Technology Integration for the 3rd Grade Classroom

Ben Rajewski

Intro-

In this lesson, 3rd grade students will be using Garage band through and iPad or Mac to compose

a backbeat to a short song. Students will learn a short song, and then use the drum beat loops in garage

band to compose a 2 measure backbeat in 4/4 time to present to the class. Students will be meeting the

learning objectives of creating, responding, and performing. Students will be learning skills in rhythm,

meter, tempo, steady beat, and texture of sound. I believe the use of this is appropriate because it

allows students to use loops to individually create a unique sound very easily and allows for easy

presentation and assessment.

Product-

1. Students will get in a circle and sit down. Teacher will say, “Students, let’s start by patting on our

laps like this!” Teacher will start patting on lap as students join in.

2. Teacher will then ask students to do call and response on the following chant, with the teacher

going first, and the students repeating after. “Say your name and when you do; we will say it

back to you” (1-and-2-and-3-and-4; 1-and-2-and-3-and-4).

3. Teacher will have the students and say and tap the chant to the rhythm of the words.

4. Once students have the words down, ask the class to do it together one time, having each child

get a chance to say their name. Assess students to ensure all have chant and pats down.

5. Have students dismiss from circle and go to technology and open Garageband, or a similar app.

6. Demonstrate to students how to use drum beat loops to compose an 8 beat drum pattern

underneath, and have all students create a beat.

 7. Once all students have created a beat, have each student do get a chance to do the chant with

their name and their drum beat.

Assessment-

When the students are first learning the chant and taps, the teacher will assess the students as

they go around the room and do the chant for each person’s name. This allows for individual assessment

when each student gets to their name. The teacher will also assess the student’s drum beats with the

chant in the same way in the final presentation. The students will also be able to send their drumbeat to

the teacher through email or an upload, so the teacher can assess their ability to understand rhythm,

meter, and tempo. This will also allow the teacher to assess the student’s ability to successfully use

Garage Band and the iPad, in addition to the teacher walking around and individually assessing the

students during creation of the drum beat.

Reflection-

When thinking of an idea for the technology integration lesson, I knew I wanted to do

something that involved the students creating something, as well doing something that allowed for easy

individual assessment by the teacher. Using garage band allows for this, especially since I can assess in

and out of class. In starting my apprenticeship and seeing small use of technology integration, I wanted

to do something for the elementary music classroom with more integration. I chose to do this lesson

after stumbling across this chant. I really liked the idea of integrating technology in a simple yet effective

way. I think this would be a really good beginning of the year lesson, as it would also allow the students

to learn each other’s names and get to know each other. The actual planning of the lesson was a little

difficult, as my main worry is how to fit this into one class period, or split it into two. Also, if in a

classroom without 1 to 1 tech, students would need to work in groups on the drum beat, which allows
for less individual assessment, but still gets the main idea of the lesson across. In all, I think this could be

a successful lesson that integrates technology at more than just surface level, and teacher students to

create, respond and perform while learning musical fundamentals such as rhythm, meter, tempo, steady

beat, and texture of sound.