Michael

Parker
MUED 380
Jesse Rathgeber
12/15/16

Final Experience Design Unit
Student-Composed Multicultural Folk Song Book

Context Statement:

Stone Spring Elementary is one of the most diverse elementary schools that I have

ever seen; a direct reflection of the surrounding community of Harrisonburg. For instance,
32% of their student population is Hispanic, with another 16% of the school comprised of
other racial minorities (African American, Asian, and biracial). The school also has many
different languages spoken by the students at home and at school, with 44% of the students
showing limited English proficiency.
This unit plans aims to inform students, parents, and staff of the different musical
backgrounds represented in the school while allowing students the creative agency to to
explore and compose their own folk songs. Students will have studied basic Western
tonalities and rhythms as a basis for understanding these concepts and can be completed
with an end of the year concert in which they perform their compositions and
improvisation skills based in the different cultures.

Experience Sketches:
1. Meet the World, Match the World:
-

Students will be introduced to the concept of world music through listening and
participation games and activities, trying to match the music to different parts of
the world. Having already covered a background of traditional Western
tonalities and rhythms, all students will have a chance to experience the music of
the U.S. (blue region). Additionally, students will begin to narrow their focus on
one region of the world to further explore. This can be done by class, by grade,
or smaller groups within classes. The regions will be classified and explored
using this color-coded map of the world:


2. Songs of the People:
-

Through the studies of different scales and modalities, students will expand their
understanding overall of tonalities specific to their region. The process will start
first with singing to help internalize the tonalities and slowly progress to pitched
instruments. In this stage, students will be able to either record or electronically
produce basic accompaniments with which to later improvise.

3. How the World Grooves (developed into full design):

-

Much like the melody sketch, this set of experiences aims to expose students to
different rhythms and meters used in different parts of the world. Once again
beginning with vocalization using rhythm syllables, students will then progress
to using both pitched and non-pitched instruments to create their worldly
grooves. Students will once again create unique rhythmic accompaniments with
which to later improvise.

4. Voice through Instrument (developed into full design):

-

The main goal of this lesson is for students to make musical decisions of
instruments to match the timbre and style of their multicultural songs. Options
for instruments will include Orff instruments, recorder, percussion instruments,
MIDI instruments, GarageBand, and other electronic options to match their
creative decisions.

5. Our Turn to Write:

-

Synthesizing all previously learned information, students will now create their
own unique arrangements and compositions using all of the different instrument
and voice combinations learned so far. This stage also gives students a chance to
reflect, comment, and edit on each others and their own compositions. This will
begin the accumulation of the songs into their master folk song book, with
performances for other students, parents, and teachers to display their progress
so far. This can also provide students with the chance to collaboratively
compose across cultural lines and integrate their different styles into many
smaller or one larger multicultural piece.

6. Improv Showcase:
-

Using their previously learned techniques for composing in each style and
culture, students will now experiment with improvising on the appropriate style,
tonality, and rhythmic figures of their culture. This experience will utilize their
previously-composed melodic and rhythmic accompaniments. They will
additionally teach their peers about the different idiosyncrasies of their selected
culture and how to improvise within those settings and boundaries. As with the
composition plan, they may also improvise across cultures and experiment with
different sound combinations from around the world.

Rationale:

I chose to base this experience design unit around the incredibly diverse community

of learners I encountered during my practicum experiences at Stone Spring Elementary

School. While some people may view the cultural diversity as an enormous hurdle to get
over in the education of the students, I believe their cultures should be used to guide and
enrich their learning process. Ladson-Billings write in her article But thats just good
teaching about culturally relevant pedagogy and how it contributes to the growth of
students of all ethnicities (2009). By trying to integrate culture into education, (instead of
the inverse), teachers are performing a disservice to the overall growth of students. This
diversity should rather be embraced as a way to expose students to the diverse world of

music, and therefore expanding their music lexicons. This in turn teaches openness and
tolerance to all cultural backgrounds by providing students with a common background
when interacting with people of a different culture than their own.

Experience Designs:
1. The Rhythm of Joropo (from How the World Grooves sketch)
Understanding Statement:

This experience design The sample group has chosen the green region and has

further narrowed their choice down to the music of Venezuela. The signature music and
dancing style of this country in the Joropo (originally translated from Spanish as a party).
The Joropo is typically in a 3/4 or 6/8 meter and utilizes hemiola rhythms between the
different instruments. By exposing them to this specific kind of Latin American music,
students are able to learn different kinds of rhythmic variations encountered not only in
Latin American music but many other cultures, as well. This concept has the potential to
segue into the combination of music of different cultures, which is frequently done in
modern-day pop and other kinds of music. The hemiola rhythms also relate to the dance
moves and can be a fun way to feel different kinds of subdivision or mathematical
division at the same time.
I can Statements:
-

I can move and play instruments in 3 and in 2 patterns (VA Music SOL 4.5)

I can play a hemiola rhythm together with my classmates (VA Music SOL 4.3.1)

I can divide a measure of music with different types of subdivision (VA Music
SOL 4.1)

Procedures:
-

Students will echo rhythm patterns provided by teacher:

o
o

(treated as hemiola in 6/8)

o
-

Students will listen to the reference recording:

o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7IegHERdNs

Students will be asked to dance along, stepping to what they think is the big beat

Students will clap along with the big triple beat and then transfer to non-pitched
percussion instruments

Students will clap and play the little beat subdivision

Teacher will ask questions about the rhythm and meter:

o How many beats did you hear in each measure?
o Was the little beat group in 2s or 3s?
o Did you hear any instruments playing anything different?

