General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4

Course: GRADE: PACING: UNIT: LESSON PLAN:

General Music 4 2-45 min. classes 1 4
LESSON TITLE: Meter and Time Signatures
ENDURING UNDERSTANDING: Rhythms are much like fractions: they represent different ways of dividing the
beat/groups of beats
TECHNICAL FOCUS: Meter and time signature represent how many beats are grouped together; rhythm notes get
their names from the fraction of a measure in “common time” that the note lasts.
GENERAL MUSIC GSE TO ADDRESS IN UNIT:

PERFORMING
ESGM4.PR.1 Sing a varied repertoire of music, alone and with others.
a. Sing accompanied and unaccompanied melodies within an appropriate range using head voice.
b. Sing with others (e.g. rounds, canons, game songs, partner songs, and ostinato).
c. Sing multiple songs representing various genres, tonalities, meters, and cultures, including at least one song in
a foreign language.
d. Sing expressively, following the cues of a conductor.

ESGM4.PR.2 Perform a varied repertoire of music on instruments, alone and with others.
a. Perform rhythmic patterns with body percussion and a variety of instruments using appropriate technique.
b. Perform body percussion and instrumental parts, including ostinatos, while other students play or sing
contrasting parts.
c. Perform simple major/minor melodic patterns with appropriate technique.
a. Perform multiple songs representing various genres, tonalities, meters, and cultures.
b. Perform instrumental parts expressively, following the cues of a conductor.

ESGM4.PR.3 Read and Notate music.

a. Read, notate, and identify, in various meters, iconic or standard notation (e.g. quarter notes, quarter rests,
barred eighth notes, half notes, half rests, dotted half notes, barred sixteenth notes, whole notes, whole
rests).
c. Read, notate, and identify standard symbols (e.g. repeat sign, bar line, double bar line, 1st and 2nd endings,
coda, time signatures, accent mark, crescendo/decrescendo).

RESPONDING
ESGM4.RE.2 Evaluate music and music performances.
c. Refine music performances by applying personal, peer, and teacher feedback.

ESGM4.RE.3 Move to a varied repertoire of music, alone and with others.

a. Respond to contrasts and events in music with locomotor and non-locomotor movement.
b. Perform choreographed and non-choreographed movements.

CONNECTING
ESGM4.CN.1 Connect music to the other fine arts and disciplines outside the arts.
a. Discuss connections between music and the other fine arts.
b. Discuss connections between music and disciplines outside the fine arts.

Georgia Department of Education

February 25, 2018 · Page 1 of 5
 General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4

ASSESSMENTS

DIAGNOSTIC FORMATIVE SUMMATIVE

Gauge where students are in their learning
prior to beginning the lesson.
 Accompaniment performance on
instruments to demonstrate an
understanding of strong beat
 Using fingers to show the number
of beats in a pattern
Gauge student progress/growth through Gauge student mastery of
ongoing and periodic observation and/or standards.
checks for understanding.
 Group practice of ball bouncing to  Independent performance of
demonstrate meter ball bouncing to
 Group reading of rhythms in demonstrate meter
various meters (with emphasis on  Lesson Worksheet (see
strong beat) Links)

MAJOR UNIT CONCEPTS AND VOCABULARY

FOUNDATIONAL INFORMATION:
Rhythms are combinations of long and short sounds and silences; each note has a specific note value as measured by
its length in number of beats (e.g., “ta-a” is two beats, “ta” is one beat, etc.)

