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Diana Schenk

T255 Lesson #1

Oct. 25, 1996

Musical Elements to Teach: Dynamics (Forte and Piano), Accents

Grade Level: 2

Concept: The students will experience the difference between loud and soft by listening to a rainstorm on a CD. The students will also experience for themselves their own rainstorm with instruments and body movements. Also the students will experience and perform what an accent is.

Objectives: The student will: Listen to the rainstorm CD and listen for change from loud to soft and accents Create their own rainstorm by using instruments as well as body movements (slapping, clapping, rubbing) concentrating on the dynamics of the motions. Become familiar with piano, forte and accents.

Materials: Rainstorm CD, CD player, instruments (drums, rhythm sticks, cymbals, tambourines) paper, pencil

Preliminary Procedures: First begin by discussing how a rainstorm makes you feel and what things you hear or see during a rainstorm. Then have the students listen to the rainstorm CD.

Procedures:

1. Begin by turning out the lights and playing the CD so that the students can focus on listening to the rainstorm. (approx. 1 - 1 1/2 minutes) During this time have the students write sown a few things that they notice about the rainstorm and how the sounds relate to loud and soft and if there are any accents.

2. Discuss with the students what they heard and the things that they wrote by relating forte and piano with the change of loud and soft with the rainstorm, as well as the accents.

3. I will pass out the instruments to some of the students and the others will use their body movements. We will begin playing the instruments and body sounds imitating the sounds of a rainstorm. They will use what we discussed about forte and piano to make music that resembles a rainstorm.

4. To make sure that the students understand the difference we will first play what a rainstorm sounds like in forte and then in piano. To show a difference we will set a medium level so that the students have something to base the changes off of.

5. To give an added activity to the lesson the students with the drums or one of the other instruments will play one note to show an accent, much like a loud clap of thunder or the sound of lightening crashing.

Evaluation: The teacher will watch to see if the students play loudly and softly also the accents with a particular note. The discussion before and after the lesson will help the teacher to evaluate how much the students know. Also the writing that the students do while they are listening to the CD will demonstrate how much of an understanding the students have of the musical concept of loud and soft.

Follow - up: The teacher will review what the students experienced with the rainstorm from the CD and the one that they made up. They will discuss some of the things that they found to be the same from both of them focusing on forte, piano, and accents.