Mr. Knight's third grade classroom appears normal; there are math worksheets in the basket, vocab words on the board, and spelling tests every week. However, if you peek your head in during music time, you will see a group of quiet children transformed into budding singers and actors. For the past few years, Mr. Knight's class has written and performed an opera with an original story, lyrics, tunes, costumes, and stage set.

As the Arts Bridge Representative in Mr. Knight's classroom, I have the wonderful opportunity to help the children prepare for their operatic experience. The theme for their opera this year is Living vs. Non-living things (Science Standard 2).

My goals for the class are that the children will...
1) Develop basic vocal technique, sing in tune, and sing out.
2) Build confidence in their own singing.
3) Write a good opera that encorporates the science core.
4) Understand the structure of an opera and important opera vocabulary.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

#11- GROUP TIME

State Standards and Objectives

Standard 3 Objective 1d: Create together a new song. As a class choose the subject, compose the verse. Consider solo/chorus for the structure. Decide what volume, timbres, and tempo to use.

Learning Objectives

·      Students will come up with the Libretto for the third line of their opera.

Lesson
            Today was one of my favorite lessons thus far. I started off by teaching them a modern version of Up on the Housetop. However, part way through I forgot the words, so they asked if they could sing me a different rap version they had prepared for the school Christmas program. It was adorable!
            Then I had them sit at their desks, and I showed them the libretto they had come up with last time (I typed up the libretto and we simply projected it up on the screen.) I had identified five characters that we needed libretto or actions for in the next scene, so I split the class up into groups and had them each group work on one. I had noticed that many of the children were accustomed to their table grouping and some of the tables did not work well together; therefore, I had them all line up tallest to shortest, and then I numbered them into groups. After giving them 5-10 minutes to think of at least one action and one song for their character, we gathered together on the rug to go over what each group had come up with.
            Overall, I thought the lesson went really well. I loved having the children work in small groups because it gave them all a chance to participate. I walked around helping each group and found that they mostly stayed on task. I had asked one person from each group to be the leader, and I think this helped them to work more effectively.

            One thing I would do differently next time, is to give each group a poster or a worksheet where they would write their final ideas. It took a lot of time for me to write down what they had come up with, and I realized later that it would have been more effective to have them write it down for me.
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1 comment:

  1. BYU Arts Bridge CoordinatorFebruary 4, 2016 at 7:59 AM

    Hi, Laurann!

    I love that you have been so focused this whole time on getting every child to participate. It can be a really difficult thing to do, and I think you are more than succeeding! I like your idea of separating students into small groups. This really gives each child a chance to speak and also gets a lot done in a small amount of time. You are a great teacher and your students are so lucky to have you! Keep up the good work!

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