Composing The Blues (3) Lesson 6

Composing The Blues (3) Lesson 6 Critical Learning The composing task is manageable. Musical elements are essential to composition. Composing requires making personal and collaborative connections. Curriculum Expectations Creating and Performing C1. apply the creative process to create and perform music for a variety of purposes, using the elements and techniques of music 1.1 sing and/or play, in tune, from musical notation, unison music in two or more parts from diverse cultures, styles, and historical periods 1.2 apply the elements of music when singing and/or playing, composing, and arranging music, using them for specific effects and clear purposes 1.4 use the tools and techniques of musicianship in music performances 1.5 demonstrate an understanding of standard and other musical notation through performance and composition Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing C2. apply the critical analysis process to communicate their feelings, ideas, and understandings in response to a variety of music and musical experiences 2.1 express analytical personal responses to musical performances in a variety of ways 2.2 analyse using musical technology, ways in which the elements are used in the music that they perform, listen to, and create 2.3 identify and give examples of their strengths and areas for improvement as composers, musical performers, interpreters, and audience members Instructional Components Readiness ability to perform at least the first five notes of the major scale basic understanding of written notation experience with Call and Response understanding of elements of music and the pentatonic scale ability to identify I IV and V of a scale ability to identify a connection between rhythm and lyrics/words ability to sing and/or play the accompaniment basic understanding of simple rhythms ability to recognize the 12-bar Blues chordal progression Terminology accompaniment (the 12-bar Blues harmonic progression using the root of chord) balanced melodic line Jazz rhythm lyrics melody pitch rhythm root note of a chord swing beat improvise (improvisation) major scale manuscript paper pentatonic scale scale 12-bar Blues Guiding Questions How can you make the composing task manageable? How can you use musical elements effectively in your composition? How can collaboration enrich your musical experience? Learning Goals (Unpacked Expectations) Play and/or sing the 12-bar Blues in tune from musical notation. Write a melody on manuscript paper incorporating The Blues chordal progression. Apply Jazz rhythms and articulation in composing, performing, and improvising. Express an informed point of view in response to an example of the 12-bar Blues. Self-assess personal singing and/or playing and make choices to improve the composition. Materials and Resources Chart paper for Venn diagram First 5 notes reference page Blues scale Students lyrics Students accompaniment page Manuscript paper Jazz rhythm examples Reflection Log Self-Assessement Checklist Reflection Log Reflection Questions 1

Composing The Blues (3) Lesson 6 Minds On Pairs Analyzing The Blues Post question prompts from the Expression of an Informed Point of View stage of the Critical Analysis Process (See The Arts, Grades 1-8, 2009, pp. 23-28.) to focus analysis in listening/viewing activity. Play a previously unheard video clip of 12-bar Blues in performance. In a Think-Pair-Share or Inside-Outside Circle, students listen/view, share thinking in response to a prompt with a partner, and then share with the whole group. Ask students to draw a Venn diagram or comparison matrix on chart paper. Play a video recording of a contrasting form, e.g., country, pop video, orchestral, or vocal choir preferably current, familiar, and popular with students. Play both pieces several times. Encourage students to address the question prompts and to label details included in the Venn, e.g., Arrangement of Elements or Artist s World View. Share similarities and differences with the whole group. Individual Self-Assessment Give students an opportunity to compare their own melodies and lyrics to the 12-bar Blues recording. Ask: How does your use of elements and techniques differ? What effects does each of the pieces aim for? What can you learn from the video that you can apply to your own composition? Pause and Ponder QuickTip Comparison Strategy Comparison heightens students awareness of goals and creative possibilities, and supports self-assessment. Action! Whole Group 5-Minute Action! Warm-up Review the previous lessons having students sing and/or play the first 5 notes, The Blues scale and the accompaniment. Some students can improvise with Jazz rhythms using the first three of notes of The Blues scale. Individual and Pair Composing The Blues Review and continue the composing process begun in Lesson 4. The same Teacher Tips apply. Assessment Checkpoint: Observe/listen to individual students using the Observation Checklist: Assessment for Learning Checkpoint Lessons 5 & 6. Identify students who are ready to move towards the performance task and those who require additional guided practice. Consolidation Whole Group Responding to The Blues Play The Blues recording from the Minds On. Prompt students to form a Value Line (Take a Stand) in response to the following prompts: Have your thoughts or feelings about the work changed since your first impressions? Fold the line in half. Students respond to the following questions with their partner: How have your thoughts and feelings changed? What made you change your mind? If you have not changed your mind, can you explain your first reaction more fully or precisely? Volunteers share with the class. Facilitate a discussion of factors that contribute to personal responses and how we can deepen our appreciation of musical forms that are new to us. Pairs Revising and Refining Communication Students respond to the prompt for Lesson 6 in their Reflection Log. Student pairs exchange Logs and provide feedback, following the model of teacher feedback on their Lesson 5 responses. Pairs return Logs to their authors so that students can revise using Proof-reading without Partners (See Think Literacy Subject-Specific Examples: Music, Grades 10-12, pp. 8-11.). Students self-assess using the checklist in the Reflection Rubric. Students use the Reflection Rubric to self-assess a partner s response. Students are practising success criteria for the second time. Collect Logs and provide feedback according to success criteria. Address gaps between student and teacher assessment. 2

