Music 4: A cacophony of sound resources

Stacked to the brim with lesson ideas, iPad Apps, names of musical composers and movie scores, I feel like I’ve emerged from the music workshops far less intimidated by the idea of ‘teaching music’. Aside from the necessary skills, terms and knowledge of musical concepts which need explicit teaching, I’m excited to use music as a tool for teaching other KLAs. For example:

Maths:

-       Graphic notation as a form of algebra

-       reading music using fractions

-       skip counting using body percussion

-       singing multiplication tables

-       pie charts to breakdown the structure and tone colour of a piece

-       graphing pitch, time, tempo and dynamic changes over the course of a piece

-       identifying the missing rhythm in a bar

-       measurement: scale of instruments like xylophone bars will affect the pitch

English:

-       writing and listening to verses and rhyme in song, akin to poetry

-       analysing the meaning of songs

-       analysing song structure, like repetition for emphasis

-       using picture books as a stimulus (writing a song accompaniment for a picture book, or writing a picture book for a song)

-       onomatopoeia

Billy Goats Gruff

For example, Billy Goats Gruff by Susan Hellard, could be used for readers theatre using instruments, composing and playing an accompanying percussive piece. An example of how this text has been used in such a style can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO-5KgcfHmI

Art:

-       Paint or sculpt what you listen to

- Design a picture book cover or page spread

-       Compose and play a musical accompaniment to a famous artwork, comic strip or digital text

-       Discuss how music reflects the culture, art periods and architecture of the time (links with HSIE)

-       Life drawings of instruments, making instruments (links with science of sound)

- For example, the image to the right depicts Billy Goats Gruff in a very different style to that of the average picture book.

Science:

-       Labelled diagrams and hands-on experiments and explorations of instruments are an excellent way of teaching the science of sound. What parts of instruments are responsible for the pitch and volume?

-       Design and make your own musical instrument

-       Recreating the sounds of a natural habitat, eg. rainforest, beach etc…

-       Exploring how animals make sounds, like crickets, frogs and lyrebirds.

HSIE:

-       Historical and art periods go hand in hand – past, present and future.

-       Sustainability, for example, making instruments from recycled materials. The Landfill Harmonic do just this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYu7c4Vkmp0

-       Culture studies

PDHPE:

-       Moving and dancing to musical elements: give a pitch, tone colour, rhythm etc… and move and dance accordingly

-       Pass the ball when the tempo / structure / lead instrument changes. Pass a ball overhead for high pitch and under for low pitch

-       Create a percussive or vocal sound tunnel of students and have students run through to experience the acoustics

Music can also be used for behavioural management. I met a teacher who used the ukelele to gain student’s attention, and used it in transitions, like a musical-pack up. You can use have students repeat percussive rhythms to gain attention.

What also stands out for me is how we should engage students in performing, organising sound and listening, the latter of which I had not really considered as much when I first conceptualised ‘teaching music.’ It is a large and integral part of the syllabus and exposes students to the diversity of musical pieces, vocal and instrumental, from a range of contexts, cultures, eras and families of instruments. This may be in part due to my experiences of music in primary school, involving only playing and performing, rather than thinking criticially about musical concepts. I now have a list of the sorts of critical questions and lesson ideas I can guide students with in appreciating various musical stimuli, incorporating the musical concepts specified in the Syllabus (BOS, 2006). Having a visual and aural piece using ICT like Youtube, is valuable as it allows students to both listen and watch the instruments being played and conducted. An interview or commentary by the composer as the piece plays is another interesting way of critiquing. You can differentiate the response style to questions by making them open-ended or providing multiple-choice options. Another factor to keep in mind is the length of piece. Playing and analysing a certain section in-depth may have more value than having students listen to a longer piece. And in some cases, having students respond to questions through actions, humming etc… may be easier as they may lack the terminology to describe concepts, like diminuendo and accelerando!

Stimuli:

-       Carnival of the Animals (Camille Saint-Saens)

-       In the hall of the mountain King (Edvard Grieg)

-       Ice Dance: Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman)

-       Hedwig’s theme: Harry Potter (John Williams)

-       Mission impossible (Lalo Schifrin)

-       Batman (Neal Hefti)

-       Flight of the bumble bee (Rimsky Horsakov)

-       Baby elephant walk (Henry Mancini)

Tone colour: What do the instruments represent? Describe how they are played. What is the first instrument you hear? What family of instruments comes next? Why does the composer use this instrument? What voice range can you hear? Does the lead instrument stay the same throughout the song? How does the family of instruments make the sound of _____?

