Blended Learning Lesson Plan

Lesson Title: Treble Clef Staff Reading

Objectives:
 SWBAT identify the first five letters on a musical staff in C major and comparing the
letters to their respective solfege syllables.
 SWBAT compose a short melody using the first five letters on a musical staff in C major
in NoteFlight.
 SWBAT analyze pieces of sheet music in order to label the correct pitch names and
solfege signs to the notes on a staff.
State Standards:
 GM.P NM.5: I can read simple rhythmic and melodic notation.
 GM.P NM.5.1: I can name notes in treble clef.
 GM.CR NH.1: I can arrange a musical idea.

Context:
Before this lesson, students were learning about how pitches sounded in relation to their
respective solfege syllables. Students will already know the first 5 solfege syllables (do, re, mi,
fa, so) and the ascending order from lowest to highest pitch. Students will also know what
quarter, half, and whole notes look like. Their prior knowledge will be used to add a necessary
visual component to their singing. Students will be able to identify the first five letters on a
musical staff in C major. This will help them associate musical pitch to a staff in order to begin
sight reading music off of a musical staff. After this lesson, students will continue strengthening
their skills in reading pitches on a treble clef and start to listen to the intervallic changes between
notes. With the previous knowledge of knowing the names of pitches on a treble clef and now
knowing the sounds of the intervals of a major pentatonic scale, my students will be able to begin
sight reading music on a staff.
Data:
Students will be grouped based on the pervious class’s exit ticket results. Students will be placed
in groups of 6 to 7, depending on the number of students in a group. The grouping will be
classified by the student’s exit ticket score which reflects the student’s level of understanding of
the content taught in the previous lesson. Student data will be collected in this lesson from their
scores while playing the NoteWorks app during the Independent Digital station, and from their
analysis of their 16 note melody from their collaborative station from today’s stations.
Materials:
 Smartboard  Scissors
 Smartboard pens  Glue
 iPads  Markers
 Computers  Paper & Pencil
 Flash card templates  Music Notebooks
 Pictures and labels for flash cards  Station worksheet

