"All right class, push your desks into a circle to get ready for music time." The kids excitedly moved their desks apart and strained their necks to get a glimpse of what they would be doing. I had initially planned to have them predict what instrument I would be teaching them, but the element of surprise was ruined when I entered the classroom lugging 28 ukuleles. By the end of the lesson, most children understood how to play the C chord and were having fun learning a new instrument. Below I have provided a copy of my lesson plan.
Objective: Students will be able to play a one chord song on the ukulele using a variety of strum patterns and with good rhythm.
State Standard(s):
Standard 6.M.CR.1:Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and
musical ideas, explain connections to specific purpose and context, and
generate musical ideas using specific tonalities, meters, and simple chord
changes.
PROCEDURE:
1.
Introduce myself. Have them ask me a few questions.
2.
Ask, “Who has played the Ukulele before?”
3.
Bring out my ukulele and ask, “What can you tell me
about a Ukulele?” Teach them a few basic terms (frets, tuning keys, sound hole,
names of the strings.)
4.
Go over behavior expectations and display them: 1) Only
play when instructed. 2) Treat the instruments with care and respect. 3) Keep
trying!
a.
They will get the Ukuleles a few at a time.
b.
When I ring a bell, they will place the ukuleles on
their desks. Practice this procedure once.
5.
Once they all have their Ukuleles, I will teach them
the C chord. I will demonstrate a basic strumming pattern. After demonstrating,
they will play it with me.
8.
After they are comfortable playing it, we will play
Fara Jaka. I will post the lyrics on the board.
9.
Teach them more strumming patterns (on the beat, and
down-down-up-down-down).
10. Have
them get into small groups (3-4 children) and they will think of new lyrics for
the Fara jaka song. Have a few groups perform their song in front of the class.
Things that went well: The lesson went pretty well, but I found it surprisingly difficult to maintain good management with so many instruments. Also, I loved hearing some of the lyrics that the kids came up with. I also thought that many children enjoyed the time to create and come up with their own song.
What I would change: I would give the kids a chance to play the instrument before teaching them a new concept and trying to force them to pay attention. I realized that they needed more time to play around and experiment, and I think this would have helped improve management. I also realized that I needed to explain some key elements of the Ukulele better.
Day 2
Overall, the second day went much better. I started off playing a game with them to help me learn their names. They tapped, snapped, or clapped their name one at a time and then simultaneously. Then I pulled out the drums and they did the same thing but with the drums. By the end they created a pretty fun rhythm.
Then we pulled out the Ukuleles and I put them into three different centers. In the first center, students watched a short video clip about strumming patterns while practicing. The second group practiced the C chord that they had learned the time before, and the third group came with me and learned the G7 chord. I realized the that G7 chord is difficult for their fingers, so I might find songs without it for next time. I decided to do centers because I thought it might give them more time to play. I think the only way to really make it effective in a setting like this (where I am only teaching a few times), would be if I had a teacher at each station. Luckily, we did have someone at each station so it seemed to work. However, I am not sure if I will continue doing the stations.