Dynamics: How would you describe the dynamics of the piece? What words would you use to describe this piece? What images come to mind?

Duration: Describe the tempo and rhythm. What sorts of short and long sounds are played?

Pitch: What effect do the high pitch sounds have? How do the low pitch sounds make you feel?

Structure: Describe how the piece is organised. Is there an introduction, chorus, bridge, interlude and conclusion? Can you hum or play the ostenatto (repeating riff)? Can you suggest a story or narrative to go with the piece?

Once students have an understanding of the sorts of questions you can use to critique, they can be encouraged to write their own questions!

The last workshop really drove home the utility of ICT in teaching music. For listening (and watching) music, Youtube offers a diverse range of pieces. For composing music, iPad and computer apps like Garageband and Audacity, Finger Stomp, MyStory and Percussive Latin, allow students to experiment with different instruments at the touch of a finger. There are also programs for school music incursions, like:http://wrightstuffmusic.com/

References

Board of Studies (2006). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. Sydney: author.

Dance 4: Moving to a stimulus

Today’s workshop gave us the choice to experiment with all the different elements of dance, using a stimulus. As always we started with a locomotor warmup, which had a more cardiovascular orientation, due to the more physically challenging nature of the choreography in today’s task. We traveled around the space to music and moved into the corners of the room, to carry out burpees, star jumps, triceptives and crunches. This reminded me of the dynamic stretches you would start a PDHPE lesson with.

We were then introduced to the choreography sequence, which was more organic movement than previous sequences. It linked with last lesson around the picture book Henry and Amy, by Stephen Michael King, asking us to characterise a movement as being akin to either Amy (controlled, restricted movement) or Henry (free, wild movement). The sequence used levels, canon, isolated body parts and contrast.

This followed on to the main task, which would normally comprise a term of work with background research and cross-KLA integration. We formed groups based on our interest in a range of stimuli presented:

- Tactile (feeling an object in a bag). The range of possibilities here are endless!

- Visual (a tribal statue of a woman with her head in her hands)

- Kinaesthetic (creating a narrative to go with the choreography sequence)

- Ideational (creating a 30 second advertisement for a product, with criteria of vocals, slogan, a focus on a particular body part, an element of contrast, etc….

I worked in a pair on the visual stimulus. We had to brainstorm ideas, develop a concept, create movement to show intent. We had to consider using space, time, dynamics, relationships and structure.

What do you see, hear or touch?  How do you move?  What do you feel or think?

our visual stimulus

We brainstormed ideas based on the functional way the object opened up, the cultural context of a naked tribal woman (the aesthetics of material and shape) and the vulnerable emotion conveyed in her body language. 

Our piece had the intent of showing her moving from a stressed state of vulnerability, pausing for self-reflection, seeing herself (in a mirror image), and eventually breaking free. We used mirroring techniques, isolating body parts by focusing attention on our fingers running along the floor, contrast in the way we broke from mirrored actions, and changing levels from low to high. The musical accompaniment we chose was perfectly suited (Salt, from a Bangarra Dance Theatre performance called Terrain, composed by David Page).

The sorts of movements we used were also partly inspired by Bangarra Dance choreography, as can be seen below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtgMt_7el44

After ten minutes, we performed our pieces, after stating our title and intent. I think the piece really connected with the audience due to the relationship we conveyed and the slow, occasionally contrasting movement. It was satisfying receiving feedback from peers who said the piece really touched them!

The difficulty of this task was not having parameters to guide our thinking. In comparison to other tasks, the visual stimulus was more open to interpretation. I would start students with stronger scaffolding before moving into tasks that are more open for interpretation.

