Lesson Plan or Presentation Plan
Due: Noon, May 5. No Exceptions. No Late Projects Accepted.

All projects must be transmitted to me by e-mail.
Ten extra points given to students who also put their presentation/lesson plan up on a Web page.

Giving presentations, whether to a class, employer, church or community group, is a basic skill or tool required of those with a college education. Throughout your life, you will be asked to give a presentation, talk, demonstration, or lesson. When that happens, the format given below is a useful starting point.

Given the scope of this final assignment and my expectations for a thorough and well-developed presentation plan, this project will constitute two-thirds of the final exam grade. There will be no other essay component to the final exam, but there will be a written theory-lab given in class that will constitute one-third of the final grade. If you have questions or wish to discuss your presentation/lesson plan, please e-mail or see me during office hours. (Don't let too much time go by before you begin to consider the specific concept or skill that you want to present.)

Develop a lesson plan or presentation which integrates music and technology. The plan should be specific and well-conceived. It should have a well-defined, narrow target audience (e.g. second graders who have learned several folk songs, or non-piano players currently living in a retirement center). You should clearly define the goal or behavioral objective of the lesson. (It should be specific, measurable, and capable of achievement/completion within the scope of a thirty minute lesson.) The lesson plan should include at least four music vocabulary words related to the particular concept or skill being taught. The lesson plan should specifically address all materials needed for completion including hardware, software, Web connectivity, particular Web pages, books, CDs, musical instruments, materials, flashcards, and other educational tools. The lesson plan should have a well-thought-out step-by-step approach or clearly delineated strategy for attaining the specific goal or objective. The lesson plan should have an evaluative component which allows you to measure or test whether the goal or behavioral objective has been met. The lesson plan should also briefly discuss or analyze the skill or concept being taught, particularly in regard to the technological means by which the goal is achieved.

An overall outline form is acceptable, though many of the points in the outline will need to be developed using complete sentences and thorough discussion.

The basic structure of the lesson plan might look something like this.

  1. Well-defined target audience
  2. Specific, measurable behavioral objective
  3. Vocabulary
  4. Teaching Materials
  5. Step-by-step strategy, plan of approach
  6. Evaluative component. Measuring whether the skill or concept has been learned.
  7. Analysis of the lesson, the objective being met, and the technological means by which it is met.



Here's how a sample lesson plan might look in outline form.

A. Target Audience: Urban eighth graders with little musical training

B. Objective:
Students should be able to define syncopation, explaining what is ragged in ragtime, and be able to differentiate between a syncopated rag and a waltz or march played on a CD or piano. They should also be able to name a ragtime composer such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, or Marian Davis. They should also be able to locate the roots of ragtime in American African-American culture.

C. Vocabulary:
syncopation, ragtime, stride, Scott Joplin, 1890s (key dates in development of ragtime), waltz, off beat, pulse

D. Teaching Materials:

E. Step by Step Strategy for Teaching Syncopation in Ragtime:

  1. Write out and/or memorize definitions for vocabulary words. Definitions should be comprehensive to facilitate thorough explanation. Definitions will be more detailed and give more information and explanation than students will be required to remember.
  2. Students browse the Web for quick introduction: http://tqd.advanced.org/3306/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/entries/Ragtime.html
  3. Play example of ragtime from Willoughby CD
  4. Get students to describe what they just heard. Sample questions: "Name some qualities or mood of the piece." "Is it happy, sad, upbeat, steady?" "Could you dance to it?" "What do you like about this music?" "Have you heard anything similar to this before?"
  5. Definition and demonstration of pulse.
  6. Comprehensively define ragtime for students. Make sure they write down definition. If possible, utilize the students' own words (offered in discussion above #3) in your definition.
  7. Play example of ragtime from Fluffy Ruffle Girls CD
  8. Explain how new example exhibits syncopation
  9. Students browse the Web for history and story of ragtime: http://www.nwu.edu/jazz/styles/ragtime/index.html
  10. Students proceed to other ragtimes sites including http://phantom.mindvox.com/~tryon/main.htm and http://www.ragtimers.org/~ragtimers/
  11. If time permits download a MIDI file from the ragtimers.org (http://www.ragtimers.org/~ragtimers/midi/) and further demonstrate ragtime using MIDI examples. Artistically inclined students might enjoy looking at several of the original covers of this sheet music from the turn of the century, which can be found at http://www.ragtimers.org/~ragtimers/midi/covers.html
  12. Proceed to evaluation

F. Evaluation
The evaluation in this particular lesson will take place by the teacher-student interaction at each computer station. Utilizing the downloaded examples such as Baltimore Todolo by Eubie Blake which alternates between syncopated and steady rhythms, ask students to correctly identify the syncopated passages. Ask students to describe what makes the passage syncopated. Students' answers should include words such as off-beat, main beat, rhythms, pulse. Students not using these words likely do not understand the concept, and should repeat the lesson. If there are too many students for this mode of evaluation, students should be able to correctly identify syncopated passages and non-syncopated when played on a piano or off a CD such as Riches and Rags (which contains non-syncopated traditional piano music as well as rags. Quiz in form of written definition of syncopation is optional.

G. Analysis.
(Explain and analyze how this lesson utilizes technology. Explore in detail why you chose the concept or skill to teach, and how particular Web sites, music software, and other materials help you reach your particular behavioral objective.)