups they chose
 Briefly revisit conversation from yesterday (10 minutes)
o Discuss the elements of the “musical sundae” and remaining
orchestration tips
 Foundation like a bass line or ostinato: the ice cream
 Melodic voice: the whipped cream
 Harmony: the hot fudge
 Texture: the cherry on top
o Have the student groups discuss with each other what they want to
musically convey from their composition
 Pass out iPads
 Have the groups start working on their compositions
o Allow for 45 minutes
 Provide guidance when applicable
 Give clear time warnings to keep the groups on track
o Start with 10 minutes, then five, then 2
 Have the groups save their materials!
o It is okay and expected the groups do not finish. Provide time on
lesson #3
 Collect iPads, label each groups iPad

Assessments:
 Begin and facilitate student led discussion about musical styles, motives, and
characteristics in provided theme song examples
 Students will document their compositions on the iPads
 Discuss basic compositional elements in music and connect how that is
relevant in their own music making
 Observe student collaboration
Justin Wisner
Lesson #3/3
“Write your own theme song”
STP
November 28, 2018

Educational Context:

 The full activity is divided across three lessons. This is the final lesson in the
trilogy of lessons. The students should complete their compositions early in
this lesson. For the remainder of the final lesson, students should focus on
reflection and assessment.

Objectives:
 Creatively expressing their musical ideas through technology
 Creating a complete composition
 Understanding aspects of musical form and organization
 Understanding the hierarchical role of musical balance, orchestration, and
instrumentation
 Ownership over musicianship
 Reflecting and assessing work

Central Focus:
 The students will quickly complete any remaining work in regards to their
compositional task previously explained in lesson two. The student groups
will then perform their creations for their peer’s. Once the performance is
over, the remaining block of time will be dedicated to an open discussion
about their own work and the work of their counterparts.

Materials:
 iPad/Chrome Book/PC/Phone
 Garageband
o Also possible options:
 Loopslab.com
 Soundation.com

Standards:
 National Standards: Select and develop composed and improvised ideas
into draft musical works organized for a variety of purposes and context,
composing and arranging music within specified guidelines, understanding
relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts,
demonstrate an ability to connect with audience members before and during
the process of engaging with and responding to them through prepared and
improvised performances, Demonstrate and justify how the analysis of
 structures, contexts, and performance decisions inform the response to
music.
 Core Standards: Connecting, Creating, Responding, Performing
 Michigan Standards: Compose short pieces to communicate ideas and/or
stories, within defined parameters and using standard notation, use a variety
of traditional, nontraditional, and electronic sound sources when composing,
arranging, and improvising, Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of one’s
own and others’ musical performances and creations by applying specific
and appropriate criteria and offering constructive suggestions for
improvement, Describe artistic applications of current technology in music,
use technology in a variety of ways in musical performance
 STP Standards: Creating, Performing, Assessing

Procedure:
 Gather students for the third and final lesson
 Have them reassemble themselves in their groups they chose
 Have the groups complete their compositions for roughly 20 minutes
o Provide any last guidance and advice
o Provide students a count down of time to keep them on task
 Have the students reconvene as a full group
 Start the performance of the compositions
o Have each group go one at a time
o Explain good performance etiquette
o Explain to the students they will be reflecting upon their peer’s work
as well as their own
 Once the performance are finished and every group has gone, provide the
students with reflection/assessment questions:
o What was the hardest thing about the assignment?
o What was the most fun?
o What came the most natural?
o Did you enjoy the project?
o Do you feel like a composer?
o Did this make you a better musician? Why or why not?
o Did the understanding you have on your own instrument help or
hinder your compositional skills?
o Any “ah-ha” moments?
o What did you learn from other group’s performances?
o If you could go back and fix your music would you?
o Are you going to compose more in the future?

Assessments:
 Students will document their compositions on the iPads
 Discuss basic compositional elements in music and connect how that is
relevant in their own music making
 Observe student collaboration