Music 3: Soundscapes

Creating a Soundscape is a method I am really excited to use in a classroom, as it would holistically engage my students whilst teaching them about organising sound. We listened to and discussed our thoughts on an instrumental percussion piece called ‘rainforest’ by David Hewitt of B’Tutta. I was surprised how easily a context, mood and narrative sprung to mind, almost subconsciously developing skills in thinking imaginatively and creatively (with English syllabus links). Social and cultural contexts are conveyed, and students would draw on their own memories and experiences. The musica viva website contains other pieces which can be used for soundscapes on lessons: http://www.musicaviva.com.au/vivazone/musicians/musician.asp?id=2

our Road Rage soundscape graphic notation

A soundscape can be represented using graphic notation, taking the form of a sequenced pathway, a static image read as bars from left to right or top to bottom, or read with each group in rows. Some sounds could be used continuously, intermittently, just once, and could be played loudly, softly, fast or slow, and either standing alone or in conjunction with other sounds. We created a narrative about road rage, using the skin of a tambourine to indicate the air conditioning in the car, finger cymbals to rattle keys, and a drum with a soft beater to create a feeling of simmering rage as the volume and pace increased.

Lastly, we created a rap, selecting a theme (in this case road rage) and brainstorming words that rhymed with the final word. We composed four lines, indicating the words that would fall on a beat and adding percussion (a beat box) to count in and hold the beat. Other groups experimented with repetition, intros, outros, having certain people emphasise keywords (vocal punches) or allocating certain parts to people to shift emphasis around the group. The enunciation was important as well as the sharpness and expression used in the voice, as no changes in pitch are permitted in raps. You can use raps in helping students remember concepts in any KLA, and it improves English skills in syntax and rhyme.

Dance 3: Literacy meets movement with Henry & Amy

In today’s workshop we explored the use of stimuli for dance. We read Henry & Amy, a picture book by Stephen Michael King, which explores the themes of friendship, sameness and difference, conformity and individuality and is suitable for Early Stage 1 through to Stage 2 depending on the context of use.  A single page spread may be used as the visual stimulus, a selection of words used (in this case an ‘opposites’ word bank), a character study or the general themes presented.

We began with a locomotor warm-up, playing the follow-the-leader game using words from the opposites word bank, such as topsy-turvy, straight, wiggly, backwards, forwards. This progressed into a sequence of lines moving down the floor, moving from specific and concrete words into more abstract ideas such as sunny, rainy, right, wrong, same and different. I tried to incorporate the elements of dance in my movements, such as levels, relationships and structure, adding pauses, ducking low and using facial expressions to convey the emotion of the more abstract words. The stimuli in this exercise were visual, auditory and ideational, performed in time to music, and all in relation to the picture book.

As a kinaesthetic warm-up activity we performed a movement embodying the character of Henry or Amy, which was passed down a line like Chinese whispers. Although this was quite funny, it was interesting to observe how different people’s interpretations of movements are embellished and change the shapes and energies conveyed in a movement. This could also be extended with adding a movement on to each cumulatively, building the student’s capacity for remembering choreographed sequences.

The focus activity involved choosing to work in a group of Amy’s, Henry’s or their relationship, and creating a sequence without music that reflected the characters or the themes. We told a story entitled “breaking free”, which carried the intention of showing how people may be trapped in a conformist, balanced life, but after they take a risk and express themselves, others may follow. We played with levels, canon, travel and shape to provide variety. Though this was achieved without music, extending the activity to include music selection or composition would add another layer.

Before this lesson I was hesitant to know how to introduce dance into a lesson, but I can see how characters, feelings and concepts can be kinaesthetically explored through dance to improve outcomes in other KLAs, particularly literacy. This ties in with Gibson and Ewing's (2011) premise that the arts is a kind of "aesthetic literacy" (p. 8).

References

Gibson, R. & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts. Camberwell: Palgrave Macmillon.

Dance 2: Letting our hair down

We consolidated some of the elements of dance from the previous workshop, and learnt more complex ones, culminating in a filmed choreographed piece to “hairspray” the Musical. The warm-up consisted of traveling around the space at different speeds, forms, shapes and levels, independently and in groups, such as “hop around…. Make a tree with 5” and with an appropriated PE tag game. We then played follow-the –leader, using sustained, lyrical, percussive movements.

