Wk_03-Music-Lesson_Plan
Introducing Quarter Notes/Rests Essential Questions and Understandings

 
• Essential Question – What does sound look like in music?
• Essential Question – How can we look at a written piece of music and know how to
interpret it?
• Understanding – Students recognize and can identify various lengths of notes and rests
(quarter notes/rests).
• Understanding – Students will know the duration of the same group of notes and rests.


Procedure 
• Students will enter the room and take a seat with their supplies (either paper and pencil or a Chromebook equipped with Google Jamboard).
• I will explain that today we will be creating a “rhythm tree” – something to help us in reading note values/rhythms. See Attachment 2 for a completed example.
• We will start with the longest note value we typically see – a whole note
• Students will draw a whole note at the top center of the page. They will also write
down the number of counts that note gets – 4
• I will ask the students how we could divide that note in half – some students might
know that it could be divided into two half notes, and some other students might be
able to verbalize that four divided by two is two.
• Underneath the whole note, we will draw two half notes, along with the number of
counts the half note gets (2).
• We will then divide the half notes in half. I will ask the students if they know what half
of a half note is. If no one can supply an answer, I will have them think about the
number of counts (two divided in half is one) and what kind of note gets one beat.
• Underneath each of the half notes, we will draw two quarter notes, along with the
number of counts the quarter note gets (1).
• At this point, students will either be volunteering what they know comes next (eighth
notes) or might be asking how we can divide up something smaller than one beat.
• We will draw our pairs of eighth notes under each quarter note, along with its count
(1/2). Although it would be easier and faster to have the students draw just one pair of eighth notes, I like to have them put the eighth notes under each quarter note. That shows them what a “complete” measure looks like (i.e., there would be eight eighth notes in a measure). With eighth notes and smaller, it also allows me to show the different ways they could look (flags grouped together or left separate).
• I will then proceed to the sixteenth note level. I would have my percussion class draw out these notes like normal because they will encounter these rhythms a lot sooner than the other classes. For my brass and woodwind classes, I like to show them the sixteenth notes as well as what would come after for the students who are curious.


Important Questions
• What kind of note takes up a whole measure?
• How many notes can we fit in a measure?
• What does one beat look like?

 
Evaluation
For the evaluation for this lesson, I will collect the rhythm tree when we are done. Although this doesn’t necessarily allow me to do more than ensure that they filled it out correctly when doing it with the class, I will return it to them for them to keep as a reference for themselves.


Modifications
I would allow students to complete this however they preferred – with pen/paper or on their laptop. Completing it virtually might be easier for some students. For students who struggle with written work or with keeping up with my instruction, I would allow them to fill out the diagram minimally (i.e., only drawing one set of eighth notes rather than having to draw all eight of them).