Culturally Responsive Lesson

Introduction

The students in my middle school band classroom are from various different cultures and
backgrounds. Although most of my students are native English speakers, a few are students that
are ELL. This means that they may not have the best grasp on music literacy as different cultures
outside of the U.S. may not use standard notation for music. However, they do have a grasp on
music and understand various concepts such as rhythm and scales. My students that are ELL
would need various learning styles to piece what they are familiar with and what is new
information. I put in place different methods that are inclusive to the entire group and does not
create the notion of these students being different and/or more behind than their peers. I took in
account that my students may think of different musical concepts with perspectives different than
my own, so I won’t create any right or wrong guided learning and focus more on expanding what
my students already know and their grasp on new concepts. This piece is part of a multicultural
collection of music from different countries around the world and will likely be new for almost
all students.

Due to Armenia’s location (between Europe and Asia), it has been part of many empires
throughout history. This includes the Greek, Roman, Assyrian, Arab, Persian, Ottoman, and
Turkish Empire. From 1915-1923, what is known now as the “Armenian Genocide” occurred
when Turks believed that Christian Armenians were allied with Russia. It was estimated that
over a million Armenians were killed during this time. In 1920, the Soviet Union invaded the at
the time independent Armenia. When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Armenia was made into an
independent state once again and has remained so since.
OBJECTIVES

 Students will play rhythms more accurately to prepare for Armenian Rhapsody
(Cognitive)
 Students will listen for different rhythms and identify parts different than their own
(Cognitive)

PROCEDURES

Rhythm Worksheet (30 minutes)

 Students will receive a worksheet that contains all of the main rhythms that will occur in
Armenian Rhapsody and are expected to write in the rhythm notation
 Backtracks of the rhythms on different instruments will play as students are filling in
notation, quiet discussion with stand partners is encouraged!
 After 5 minutes, class discussion about what they heard and how it’s notated
o When the bell played, which rhythm line was that?
o When the trumpet played, which rhythm line was that?
 Class performance of rhythm sheet on syllables and/or body percussion
Armenian Rhapsody Discussion (10 minutes)
 Passed out to students
 Listen to recording of the piece
 Identify as a group where rhythms from worksheet are in the music
o Notate on the worksheet!
Sight Read the Piece (20 minutes)
 Play full run through without stopping
 Work various note issues with new key signature
 Play rhythms on concert F if notes are messing with rhythms

ASSESSMENT

Students will keep their rhythm worksheet the first day so they can review on their own if they
needed more time than what was given in class. At the end of the 5th rehearsal, students will pass
in their completed rhythm worksheets with information they gained when listening in class.

Before packing up, students are asked to close their eyes and rate these questions 1-5 with their
hands (1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree):
 I felt good about doing the rhythm worksheet today
 I felt like it was easier to learn the piece today with the rhythm worksheet
 I feel like I still need more learning with rhythms
Culturally Responsive Lesson
Reflection

I chose a multicultural piece for this lesson to create a new experience for everyone in my
class. I used different learning styles that are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic to reach students in
different modalities. This lesson would be great to help students that aren’t very familiar
rhythmic notation that may know music by ear. When creating this lesson, I made sure not to
single any student out as a “struggling student” nor separate my students that are ELL from the
other students in the classroom. When originally filling in the sheet, I encourage students to work
together. I incorporated a lot of listening in this lesson to create the connection of what we hear
and what we read.