We eased into some choreographed walks, staying in line as we walked toward a point, including a jazz run, a walk and turn. This became more complex and specific, breaking down and teaching sections of choreography. In putting the choreography together in our “hairspray” piece, I could see how effective the choreography became once we used levels, ducking and rising; and canon, freezing as certain characters took the stage. This would create more variety and be more engaging for audiences, than a synchronised, whole-class dance. After a practice run we were filmed, making a link with digital media. The task also required elements of drama like characterisation with body language and facial expression, and could cross KLAs into English to reflect written and film texts. 

Music 2: Sing your heart out!

The thought of having to sing infront of other MTeach students in today’s workshop was daunting, but surprisingly easy. The teacher took us through a variety of warm-up exercises, focusing on breath control, articulators and stance. These were fun and challenging, including tongue twisters and grouping the class to perform a variety of sounds.

Tongue exercise warm-up

Lips exercise warm-up

Breathing exercise warm-up

The teacher went through the elements of singing which teachers should focus on. More than just handing students a lyric sheet and pressing play, I now feel equipped with some starting skills I need to help children become pitch perfect, rhythmically harmonious and confident singers. Incorporating a variety of kinaesthetic and aural modes of learning would be important, such as percussion, actions, staging and movement that reflects the genre and structure of the music. It is important to pay attention to the music appreciation side, as well as performing – by highlighting the key points students should listen out for when responding to a song. Questions should focus student attention on the conepts of music which are specified in the syllabus such as, “what can you tell me about the way the song is put together?” (structure), “what sorts of sounds do you hear?” (tone colour) and “did any parts of the song get louder or softer?” (dynamics).

After this discussion we sang Wet Day Blues, splitting the class into different sections to layer the song.

Wet Day Blues songsheet

The selection of material to sing is important, making sure it does not breach copyright, is lyrically appropriate, encourages music reading and is challenging but achievable. The teacher gave us a variety of websites and resources. The website http://www.karaoke-version.com/ is a useful site for affordable instrumental backing versions of songs, with and without backing vocals. You can also change the key and the tempo. The material should also consolidate and build upon the skills taught previously so as to increase complexity in rhythm, harmony and so on.

Dance 1: An introduction to the elements of dance

As a warm up, we traveled around the room to music in random patterns: straight lines with sharp corners, curved pathways, backwards and leading with different body parts. To get the heart rate up we also did a dynamic isolated body part warm up to music. As a lead-in to dance and to get our performance confidence up, we divided into groups. To music, each row walks in unison toward mirror with a walk, then with a basic walk and turn, then with a choreographed step sequence. This was easy to see individual’s sense of timing, coordination, unison etc… without feeling like you were performing.

The next activity was moving around the space based on given parameters, like move with “two feet”, “one foot two hands”, “no hands or feet”, “make letters of the alphabet”. This served as a brainstorming method, as we then formed groups and devised and performed a piece to music using these parameters. We used our bodies to spell out the letters of our names, which we then performed to a partner and then to the class. I was surprised how the letter formations constitute such unusual dance movements, without even thinking of it as choreography!

In all of the activities, we almost implicitly considered the elements of dance like levels, space, travel, timing and so on. The structure of activities (working in groups) eliminated the feeling of self-consciousness and reserve we would usually feel in a performance space.

Music 1: An introduction to percussion

We started the workshop with an introduction to percussion instruments, selecting an instrument, making two different sounds and naming the instrument. Then we went through how to read basic music, before playing a variety of percussion patterns increasing in difficulty from Early Stage One to Stage Two.

Note value table

 
After selecting a bar instrument to play, we played a simple score of Pacabel’s Canon, breaking the class into sections to play certain patterns. This created a cacophony of different melodies and rhythms that layered the song, adjusting the dynamics of volume and pace. This was recorded and can be listened to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bzMHEdq7O8

Percussion patterns

We had a listen to ‘Absolutely Everybody’ by Vanessa Amorosi, identifying the structure of song, including introduction, tag, verse, chorus and bridge. As the percussion patterns had the same 4/4 timing as the song, we could play the percussion patterns in time to the song. For a trip back to the 90s, have a listen to her song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgXTBqiKE3k

In this way the workshop covered many of the elements of music from the syllabus.

I found it interesting that the music education I had has stayed with me, where I have not forgotten my basic knowledge of reading music and I have a good sense of harmonising, rhythm and beat. I can see the value of early music education and how it links to other KLAs, such as maths.