Students will once again dance and clap along with the big triple beat

Teacher will clap the guitar part, introducing the 2-beat grouping of the hemiola

Teacher will ask students questions about what they heard:

o Where did you hear that rhythm in the song?
o Was my clapping faster or slower than yours?

Students will stomp and clap the duple big beat

Teacher will project a blank measure onto the board and ask students to split the
measure up like they heard it split up in both rhythms
o Students will note both the number of notes for each rhythm and their
spacing relative to each other

Teacher will split class in half:

o One half will clap the triple big beat
o One half will stomp the duple big beat

Students will partner up with someone from the other group and perform the
hemiola in pairs

Students will transfer their partner performance to non-pitched percussion

instruments

Teacher will play a melody for students to dance to:

o 3 measures with the triple beat subdivision followed by 1 measure of
duple beat subdivision
o students will dance and step to the triple beat and jump when they hear
the duple beat
o this melody will be looped to allow students to practice

Students will divide a measure on a piece of paper into equal divisions in as

many ways as possible

Assessment:
-

I will watch students during the dance for accuracy of stepping/movement to

their portion of the hemiola beat

I will listen to the sections of the class separately and collectively to see if their
rhythms interlock correctly

I will collect written work from the students to evaluate their understanding of
measure division

Extensions:
-

Students can perform both parts of the hemiola themselves by patting out the
rhythm or placing one rhythm in their feet and another in their hands

Students can begin to piece together the tonal and rhythmic aspects of the
Venezuelan music

Students can begin to improvise hemiola rhythms over a basic tonal/rhythmic

accompaniment

Adaptations:
Color: The divisions of the measure can be made into different colors
Size: The two rhythms can be made into different sizes to help distinguish them
Pacing: This lesson can be reduced so that only one part of the hemiola is introduced per
class, or both are introduced but not played together
Modality:
-

Visual: Individual students can receive a copy of the projection to see the
rhythms up close.

Auditory: The two rhythms can be played on two different instruments/two

different pitches to help distinguish them

Kinesthetic: Students can use an iPad or other electronic device to tap the
rhythms with fingers to reduce mobility

2. Music of the Savannah (from Voice through Instrument sketch)
Understanding Statement:

This design serves as an introduction to matching timbres of instruments from

different cultures with the instruments and technology available in our classroom. For this
experience, the sample class has chosen the orange region and narrowed their choice down
to the Savannah region of Africa (i.e. Nigeria, Chad, Kenya). The goal of this experience is to
allow students to explore as many different timbres of instruments as possible and assign
appropriate instruments to their own compositions. This experience flows very easily into
composition as students will be creating their own Savannah sounds to fit into the
already existing piece of music.
I can Statements:
-

I can listen to and identify music from other cultures (Africa) (VA Music SOL
4.7.3)

I can match sounds I am hearing with instruments in the classroom (VA Music
SOL 4.10.1)

I can play pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments in an African style

(VA Music SOL 4.3)

I can create my own Savannah sounds to add to the African piece of music (VA
Music SOL 4.6)

Procedures:
-

Students will listen to the reference recording:

o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W05LPtVm5hY (2:15-3:45)

Teacher will ask questions about what they heard:

o What kind of sounds did you hear?
o What kind of instruments do you think were used?
o What were some of the instruments made of?

o Where do you think this music is from?

-

Teacher will explain origins of the music:

o Africa
o Savannah region

Students will discuss different animals found on the Savannah

Teacher will introduce animals with different voices:

o Bordun: El-e-phant
o Melodic ostinato: Ze-bra
o Steady drum: Hip-po
o Higher drum: Hy-e-na
o Cowbell: Ga-zelle

Students will layer in different parts, first vocally and kinesthetically, then on
instruments

Students will create a new voice to add to the texture:

o Must have animal name for rhythmic chant
o Must incorporate new instrument that sounds like the animal

Students will be asked to find a new animal to assign to a new instrument:

o Must have rhythmic chant
o Should try and match timbre of instrument with the animal and cultural
background of song

Students will perform their new Savannah sounds together while the teacher plays
the original bordun

Assessment:
-

I will ask students why they thought the music was from the region they did:
o What sounds do we know from that region?
o What kinds of sounds (melodic and rhythmic) come from that region?

I will watch which instruments students choose and ask them what about their
instrument makes it sound like the song

I will watch for proper technique while playing instruments and listen for melodic
and rhythmic accuracy

I will individually listen to the students Savannah sounds and the animals they
chose for their rhythm syllables

Extensions:
-

Students can add instruments with different rhythm syllables not pertaining to
animals to allow them more rhythmic and timbre possibilities

Students can begin to compose their own borduns and accompaniments, changing
tempo, rhythms, and melodies as appropriate with their designated culture

Students can add lyrics with basic Swahili words to the melodies

Adaptations:
-

Color: The different parts of the arrangement can be assigned colors according to
the students to match their timbres

Size: The number of parts to the arrangement can be reduced to the main bordun
and a simple drum beat

Pacing: The tempo of this song can be sped up or slowed down to meet the
kinesthetic abilities of the learners

Modality:
o Visual: Visual representations of the animals can be made in the form of
icon cards or drawings made by the students
o Auditory: The different parts of the arrangement can be isolated onto
different tracks to allow students to hear them individually rather than all at
once
o Kinesthetic: GarageBand or other music technologies can be utilized for
students with mobility problems, reducing the motion to only pressing a
button or touching a screen