Procedures:
Introduction (20 minutes):
The lesson will begin once all students have entered the classroom and taken their seats.
As the students come into the classroom, students will notice their warmup question of
the day on the Smartboard and will answer the question in their music notebooks. Shortly
after the bell rings, I will give my students about 2 more minutes to finish writing their
responses to the warmup question. Once that time is up, I will ask a few students to share
their response to the warmup question. From there, we will transition into the day’s
content. I will start with refreshing my student’s memory by asking them questions about
previous lessons. Those certain questions could be, “Who can tell me the 5 solfege
syllables we use to sing in class every day?” or, “Can we all sing our solfege pattern
together starting on ‘do’?”. Next, I will begin to explain that there is a way we are able to
read our solfege syllables and play the “The Treble Clef, Stave and Pitch” YouTube
video. After the video is over, I will begin to go over the terminology (staff, clef, lines,
spaces, note names) of writing pitches on a staff, and describing in detail the processes
we will use to write notes on a staff. I will then ask certain students to come up to the
Smartboard and drag the solfege syllable to the correct note name on a staff. After this, I
will describe each station to the students, and get them prepared to group up. I will give
every student a specific post-it note (Pink for teacher directed station, Blue for
collaborative, Green for independent digital) and these post-it notes align with the first
station they will work at and there are matching table labels at each station. From here I
will ask my students to relocate to their assigned first stations and begin the stations. I
will leave a guide on the Smartboard during station time which will include a staff with
note names on them for the student’s reference.
Teacher Directed (10 minutes):
In this section of the blended learning stations, I will begin by passing out the necessary
materials for the station (scissors, glue, markers, pictures and labels, flashcards) to my
students. I will then begin to instruct my students on how we will be putting together the
flash cards. As we are creating our flashcards, I will be explaining the connection
between the staff, note names, and the solfege syllable for each individual note. Once all
the flash cards are made, I will then bring out a short melodic example of “Mary Had a
 Little Lamb” that is written on a treble clef staff. I will play them the piece on my
keyboard and ask them if the piece sounds familiar. Next, we will begin to examine each
individual note on the staff. I will encourage my students to use their flashcards for the
activity and throughout the rest of class today. I will go through each student and ask
them for the note name and solfege syllable. If the student seems to be confused or
struggling, I will prompt them with questions like, “Is the note on a line or a space?”, or
“What is the catchphrase we use for remembering our note names for lines?”. If the
student needs further explanations, I will reexplain the material and ask my students if
they can help me out with explaining it. Not only does my reexplanation help the student
to comprehend the material, but if I encourage my students to explain the material it helps
them to remember the content and allows for my students to cooperatively learn from
each other.
Collaborative (10 minutes):
In this section of the blended learning stations, students will work in their groups to
compose their own 16 note melody in the NoteFlight Program on the computers. Students
will have an instruction sheet at the station and will read the instructions. Students will
need to write a 16 note melody using only quarter notes and letter names C, D, E, F, and
G. In their groups, students may take turns at choosing a note or as a group decide on a
melody and may use the guide on the smartboard for their assistance. Students will input
their melody into the NoteFlight program online and print their melody out and staple it
to their station worksheet. Also, students will need to analyze their piece, and write the
note names down on their station worksheet. After the stations are over, students will
need to present their melody to the rest of the class, and the class will analyze their piece
together. Their analysis of the notes will be used for grouping data.
Independent Digital (10 minutes):
In this section of the blended learning stations, students will be using the NoteWorks
game app and using their note name reference guides. Students will be instructed to pick
up an iPad from the bookshelf and open the NoteWorks app. Once in the app, students
will be able to play the game where they will need to guess the correct note name on the
staff. Students will have the option to customize their preferred reference guide modality
as well as the speed the game goes at. As the game goes on, points will add up to a total
score which will be evaluated for grouping data. The students will play the game until the
time runs up, and record their ending score on their station worksheet.
Closure (10 minutes):
After the stations are completed, students will return to their seats and await further
instruction. I will ask each group of students to come up to the front of the class and show
the class their composed melodies. As a class, we will all analyze each groups melody for
each note name. After each group has presented their songs, all students will go back to
their seats and await further instruction. I will inform my student helpers to grab the flash
card templates, pictures & labels, markers, glue, and scissors and hand one of each out to
 every student. The students will listen to my instruction and we will make our flash cards
together one at a time. These flash cards can be used for them to look over their musical
notes on a staff during class and at home for homework assignments. The flash cards will
bring us to the end of class, and class will be dismissed.
Rationale:
“The Treble Clef, Stave and Pitch”:
I chose this video because I wanted to help introduce and teach my students about the
basics of music on a staff. The video describes the how notes fit on a staff and includes
easy ways to remember the notes on a staff and a quiz that puts the content into practice
for my students. The information in the video is presented clearly with many
visualizations and clips to demonstrate and symbolize what the speaker is teaching. The
video addresses all of my students by using captions alongside the video, and the visual
aspect of the video could be especially helpful to those students who are visual learners
like myself. The video aligns with South Carolina Standard GM.P NM.5.1.
NoteFlight:
I chose this website because it is an easy way to get students starting to write and
compose music on a staff. NoteFlight is a free notation software program that allows
users to compose and write music on staff paper. The website provides an embedded
tutorial for new users when you make your first score and teaches you the basics of how
to use the program. NoteFlight is a fairly simple and accessible website when starting to
write and notate music, especially for late elementary students. NoteFlight addresses all
of my students by having the option to input music into a midi keyboard instead of
having to manually placing every note. The website aligns with South Carolina Standards
GM.P NH.1.
NoteWorks:
I chose this game app because I wanted to incorporate some form of an entertaining
activity for my students. I personally find it beneficial to add in an activity that does not
feel like they are learning, especially for at the elementary level. The NoteWorks app it is
great way to let my students learn their note names and build up their familiarity with
musical staffs and standard notation. The app is straightforward and user friendly and
provides quick feedback to users. The app allows students to customize certain aspects of
the game like information presentation and game speed in order to ensure a higher
success rate among users. This is great in a blended learning setting because not all
students will share the same level of understanding and these customizations allow the
students to connect and enjoy the game without getting bored or frustrated. This allows
for each student to have an individual approach to achieving their goals with the game.
The app aligns with South Carolina Standards GM.P NM.5 and GM.P NM.5.1.