Keep the beat: a music and interpretive dance lesson on practicum

At the last minute, my prac teacher asked me to plan and run a lesson on music and interpretive dance. Having at this stage not studied either of these strands of Creative And Performing Arts at uni, I was somewhat apprehensive, to say the least!

I planned a few options, in case some went belly up. The other constraint my prac teacher enforced was that the lesson was to be 'quiet'. I scratched my head wondering how to devise a 'quiet' music and dance lesson. Needless to say, the lesson was far from quiet and I ended up with quite a headache by the end of it!

CREATIVE ARTS LESSON PLAN

UNIT TITLE: Music and Dance			TIMING: Friday 13/9 (1:10-2:00) 50 mins
LESSON: Keep the beat		STAGE: 1 Year 2
RELATED LESSON OUTCOMES: Music: Repertoire - Student compositions, movement; Concepts – Duration, dynamics, structure MUS1.2 Explores, creates, selects and organises sound in simple structures MUS1.1 Sings, plays and moves to a range of music demonstrating awareness of musical concepts Dance: DAS1.2 Explores and selects movement using the elements of dance to express ideas, feelings or moods.		ASSESSMENT/EVIDENCE OF LEARNING: A student will: ·  Explore a range of sounds, beats and rhythms that can be produced by the body and the voice. ·  Accurately imitate the sounds, beats and rhythms created by others ·  Be attentive and repond appropriately to the conductor’s hand gestures to alter the volume and start / stop the sound as directed ·  Keep the beat to a range of songs with different tempos.
Before the lesson: Have students move chairs and tables aside to create more floor room. Have songs loaded ready on computer.
PART AND TIMING	TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES (HOW)			RESOURCES
Introduction (2 minutes)	1.     T enters classroom and sits on chair. Tell them we are going to experiment with beat – making and copying different sounds and beats, and moving to them in time. 2.     Explain that if Ss misbehave they will be given two warnings, and the third time they will have to sit alone at their desk and miss out. 3.     Instruct Ss to sit in circle
Activity 1 (10 minutes) Body percussion sounds in circle	1.     T makes a sound with body percussion. Ask all Ss to copy the sound. 2.     First student in the circle makes a sound and all Ss copy. Next student makes a different sound etc…. 3.     After one round, tell them that this time they need to make a sound, but that as T walks around the circle and taps a student at random on the head, only that student can copy the sound the lead student is making, everyone else must be silent.
Activity 2 (10 minutes)	1.     Keep Ss sitting in circle 2.     Tell Ss you will play a piece of music and make a beat. Watch me carefully as I will change the body percussion beat and sound throughout the song. 3.     Play J'y suis jamais allé song, performing different beats and sounds throughout. 4.     Play We’re going to be friends song, performing different beats and sounds throughout. 5.     Play funkytown, performing different beats and sounds throughout.			Computer with J'y suis jamais allé song loaded
Activity 3 (10 minutes) Soundscape	1.     Break students into groups of 3. Give them 1 minute to work out a sound or beat each group will make. 2.     Tell Ss that the teacher is the conductor. Every time the conductor points at one group, that group must make their sound. If the teacher points at two groups, both make their sound. Once the teacher stops pointing at a group, those Ss must be silent. 3.     Practice each group in turn, then try two groups, then try at random. 4.     Show Ss the signal for increasing volume and lowering volume. Conduct the soundscape again, signalling for groups to change volume and start/stop as conducted. 5.     Repeat with another sound.
Activity 4 (10 minutes) Clapping sticks and animals	1.     Have students sit on floor. Explain that I will clap a rhythm and call out an animal. Everyone has to move around like that animal, to the rhythm. I have to be able to tell what animal you are by how you move. You cannot make any sounds. 2.     Clap a rhythm with the clapping sticks. Have Ss move around the room depending on rhythm, pretending to be a mouse. Freeze. Tell Ss they are now tigers, and change the clapping rhythm to suit. Freeze, then try another animal etc: elephants, birds, fish, snakes.