Composing The Blues (3) Lesson 6 Minds On Question Prompts What elements has the artist selected and combined to achieve the intended effect in this work? What doesn t work and why? Has your point of view shifted from your initial reaction? If so, how has it changed? Have your thoughts or feelings about the work changed since your first impressions? If so, how have they changed? What made you change your mind? If you have not changed your mind, can you explain your first reaction more fully or precisely? Is this an important work? Why? Think-Pair-Share Bennett and Rolheiser (2001) describe Think-Pair-Share as one of the simplest of all the tactics (page 94). As pointed out by Bennett and Rolheiser and Think Literacy Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12 (page 152), students require skills to participate effectively in Think-Pair-Share: active listening taking turns asking for clarification paraphrasing considering other points of view suspending judgement avoiding put-downs. These skills can be modelled and explicitly taught. During group work, teachers can provide oral feedback and reinforce expectations. Bennett, Barrie, and Rolheiser, Carol (2001). Beyond Monet: The artful science of instructional integration. Ajax, ON: Bookation. See Think Literacy Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7-12 (2003), pages 152-153. Inside-Outside Circles Inside-Outside Circles is a strategy that structures a series of low-risk conversations between pairs of students. Half of the class forms an inside circle; these students face outward. The other half of the class forms an outside circle; these students face inward. Students engage in discussion with the student directly facing them. On a signal, the inside circle moves clockwise while the outside circle moves counterclockwise so that each student faces a new partner. This strategy works well for a series of questions. See Bennett, Barrie and Rolheiser, Carol (2001). Beyond Monet: The artful science of instructional integration. Ajax, ON: Bookation. Pages 160-161. Venn Diagrams Students use a Venn diagram to map similarities and differences between two works. Encourage students to label information to ensure that the same categories/topics are addressed across both circles. For a music context, see Developing and Organizing Ideas More Mapping: Venn diagrams, Think Literacy Subject- Specific Examples: Music, Grades 10-12, pp. 30-35. Comparison Strategy Marzano, Pickering and Pollock (2001) argue that identifying similarities and differences which might be considered the core of all learning involve mental operations [that are] basic to human thought (14). The authors suggest the following instructional approaches: teacher-directed explicit instruction student-directed divergent-thinking activities graphic or symbolic forms, e.g., Venn diagram or comparison matrix, to represent similarities and differences classifying (grouping items based on similarities), creating metaphors (recognizing abstract or non-literal relationships) and creating analogies (A:B::C:D). Marzano, Robert J.; Pickering, Debra J.; and Pollock, Jane E. (2004). Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement.

