IMPACT PROJECT

Sight-Reading
 Purpose

Sight-singing is the ability to look at music and sing it without having previously heard it. Sight-
singing allows one to improve music literacy skills, pitch accuracy and rhythmical skills. Sight-singing also
requires the ability to hear pitch in your mind, which is called audiation. Exercising all of these skills
makes for a well-rounded musician. The basics of ear-training form the foundation of harmonic
relationships. When singing in a choir, being able to listen to harmonic relationships is key to intonation
and blend. From my observations in the classroom, the students at this high school practiced sight-
reading skills in most of their middle school choir experiences, but not during their high school years.

Standards

HCB.1
2. Read rhythmic patterns that include whole notes, dotted half notes, half notes, dotted quarter notes,
quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes and corresponding rests
4. Identify key signatures C, F, G, D
5. Sight sing eight-measure, stepwise melodic patterns using do, re, mi, fa, sol and maintaining a steady
beat

Goals

I can sight read a level 1 sight reading example with correct rhythm

I can identify the key signatures C, F, G, and D

I can use solfege to sight read a level 1 sight reading example with less than 2 pitch and rhythm mistakes

I can maintain a steady beat when sight reading

Overview

The pretest was done with 4 measure level one sight-reading examples in the keys of C, F, G, and D. The
students were given the key via playing a I-IV-V-I on the piano and then were given 30 seconds to look
over the example on their own. They were given a tempo of 4 beats and were told to start. In the key of
C the class collectively stopped singing by measure 3 and in F they stopped by measure 2. The class,
when looking at the keys of G and D, stated they did not know how to sight-read those keys. Given this,
in the lessons I went over the keys of G and D but the pretest and posttest results are data taken from
just sight-reading in C and F. Over a period of 4 class periods, the lessons were given and then a posttest
with different 4 measure level one sight-reading examples.
 Pretest
Rhythm Accuracy Extremely More than 3 One or two No mistakes
inaccurate, as if mistakes, but mistakes, but
notes a sung appears to have mistakes do not
randomly out of minimal concept have large effect
time of notation on overall
performance

Pulse No perceptible Inconsistent Somewhat Consistent

tempo, as if tempo, but consistent tempo
notes are sung rhythms seem tempo with few throughout
randomly to be related to fluctuations
the given tempo
even if it speeds
up or slowed
down

Pitch Accuracy Extremely More mistakes One or two No mistakes, all

inaccurate, than 4 mistakes, mistakes pitches are
melody is non- but melody is accurate
existent still present

Intonation Almost every 3 or more notes One or two Students stay in

note is out of are out of tune notes out of tune the entire
tune tune time
 Lesson Plans
Lesson 1

Objective
• I can identify key signatures C and F
• I can sing a diatonic scale on solfege in tune
• I can sight read a 4-measure rhythm on “ta di” with dotted half notes, half notes, quarter notes
and eighth notes
• I can tap a steady beat while sight reading rhythms

Process
• Go over values of whole notes, dotted half notes, half notes, dotted quarter notes, quarter
notes, eighth notes
• Give rhythm examples on board and have them say it on “ta di”
• Go over key signatures of C and F
• Give them a sight reading in C
• Have them identify key, and starting pitch
• Tonicize key, sing scale on solfege
• Give them time to write in solfege and hum notes
• Speak the rhythm all together
• Have them sing
• Try again and sing with them
• Give them a sight reading in F and repeat

Lesson 2
Objective
• I can identify key signatures C, F, and G
• I can sight read a 4 measure rhythm on “ta ka di mi” with dotted half notes, half notes, quarter
notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes
• I can identify the value of whole rests, half rests, quarter rests, and eighth rests

Process
• Go over rest values
• Give rhythm examples on board with sixteenth notes and have them say it on “ta ka di mi”
• Go over key signature of G
• Sing G scale
• Give them a sight reading in G
• Have them identify key and starting pitch
• Give them time to hum notes on their own
• Speak the rhythm all together
• Have them sing
• Try again and sing with them if needed
 Lesson 3
Objective
• I can identify the key signatures C, F, G, and D
• I can sight read a rhythm with whole notes, dotted half notes, half notes, dotted quarter notes,
quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes and corresponding rests
• I can maintain a steady beat when sight reading