An art and drama lesson sequence on practicum

My practicum took place in a Year 2 class at a primary school with a high concentration of students from Language Backgrounds Other Than English (LBOTE). On the Friday afternoon of my second week, I continued with a Creative And Performing Arts lesson I had begun the previous Friday afternoon. We were to finish decorating and assembling hats based on inspiration from a text: Tilly Tompkins Surprise Hat (Sadie & Suzanne Pascoe, 1987), and use the hats in a drama activity. With the teacher having a strong focus on English and Maths, she informed me the students have little opportunity for Creative And Performing Arts.

Given the student’s enthusiasm in the first lesson, asking me repeatedly throughout the week when they would finish their hats, I was feeling confident that this lesson would run smoothly. The students already understood the purpose and expectations involved in the lesson. Nevertheless, I predicted that the actual process of constructing the hats would be difficult. To assist the LBOTE students and provide both visual and verbal task instructions, I started the lesson by modelling how to cut the hat templates, writing the instructions on the board. I instructed students to raise their hand after cutting the hat templates and I would come around individually to help them assemble the hats. They set to work, and most finished cutting much quicker than I expected. All of a sudden I had 24 students raising their hands for help!

I decided to change game plan, showing the first few students how to assemble the hats and asking them to help others. As each student completed their hat they called out asking if they could help others too. I didn’t want every student out of their seat so I had to ask them to sit and be patient. They became noisy, restless and distracted the others. Meanwhile, my helpers were frantically running around answering pleas for help. I only had one sticky tape dispenser and needed to give each student six pieces each, so I had a line for people waiting on sticky tape. It was chaos and there was sticky tape carnage building up on the floors, desks and walls. I had it set in my head that I needed every student to have a completed hat, so forty minutes later I finally had (almost) everyone back on the floor, wearing their slightly skewed and misfitting hats.

Given the noise level from the hat assembly and the impending bell time, I changed my drama lesson structure from a whole-class carousel where partners rotated in a circle, to selecting two students at a time to embody their character and perform a scripted conversation in front of the class. This had its own limitations as students became shy, and we only got through a few sets of partners before the bell rang. Students groaned that it wasn’t fair that they missed out. They left the classroom and I was left to clean up a graveyard of sticky tape and failed hat constructions. After a whole week of building enthusiasm and expectations for the lesson, I felt like my poor logistical planning had let the students, the teacher and myself down.

