| Analysis & Reflection: Video Segment #1 |
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Martha Nelson Portfolio - May 2005
| Philosophy | Analysis & Reflection | Academic Development | Additional Materials | The Future |
Analysis & Reflection: Video Segment #1
- Video segment #1: "Sabre Dance" (General Music)
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: To explore the musical selection "Sabre Dance" through a movement activity and class discussion.
NYS STANDARD(S):
ARTS 1 - Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts.
ARTS 3: Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art.
OPENING MUSIC: "Gayane Suite: Sabre Dance" by Katchaturian
MOTIVATION: What is a ballet?
CONTENT:
Discuss definition of ballet.
Introduce name and composer of piece.
Show elements of movement exercise.
Listening points:
How would you describe the music?
How does it change in the middle?
What instruments do you hear?
Have students perform movement exercise.
Discuss their reactions to the music and answer above questions.
Point out flute and changes in middle section.
SUMMARY/ASSESSMENT/CONCLUSION:
Compare and contrast with "Marriage of Figaro: Non Piu Andrai"
This was a fifth grade class that took place last period on a Friday and was the first with this class for this school year. Not included in the tape is the explanation of the Music Memory program and basic class rules, which is how I started the class period.
The main objective of this lesson was to introduce the piece “Sabre Dance” from “Gayane Suite” through a movement exercise and class discussion. Because it was our first session together, heavy emphasis was placed on establishing routines. There are many things that I was happy with in this session. First, I made good use of establishing the use of stamps for classroom control. Second, I used some humor to help them remember the composer name, although this may have made it appear that my guard was down and they began to talk more and had to be quieted. Finally, I like the way I reviewed and introduced vocabulary in a way that reinforced what the other music teacher had already done with the class.
My main criticism of this lesson is that it might have moved at too brisk a pace. Unfortunately, in order to introduce all 16 pieces to the students in time for the contest, I had to teach two pieces in each class period when we could’ve spent a much longer amount of time on each one. Specifically in this instance, I feel I should have reiterated the questions prior to listening to the piece. Ideally, I would’ve had them listen to the piece once, having asked the questions: “What kind of instruments are playing,” “How does the music change,” and “How would you describe this music?” Then I would teach the dance and play the music at least once more, if not twice. However, because of the time limitation, all of that was crammed into one listening.
Another problem with being so rushed is that I neglected to ask for answers about how the music changed in the middle of the piece, which is a key point. The assessments that come with the curriculum package put a heavy emphasis on this particular section of music, so it was a vital point that got lost in the shuffle.
Also, I spent too much time readying the music. Because I “push in” to classrooms, it is difficult to get set up prior to teaching and I tend to jump in quickly without having everything ready. Thus, the students lose their focus when I change focus to prepare something during the lesson. I think in the future it might be a good idea to write into my lesson plans exactly what I need to set up prior to the beginning, so that I can do so quickly and easily, or have the classroom teacher assist me. This will make for a more efficient use of the short amount of time available for actual teaching.
One problem I’ve had in the past and I still see evidence of here, is not listening to student responses closely enough. First of all, I need to make them speak louder so that everyone can hear and I also need to get better at expanding upon their answers by asking good follow up questions. I think it would better enhance their understanding of the subject at hand if they were made to explain things more thoroughly.
This was one of the most successful lessons I had this year and was an excellent piece and exercise to begin the program because the students really enjoyed the music and doing the dance. In this video you can see their enthusiasm and I can report that every class I did this lesson with was just as enthusiastic. Later in the school year, I had several teachers tell me that they used this dance either as an incentive for the kids or to help get them to focus at times when they were restless. I’ve gone on to use it with every age level of student that I teach and have had great success.
Overall, I found this first lesson to move along at a brisk pace, yet move along slow enough for the children to grasp the ideas that Ms. Nelson was discussing. The class had many good responses and the interest in the material seemed to stay consistently high. One thing that stood out for me was her slow paced speaking voice that made it easier to follow along at this level.
Some ideas incorporated into the lesson that I felt were very clever were the use of general questions to the class so that they could answer in unison, also the incorporation of jokes to keep the mood lighter and of course, the idea to teach the kids a dance to better remember the material.
I was very impressed by Ms. Nelson’s understanding of the material and how she was able to throw in fun facts and references to pop culture to keep the students interest, which I feel is very important with children this age. Also, the kids were all very eager to respond to all of the questions and she was quite supportive of the kids even if they didn’t give correct answers.
One of the most notable elements in her teaching style was the clever use of ideas in order to keep the kids from becoming too animated or speak out of turn. Phrases like “open your ears, not your mouths” and gentle prodding with “quiet, listen” proved very effective with this age group of students.