Composing The Blues (3) Lesson 6 Minds On Comparison Matrix Students could use a comparison matrix a table, or intersected list gives more structure than a T-Chart by providing another set of labels down the side. The T-Chart tends to be used for open-ended brainstorming in which ideas are generated rapidly. The comparison matrix tends to be used for more considered, analytical thinking. Sample Comparison Matrix 12-bar Blues Contrasting Work What works to achieve an intended effect? What doesn t work and why? Has your point of view shifted from your initial reaction? If so, how has it changed? Why is this an important work? Graphic organizers, often incorporate lists or provide a graphic version of a list. It is helpful to explicitly teach these structures so that students recognize and know how to use them. A simple list groups related items under a label. These lists may be verbal or graphic; horizontal, vertical, or spatially arranged; organized or random. An example of a simple list is a list of materials for a lab or a list of instructions. A combined list places the corresponding items in two or more simple lists side-by-side. An example of a combined list is a list of states of water with corresponding explanations and percentage. An intersected list is a matrix or a table which arranges labels along 2 dimensions, e.g., across the top and down the left-hand side. Intersected lists are an efficient way of summarizing information in 3 simple lists. To locate information in an intersected list, students locate the appropriate labels and follow the column and row to where they intersect. Examples of intersected lists are schedules or maps. Locating information in and interpreting tables, and entering information into tables is referred to as Document Use. Document use is one of the 9 Essential Skills developed by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. See Human Resources and Social Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) at http://www10.hrsdc.gc.ca/ce/english/ ES_Profiles.aspx and http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/essential_skills/general/readers_guide_whole. shtml#a14 For information on lists, see the following: Document Use at Work (Combines Document Literacy & Language of Documents in one publication). SkillPlan: BC Construction Industry Skills Improvement Council. See Resources, Publications.

Composing The Blues (3) Lesson 6 Consolidation Value Line (Take a Stand) Students position themselves along a line between two opposite, extreme opinions to represent their opinion or stand on an issue. In doing so, they also position themselves relative to other students. The line is then either folded in half or split so that half the line walks back to face a partner from another position on the line. Partners discuss the reasons for their stand before volunteers share with the whole group. Usually, students are given an opportunity to revise their position after discussion, emphasizing that discussion may influence their thinking. See Ogle, Donna; Klemp, Ronald M.; and McBride, Bill (2007). Building Literacy in Social Studies: Strategies for Improving Comprehension and Critical Thinking. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. P.185. Success Criteria Co-creation of rubrics and analysis of exemplars contribute to transparency and building shared understanding of criteria and standards. This work also supports development of peer- and self-assessment skills. See Differentiated Instruction Cards, Identifying Success Criteria and Sharing and Clarifying Success Criteria.

I ve Got The Blues! Observation Checklist Assessment for Learning Checkpoint Lessons 5 & 6 Student Use of standard notation Creation of a balanced melodic line Use of musicianship, e.g., articulation Application of the elements of music when improvising a melody over a rhythm Feedback provided Date Suggested symbols: approaching achieving exceeding

Name: I ve Got The Blues! Reflection Log Self-Assessment Checklist Indicate progress with a coloured sticky dot (beginning- red; approaching - yellow; achieving - green). Update progress on learning goals throughout the unit. When you have completed this log, hand it in to your teacher. Lesson Learning Goals Progress Dots 1 I can identify/sing and/or play a rhythm. I can write my own lyrics in an AAB form. I am playing /singing my notes accurately. 2 I can identify scale degrees I IV and V and play them in the context of the blues progression. I can play/sing the first 5 notes of the major scale. I can identify/sing and/or play I IV V in a scale. 3 I can improvise using 3 notes with a Jazz rhythm. I have explored various rhythms in my improvisations. I am beginning to use articulation that is stylistically appropriate to the Blues form. 4-7 I have tried improvising using all the notes of the Blues scale. I know the 12-bar Blues form. Write form in Roman numerals on the line. I know the notes (I, IV, V) on my instrument in 12-bar Blues form. Write form in note names for your instrument on the line. I wrote 2 bars of melody and it was checked by (partner). I wrote 8 bars of melody and it was checked by (partner). I wrote 12 bars of melody and it was checked by (teacher).

I ve Got The Blues! Reflection Log Reflection Questions Name: Date: -------------------------- Lesson 6: Taking a Stand 1. Is the example of the 12-bar Blues you heard today an important work? Why? Organize your ideas and state your position clearly in complete sentences. Support your position with personal connections feelings, experiences, knowledge. Support your position with examples and reasons. You could make comparisons to other musical forms. Incorporate the feedback you received on Lesson 5. At the bottom of your page, indicate which level of the Reflection Rubric you think your response is. Give a reason for your self-assessment.