Lesson 2 Analysis

Of the three lessons that were taught to the students, I felt that lesson two of the
three was the most successful and productive lesson. As soon as everyone was seated, we
warmed up by reviewing our “Snowflakes” folk tune. After quickly jogging the
memories of the students, I had a PowerPoint visual aid up on the board of our
snowflakes tune and we sang through the song one last time. Right after that, I changed
the slide, which still had the tune on the board, but I changed the title and removed the
words. I asked the students if it looked familiar and I then played it on the piano. We
soon identified that it was the “Snowflakes” song, which is when I introduced the project
to the students. For the first ten minutes of the class, I went through all expectations and
guidelines for the project. I went over the rubric, and over the worksheet that the students
would use in their assigned groups as a guide to help create their folk tunes. The
expectations were clear for the students. To the pre-existing melody “Snowflakes”, the
students were to be given a topic, create their own lyrics, include at least one instrument
and have at least one motion. After completing these folk songs in their small groups, the
students will have time to practice with their groups and will then perform their folk
songs to the class, which resembles the students passing on their own folk tune from
“generation to generation.” One explained, I gave the students a number of either one,
two, three or four and that is the group that they would be assigned to. Once in their
groups, I came around with a basket of topics for the students to choose from, which is
when they received their worksheet to begin creating their own folk tunes. Students were
not allowed to create movements or grab instruments until their song was completed.
Once approved by the teacher, the students were allowed to grab instruments and begin
adding motions to their songs. As the students were collaborating with each other, I was
walking around the room, constantly checking in with each group to see their progress,
hear their ideas, and provide guidance where needed.
With this specific group of students, I did not have to adjust anything for this
lesson and taught it as it was originally planned. With other sections of fourth grade, I
had come across a few issues of students not working within their groups and not
working together with their groups. A large goal that I had for the students with this
project was the idea of having to work with an collaborate with those around you. In life
you are not always able to work with people that you are fond of and get along with, and
I felt that this was an experience that I could provide for the students to build this skill in
this lesson. With many groups, I experienced students that were able to utilize creativity,
had arguments, able to collaborate and work together while also having fun. I got to do
this lesson one time before teaching it to the class that I was documenting for the project,
and that is when I changed the lesson. Originally, I did not have any timers up on the
board and after that class, with some guidance, I decided that it was best to have multiple
timers and more specific instructions for the students instead of just one timer where the
students “work on their project”. I was able to break down the creative process more,
which allowed the students to be more focused on the overall assignment.
For lesson two, I had done mostly informal assessment, which included checking
in with each group to see how their folk tunes were coming along. Did they get all their
words done? Were they able to add instruments and motions? Are they following all the
criteria and guidelines for their folk song creations? I was also checking to see if students
can work together and collaborate within their teams as well as assuring that students are
still understanding the overall idea of folk music. One formal method of assessment that
was performed for this lesson was an exit ticket. Once each student was assigned in their
groups and began working, I passed out exit tickets to each student. The students were
instructed to write their name on the top and then write their folk song topic. This exit
ticket helped me to track which group the students were in, but also forced the students to
write down, understand and focus on their topic of their folk song that is being created in
their small groups.