CREATIVE ARTS LESSON PLAN

UNIT TITLE: Being Tilly Tompkins						TIMING: 2 x 40min lessons (1:10-2:00 Friday wk7 and wk8)
LESSON: 1/2					STAGE: 1 Year 2
RELATED LESSON OUTCOMES: Develop personal and social capability, critical and creative thinking. English: ·  EN1-1A (communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills, and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations); ·  EN1-10C (thinks imaginatively and creatively about familiar topics, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts); ·  EN1-11D (responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences). Art: Objects (subject matter); Painting, Sculpture and 3D forms, Fibre ·  VAS1.1 (makes artworks in a particular way about experiences of real and imagined things) ·  VAS1.4 (begins to interpret the meaning of artworks, acknowledging the roles of artist and audience)					ASSESSMENT/EVIDENCE OF LEARNING: A student will: Use features of the written and illustrated text to design and make a hat, which could evoke a positive reaction from an audience. Students learn to: ·  make different kinds of artworks including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, digital artworks and videos; ·  extend their skills in using a variety of media, techniques and tools to create effects that link to things in the world.
PART AND TIMING	SUBJECT MATTER (WHAT)	TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES (HOW)          STUDENTS                                                  TEACHER					RESOURCES
Before lesson	Prepare resources: Photocopy cardboard hat templates onto cardboard. Set up glue, scissors, paintbrushes, paint pallets and water. 2 material boxes per table, containing material and paper scraps and things to decorate with.
Introduction (5-10 minutes)	Linking to text (objects carry meaning and emotional response). Discussing characters and story. Explain task.	Ss sit in lines in front of smartboard. Ss participate in whole class discussion.	Read Tilly Tompkins to class (as some Ss are in different literacy class). Talk about Tilly Tompkins, and the patients at the hospital. Talk about the range of materials Tilly used in decorating hats. How did Tilly’s hats make people feel? How did they react? Explain task: We are going to make hats like Tilly’s. Think about the colours, the shape, the painting style and decorations. Remember your hat has to make people feel happy!! Search for hats on Google Images for inspiration. Show Ss my test hat. Distribute hat templates. Explain that they should paint and decorate the cardboard, and we’ll let it dry, cut it out and assemble it next week.  Explain Rules before moving to tables: - share resources - clean up after ourselves - wash paintbrushes - use quiet voices. - if you break the rules you miss out on play.				Text: Tilly Tompkins Surprise Hat, by Sadie and Suzanne Pascoe My test hat
Body (20-30 minutes)	Hat design and artmaking:	Ss design, paint and decorate hats individually	Teacher assists individual students in developing and refining ideas and techniques. Allow 20 mins to paint and 5 mins to clean up, setting work aside in wet area.				·  A4 cardboard (1sheet / student) ·  Stapler, sticky tape (teacher) ·  Scissors (share b/w 4) ·  Paint, coloured pencils, coloured paper, newspaper, glue ·  Things to decorate with
Conclusion (5 minutes)	Evaluation and linking to next lesson	Whole class discussion.	Who is happy with their hat design? Did it turn out like you wanted? How might people react when they see your hat? Tell Ss that next Friday afternoon we will cut and assemble our hats. Then we will play a game with the hats and find out how they make other people feel.				N/A
Lesson Evaluation: What worked for students ·  Did students show comprehension and empathy for the characters? ·  Did students participate in discussion, relating ideas to personal experiences? ·  Were students able to design a hat with appropriate audience in mind? ·  Did students consider audience reaction in choosing technique, form and materials? ·  Did students behave well according to rules agreed upon?				What worked for teacher? What to improve upon? ·  Did I communicate clearly to the class the task and what was expected of them? ·  Did I engage the students during discussion? ·  Did I encourage creative and higher order thinking during discussion? ·  Did I provide supportive and constructive individual advice and feedback? ·  Was the task appropriate to the age and ability of the students? ·  Did I allow enough time for activity, including setting up and packing up?

