Jenny Jordan

Dr. Talbot
MUS_149

Assignment: #4.1 Rhythmic Activity Micro-teach

Context: 2nd Grade General Music
Prior Knowledge: Students know what time signatures and simple meter are. Last week, they
explored the meaning of simple meter and clapped rhythms in 4/4, 2/4, and 3/4 focusing on
quarter, eighth, and half notes.
Essential Question: How does compound meter redefine a sense of rhythm compared to simple
meter?

I. National Standards:
A. MU:Cr1.1.2a Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and musical ideas for a
specific purpose.
B. MU:Pr6.1.2a Perform music for a specific purpose with expression and technical
accuracy.
C. MU:Re7.2.2a Describe how specific music concepts are used to support a specific
purpose in music.
D. MU:Cn11.0.2a Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and
the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.
II. Learning Outcomes:
A. Students will improvise in compound meter.
B. Students will perform rhythms in compound meter.
C. Students will define compound meter.
D. Students will differentiate simple and compound meter.
III. Materials:
A. Chalk and chalkboard or whiteboard and expo marker
B. References:
1. OnMusic Dictionary. (2015). Retrieved September 16, 2020, from
https://dictionary.onmusic.org/
IV. Key Terms:
A. Beat- The regular pulse of music which may be dictated by the rise or fall of the
hand or baton of the conductor, by a metronome, or by the accents in music.
B. Simple meter- A musical time signature in which the accented beats of each
measure are divisible by two.
C. Compound meter- Meter in which each beat is divisible by three rather than two.
D. Time Signature- A symbol placed at the left side of the staff indicating the meter
of the composition.
V. Procedure:
A. The teacher will gesture for the students to stand in a circle.
 B. The teacher will stomp their feet to 4 beats a measure.
C. The teacher will gesture for the students to follow along.
D. The teacher will pat their thighs to subdivide each beat into duples.
E. The teacher will stop patting while making sure to gesture for the students to
continue.
F. The teacher will write “simple meter” on the board.
G. The teacher will motion for the students to stop patting their thighs.
H. The teacher will clap their hands to subdivide each beat into triples.
I. The teacher will stop patting while making sure to gesture for the students to
continue.
J. The teacher will write “compound meter” on the board.
K. The teacher will gesture down the middle of the circle for the students to get into
two groups, referred to as Group A and Group B.
L. The teacher will have Group A continue to clap and stomp while gesturing for
Group B to stop.
M. The teacher will use various percussive actions to perform a 2-measure rhythm in
compound meter. The teacher will perform this twice.
N. The teacher will gesture for Group B to perform with them by pointing at them,
repeating a few times until the students have it well learned.
O. The teacher will repeat steps L-N with the groups switched.
P. The teacher will perform a rhythm and gesture for students to give a thumbs-up or
thumbs down as to if the rhythm is in compound meter.
Q. The teacher will repeat step P until the majority of the class answers correctly.
R. The teacher will have Group B continue to stomp and clap.
S. The teacher will gesture for Group A to improvise for 4 measures after the teacher
signals a countdown, repeating until the students seem comfortable.
T. The teacher will repeat steps R-S with the groups switched.
U. The teacher will have students write definitions of simple and compound meter on
an exit ticket.
VI. Assessments:
A. The teacher will aurally assess students’ ability to improvise in compound meter
using a score of 0 or 1.
1. 0- The student does not improvise in compound meter.
2. 1- The student improvises in compound meter
B. The teacher will aurally assess students’ ability to perform compound rhythms.
1. Are they performed with rhythmic accuracy? Yes/No
C. The teacher will assess students’ ability to define simple and compound meters by
having them write definitions on an exit ticket and scoring them on a scale of 0-2.
1. 0- The student does not accurately define simple or compound meter.
2. 1- The student accurately defines simple meter but not compound meter or
defines compound meter but not simple meter.
 3. 2- The student accurately defines both simple and compound meter.
D. The teacher will visually assess students by asking for a thumbs-up or thumbs-
down as to if a rhythm is in compound meter.
VII. Further Learning:
A. After this lesson, we could continue improvising rhythmically in compound
meter, but with smaller groups at a time.
B. We could also have students volunteer to play a rhythm for the class and have the
class follow them.
C. This lesson could be followed up with a discussion about how compound meter
could be used as opposed to simple meter.
VIII. Honor Code:
A. I affirm that I have upheld the highest principles of honesty and integrity in my
academic work and have not witnessed a violation of the Honor Code – Jenny
Jordan