High+School+Choir+Lesson+Plan

This lesson I originally used as a Universal Design for Learning peer teaching lesson. This lesson would be appropriate for beginning or intermediate level high school mixed choral ensembles. This lesson is focusing on singing with contrasting ideas. Although it doesn't explicitly discuss form, it also introduces the idea of ABA form. This lesson is assuming the students already have a basic knowledge of the piece and their parts.

National Standards: Performing- Interpret; Performing- Rehearse, Evaluate, & Refine

Materials: Psallite PowerPoint, Psallite color-coded music (highlighted by section (AB) and by voice part)

Primary Focus/ Learning Target: Singing sections with contrast

Objective: Provided with color coded music, students will be able to sing Psallite with two many contrasting ideas.

Assessment: Informal- Formative: The students and teacher will listen for contrast and provide feedback.

Sequence:

1. (slides 1-2) Introduce the lesson and pass out music. 2. (slide 3) Sing "dm" on the pattern do-re-mi-fa-sol-fa-mi-re-do. Think about singing it short. I think about a person tiptoeing. Give the class 30 seconds to discuss with their neighbor what else you could think of. Sing it again, thinking about whatever helps you sing short. Add in tapping fingertips to opposite palm on the beat. 3. (slide 4) Sing "dah" on the same pattern. Think about singing it legato and flowing. I think of a waterfall. Give the class 30 seconds to discuss with their neighbor what else you could think of. Sing it again. Add in rolling arms while singing. 4. (slide 5) "These two ideas of 'dm' and 'dah' are the two separate sections in Psallite. In your music, the part highlighted in yellow is the 'dm' and the part highlighted in blue is the 'dah'." Have students sing through Psallite on the syllables and using the different hand motions. Repeat if necessary. 5. (slide 5) Have students sing through Psallite on text, but still with the same feel and still utilizing hand motions.