Process
• Give 4 measure rhythm example on the board that includes quarter and eighth rests
• Go over key signature of D
• Sing D scale
• Give sight reading in D
• Have them identify key and starting pitch
• Give them time to hum notes on their own
• Speak the rhythm all together
• Have them sing
• Try again and sing with them if needed

Lesson 4
Objective
• I can identify the key signatures C, F, G, and D
• I can maintain a steady beat when sight reading
• I can sight read a level 1 rhythm with 2 or less pitch and rhythm mistakes

Process
• Review all key signatures
• Give sight reading examples in all keys
• Have them identify key and starting pitch
• Give them time to hum notes on their own
• Speak the rhythm all together (Have them keep a beat)
• Have them sing
• Repeat

Post Test
 Post Test

Rhythm Accuracy Extremely More than 3 One or two No mistakes

inaccurate, as if mistakes, but mistakes, but
notes a sung appears to have mistakes do not
randomly out of minimal concept have large effect
time of notation on overall
performance

Pulse No perceptible Inconsistent Somewhat Consistent

tempo, as if tempo, but consistent tempo
notes are sung rhythms seem to tempo with few throughout
randomly be related to the fluctuations
given tempo
even if it speeds
up or slowed
down

Pitch Accuracy Extremely More mistakes One or two No mistakes, all

inaccurate, than 4 mistakes, mistakes pitches are
melody is non- but melody is accurate
existent still present

Intonation Almost every 3 or more notes One or two Students stay in

note is out of are out of tune notes out of tune the entire
tune tune time
 Student Growth

Overall, the group made improvements on their sight reading. In the beginning during the pre-
test, they stopped singing by measure 3. By the end of the unit, they could sing through an 8-measure
sight-reading with about 2 pitch problems on bigger leaps. I think the biggest level of improvement was
their confidence. Sometimes students just need to be exposed to something more often in order to be
more comfortable with it. By doing sight-reading every day for a period of classes, they were less afraid
of making a mistake. This confidence allowed them to sing out more and be a more active participant.
There were about three students who really excelled with the sight-reading. It was very interesting to
see how many students really want to know how to read music and be able to sight-read, but are
impatient about building up the skill. I had one student come up to me after the first day of sight-
reading asking questions because she watched a 30-minute video at home on her own about sight-
reading. They want to feel accomplished, which also leads to them being frustrated when things get
harder. I needed to find a balance between pushing them to the next level and also giving them sight-
reading of which that they are capable of singing. I would always try to start with an easier piece and
then move on to a harder one.

Modifications

There were different levels on sight-reading capabilities with this class. When starting out, I
went over the absolute basics of note names and note values/rests, so that everyone was on the same
page. In the lessons, I would always let them do the sight-readings twice, and if there were still issues,
we would break down certain measures or certain leaps. I would sing it for them and they would echo
and then they would try it again in the context of the sight reading. Most rhythm issues they could fix on
their own the second time, but with large leaps they usually needed to hear me sing it first. If something
needed to be broken down even more, we would speak the rhythm together on ta’s or speak the
rhythm on solfege. For those who were struggling with solfege, they were encourage to tap the rhythms
and sing on neutral syllables or at least tap the rhythm.
If I had students in the class that showed exemplary sight-reading skills, I would implement
alternate assignments such as create a harmony to the sight-reading and write in the solfege of your
harmony or exercises like making a round with a group. They could start the sight-reading normally and
then tap the rhythm of the sight reading a measure behind.

Final Thoughts

Now looking back on this plan, I think I was slightly overly ambitions are the number of keys I
wanted them to sight read. While they made great improvement singing in the key of C, they were less
comfortable singing in other keys. Their most confident keys were C and F, and they were almost perfect
in the post test. I think if I redesigned the lesson to just be those keys, it would be less overwhelming for
the students in the short amount of time we had. Sight reading can be a vulnerable thing to do in front a
teacher and peers. If I focused on two keys specifically, they would most likely have been more
confident in those keys. I think my general plan to introduce new keys slowly was a good idea and can
apply to my future classroom over a longer period of time. Also, if given a projector in the classroom, I
would love to incorporate a sight-singing software in the future. There is a helpful website that will
randomize sight-readings according to level. I would also remake the rubric with one more option.
Instead of 4 levels and jumping from 4 mistakes to one or two, I would add another column in between
to have a wider variety of options.