CREATIVE ARTS LESSON PLAN

UNIT TITLE: Being Tilly Tompkins					TIMING: 2 x 40min lessons (1:10-2:00 Friday wk7 and wk8)
LESSON: 2/2				STAGE: 1 Year 2
RELATED LESSON OUTCOMES: Develop personal and social capability, critical and creative thinking. English: ·  EN1-1A (communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills, and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations); ·  EN1-10C (thinks imaginatively and creatively about familiar topics, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts); ·  EN1-11D (responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences). Art: Objects (subject matter); Painting, Sculpture and 3D forms, Fibre ·  VAS1.4 (begins to interpret the meaning of artworks, acknowledging the roles of artist and audience) Drama: Improvisation, Drama games ·  DRAS1.1 (takes on roles in drama to explore unfamiliar and imagined situations) ·  DRAS1.2 (conveys story, depicts events and expresses feelings by using the elements of drama and the expressive skills of movement and voice) ·  DRAS1.3 (Interacts collaboratively to communicate the action of the drama with others) ·  DRAS1.4 (Appreciates dramatic work during the making of their own drama and the drama of others)				ASSESSMENT/EVIDENCE OF LEARNING: A student will: While wearing the hat, improvise and embody the character of Tilly Tompkins. While not wearing the hat, embody the character of the sad boy. Students will appreciate the value of certain artwork features in evoking a response from an audience.
Before lesson: Set out scissors, glue, PVA, twist crayons and paper scraps in baskets on each table. Have sticky tape ready.
PART AND TIMING	SUBJECT MATTER (WHAT)	TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES (HOW)            STUDENTS                                                  TEACHER				RESOURCES
Introduction (5 minutes)	Recall last lesson. Explain task.	1.Ss enter classroom and sit in rows facing Ts chair. 2.Ss raise hand to participate in whole class discussion. 3. Ss move to desks quietly once they receive their hat.	1. T enters classroom and sits on Ts chair. 2. Explain that today we will finish decorating, then cut and assemble our hats. Then we will use these hats in a game. 3. I will give you a few minutes to finish colouring and decorating your hats. Then I will show you how to cut and piece them together. 4. Hand out hats one by one, instructing Ss to move to desk when they receive their hat.			Text: Tilly Tompkins Surprise Hat, by Sadie and Suzanne Pascoe My test hat
Body: Constructing hats (20 minutes) Becoming Tilly and the patients (20 minutes)	Complete hats Wear the hats and enrole the characters of Tilly / hospital patients.	1. Individuals complete their hats (constructing them and adding last decorations). 2. Ss fold arms when ready to cut and assemble. 3. Ss follow T modelling how to cut and assemble. 3. Ss move to floor wearing hat. 4. Ss volunteer to act as Tilly or patient in front of audience. 4. Ss form a carousel embodying role of Tilly or patient as directed. 5. Time permitting for real Tilly Tompkins game: Ss stand behind desk. Listen to questions asked by one of the 3 Ss and stand if the answer if yes, sit if the answer is NO.	1.  Ss put finishing touches on hats. Put your hat on the table and fold your arms when you are ready to cut and assemble the hats. 2. Tell Ss that those who are ready can take a pair of scissors and T models where to cut template. Once you have cut all your pieces, raise your hand and I will come around to help you stick the band together and attach the hat (with sticky tape). Once it is ready, put your hat on, tuck your chair in and sit on the floor quietly. 3. Once all Ss are sitting on floor, Ask “raise your hand if you can remember why Tilly made and wore her hats.” “How did they make people at the hospital feel?” This is why we made them bright and colourful. Explain that today we will become tilly Tompkins and the hospital patient. 4. Ask for 2 volunteers who are sitting silently. One wears hat and acts like Tilly. The other removes hat and acts like patient. You have 30 seconds to make the patient laugh, eg. saying “Hello, I’m Tilly Tompkins. Do you like my lovely hat?” / “I don’t care for your silly hats, can’t you see how sick I am?” (cough cough). Encourage them to face the audience, use facial expression and body language. If this works, form a carousel as per below. If it doesn’t work, continue to do this 2 at a time infront of audience. Carousel: Ask students to sit in a circle. Take each 2nd Ss hat’s off their heads and place aside. Ask those Ss to stand and form an inner circle. Ask outside circle to stand (still wearing hats). Those on the outside are Tilly. Those on the inside are the patients. Tilly Tompkins’, you have 30 seconds to make the patients happy. Patients, you need to act sick and sad. ·  Rotate around, then swap students from outer to inner circle so they experience both characters. ·  How many rotations depends on time. Time permitting, play a description game, asking questions to work out the real Tilly Tompkins. Instruct Ss to stand behind their chairs. Ask 3 well-behaved Ss stand outside door (put hats on desk). Rest of Ss stand at desks facing smartboard in rows, wearing hats. When 3 Ss leave the room, tap the real Tilly on the head. Instruct 3 Ss to re-enter room. Each takes turns asking a question about their hat to discern which hat is the real Tilly. If the T says the answer is YES, those with that feature stay standing. Those without that feature sit down. Eg. “is your hat decorated with paper bag?”,  “does Tilly’s hat have a purple pom-pom?”, “does Tilly’s hat have origami?”, “does Tilly’s hat have green on it?”. One of the 3 Ss can guess at any time who the real Tilly is.			·  sticky tape (teacher) ·  Scissors (share between 4)
Conclusion (5 minutes)	Evaluate the qualities of the hats and the drama improvisations in communicating and expressing the emotions of the characters.	After the game, Ss sit in rows on floor and raise hand to answer questions.	Instruct all Ss to sit in rows on floor. T sits on chair. Ask: How did the hats make you feel when wearing them? How did you feel as the sick patient? What was it about the hats that cheered you up?			N/A
Lesson Evaluation: What worked for students ·  Did students show comprehension and empathy for the characters? ·  Did students participate in discussion, relating ideas to personal experiences? ·  Were students able to design a hat with appropriate audience in mind? ·  Did students consider audience reaction in choosing technique, form and materials?				What worked for teacher? What to improve upon? ·  Did I communicate clearly to the class the task and what was expected of them? ·  Did I engage the students during discussion? ·  Did I encourage creative and higher order thinking during discussion? ·  Did I provide supportive and constructive individual advice and feedback? ·  Was the task appropriate to the age and ability of the students?