Impact on Student Learning Project: High School Guitar I

Unit Objectives
● Students will learn how to play notes on the 4th string of the guitar
● Students will learn the concept of the pickup note

Rationale
Students will expand their knowledge of musical concepts and how to play the guitar

Lesson Plans
Lesson #1
Objective:
● Students will play #28 and #29 in the method book
Rationale:
● Students will learn notes on the 4th string of the guitar
Standards Addressed:
● HGI.1; HGI.2; HGI.8; HGI.9; HGI.10; HGI.16
Process:
1. Explain where the notes on the 4th string are
2. Give individual practice time to get used to switching between notes on the 4th
string
#28
***sing while you play for every rep***
1. Give individual practice time for each measure
2. Play each measure slowly
a. Go back and forth between certain notes that are more difficult if
necessary
3. Give individual practice time for each measure
4. Add the previous measure(s) to the one that was just learned
 5. Play through the entire song
#29
***sing each note name while you play for every rep***
1. Give individual practice time for each measure
2. Play each measure slowly
a. Go back and forth between certain notes that are more difficult if
necessary
3. Give individual practice time for each measure
4. Add the previous measure(s) to the one that was just learned
5. Play through the entire song
Assessment:
● Students will take a brief pre-test at the beginning of the lesson for a formal
assessment
● Students will be informally assessed through listening and providing feedback
throughout the lesson
Potential Challenges:
1. Reaching for the fourth string
2. Learning new notes
3. Using second finger rather than the first finger

Lesson #2
Objective:
● Students will play #30 and #31 from the guitar method book.
Rationale:
● Students will learn what pickup notes are and how to count/play them
Standards Addressed:
● HGI.1; HGI.2; HGI.7; HGI.8; HGI.9; HGI.10; HGI.15; HGI.16
Process:
#30
 1. Ask students to read the gray box
2. Ask for raised hands to explain in their own words to the class what a pickup note
is
a. Explain it yourself to the class to clear up any sort of confusion
3. Only count off the pick up measure, no extra measures
4. Clap before you play

#31
1. Only count off the pick up measure, no extra measures
2. Clap two measures at a time, and combine them as you go until they can clap
the whole line
3. Play through the tune two measures at a time, and combine them as you go until
they can play the whole line
4. Repeat 1 and 2 for each line
5. Combine the lines as you go until they can play the whole tune
Assessment:
● Students will be informally assessed through listening and providing feedback
throughout the lesson
Potential Challenges:
1. Playing the pickup note on the correct beat
2. Adding the fourth string

Lesson #3
Objective:
● Students will write two of their own passages using pickup notes and notes on
the 3rd and 4th string
Rationale:
● Students will have a better understanding of how pickup notes function
 ● Students will gain experience with composition
Standards Addressed:
● HGI.1; HGI.2; HGI.6; HGI.7; HGI.8; HGI.9; HGI.10; HGI.15; HGI.16
Process:
1. Give students a worksheet where they can fill in blank measures to write their
own passages
2. There are two passages to write, 4 measures each
a. One passage has one pickup note
b. One passage has two pickup notes
c. Only use notes on the 3rd and 4th string
d. Only use quarter notes and half notes
3. Walk around and assist/guide students as needed
4. When their passages are written, have them write in the beats on which notes
occur underneath their composition
Assessment:
● Students will be informally assessed by being given feedback throughout the
assignment
● Students will be formally assessed by being given comments on their worksheet
Potential Challenges:
1. Students may be uncomfortable with writing their own music
2. Students may be frustrated because the assignment feels too difficult
3. Students may be overwhelmed or may overthink the assignment
 Pre and Post Assessment 

Fourth String and Pickup Notes 

 
Name: ______________________________________ 
 
Write the letter name of each note ​(A, B, C, D, E, F, G)​ and the string ​(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)​, fret (​ O, 1, 2, 3, etc.) ,​ and the 
beat the note happens on​ (1 ,2, 3, 4)

Name: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 
String: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 
Fret: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 
Beat:  ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 

Name: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 
String: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___   
Fret: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 
Beat:  ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 
 
 Fourth String and Pickup Note Assessment Rubric

Note Identification ___/25

String Identification ___/25

Fret Identification ___/25

Beat Identification ___/25

Total ___/100

Comments:
 Impact on Student Learning Summary Reflection

I chose to do my Impact on Student Learning Project in the guitar class that I had

during my first placement. I wanted to implement the project in this class because I have

never played guitar before teaching it, and I wanted to use this project to examine my

teaching in a content area I am unfamiliar with.

The guitar class is full of mostly new musicians ranging from 9th-12th grade.

Most of the students (with the exception of a few) have never taken a music class, so

they are learning to read music and play the guitar all at the same time. This large range

of knowledge and experience in this class make it interesting and challenging to teach.

The curriculum is based out of the Hal Leonard Guitar Method Book 1, with some

modifications. The book is organized in chapters that teach one string at a time, using

folk songs and other basic melodies, while also introducing basic musical concepts such

as time signature, note lengths, pickup notes, ties, etc. My project uses the chapter that

teaches the 4th string and the concept of pickup notes.

On the formal pre-assessment, the class average was 77.4%. I organized three

lessons, two using the book, and one that required the students to implement their

knowledge of the content by composing their own musical passages. Throughout the

first two lessons, the students were learning the notes and concepts through songs in

the book. Through this process, I was informally assessing the students’ progress

through listening and giving feedback during the lessons. For example I would ask the

students questions to guide their understanding like “What beat does the pickup note
happen on?” and “How many ‘invisible’ beats are there before the pickup notes?” I

would also give individual practice time to learn the music two-four measures at a time.

During this individual practice time I would walk around and give individual feedback to

each student depending on their needs. The composition lesson was scaffolded to

focus primarily on the new notes on the 4th string the students were learning and on the

concept of pickup notes. I purposefully limited the notes they could use and limited

measures to fill so that they could focus on how to implement the concepts. During the

composition lesson, I walked around and informally assessed and guided the students

along individually to help them with the assignment and enhance their understanding of

the concepts. On the formal post-assessment, the class average was 91.9%. The main

areas of improvement were in note identification and in beat identification. There is a

student that struggles a lot with note identification, even after the lessons, because he is

learning by ear. This has been addressed with the student before, but no major change

in his ability to identify notes has occurred yet, though he is excelling in all other areas

of the unit and of the class. This increase in the class average proves that the students

have a much more thorough understanding of the content than they did before the

lessons.

If I implement this unit again in the future, I would add a lesson in which the

students are divided into small groups and teach each other the material. This would

allow them the opportunity to explain the material to each other and enhance their own

understanding. I would also find other songs to teach them that are not from book-
songs that they know and like that use the same concepts the book does. This would

give the students more material that they enjoy in the class.