CONCEPTS:
 Meter is the number of beats in each measure
 Time signature is a sign to visually indicate the meter of a piece of music
 Rhythm notes get their names from the fraction of a measure in “common time” that the note lasts

VOCABULARY:
Conductor, Repeat sign, Meter, Strong beat, Weak beat(s), Note value names (quarter note, quarter rest, half note,
half rest, whole note, whole rest, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, dotted half note), Time signature, Measure, Bar line

LINKS:
Music: General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4: Sample Playlist    
Music: General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4: Meter and Time Signatures PowerPoint    
Music: General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4: Time Signature Worksheet    
Music: General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4: How Lovely is the Evening Song Instructions

DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

Aural Meter Identification:

INCREASED RIGOR: Students needing an extra challenge can use a smaller ball (more difficult motor skill) and/or
create their own ball-tossing pattern to represent the meter/
ADAPTED ASSIGNMENT:
Students requiring a simplification can sit on the floor for easier control of the ball.

Time Signature Worksheet:

INCREASED RIGOR:
Students needing an extra challenge can write in their own time signatures and rhythms.
ADAPTED ASSIGNMENT:
Students requiring simplification can work in a small group with the teacher or with a peer helper.

Georgia Department of Education

February 25, 2018 · Page 2 of 5
 General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4

MATERIALS

STUDENT SUPPLIES: TEACHER SUPPLIES:

 Handbells/pitched instruments  Handbells/pitched instruments
 Bouncing ball (e.g., playground ball, basketball,  Lesson 4 Song Instructions
tennis ball, etc.)  Lesson 4 PowerPoint
 Lesson 4 Worksheet  Lesson 4 Sample Playlist
 Clipboard  Bouncing ball (e.g., playground ball, basketball,
 Pencil/Writing Utensil tennis ball, etc.)
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
 How can we identify the meter of a piece of music?
Getting students

 Where do rhythm notes get their names?

ready to learn

 How can we read rhythms in different meters and time signatures?

OPENING

HOOK/INTRODUCTION ACTIVITY:
 Meet students at the door. Make sure there is a quiet line before students are
permitted to enter the room. Greet each student with friendliness as they come into
the room. 

Georgia Department of Education

February 25, 2018 · Page 3 of 5
 General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4

STUDENT AND TEACHER PROCEDURES:

Week 1 (45 mins): 

 Activity #1: Oh How Lovely is the Evening (approx. 20 mins) 

Teach “Oh How Lovely Is the Evening” to students by rote (see Links). As a class,
discuss lyrics and their meaning. Discuss bells. Introduce students to the bells that
are in class (such as handbells or glockenspiels). Model how to play these
appropriately. Decide as a class how to make artistic/expressive decisions on how to
perform the song. Conduct class to help them perform with these expressive
inferences. Add accompaniment pattern on pitched instruments (e.g., xylophones,
Boomwhackers, but preferably handbells, if available). Discuss repeat sign.

 Activity #2: Introduction to Meter (approx. 15 mins) 

Using the Lesson Plan 4 PowerPoint, discuss beat within the song: was the
accompaniment pattern on every beat? (no) How many beats did each note last
(three)? Discuss “meter,” “strong beat,” and “weak beats.” Using body percussion,
demonstrate different meter patterns (e.g. for meter of 3, model: stomp on strong
beat, snap (2) on weak beats). Repeat the pattern several times, have students
aurally identify the meter of your body percussion pattern by holding up the number
on their fingers. Be sure to demonstrate other meters (e.g., patterns of 2, 3, 4, but
also uncommon meters like 7, 11, etc.).

 Activity #3: Meter in Music (approx. 10 mins) 

Play musical excerpts with moderate tempo (see Sample Playlist in Links). Have
students find steady beat by patting on their laps, then pick out the strong beat by
patting slightly harder when it occurs, then count the total number of beats in the
pattern. Have students hold up the number of beats on their fingers once they have
aurally identified the meter.
Week 2 (45 mins): 

 Activity #1: Review Meter (approx. 5 mins) 

Review meter, strong beat, and weak beat with students from the previous lesson, as
necessary.
CREATING

 Activity #2: Review Finding the Meter (approx. 5 mins) 

.

Have students find steady beat by patting on their laps, then pick out the strong beat
by patting slightly harder when it occurs, then count the total number of beats in the
pattern. Have students hold up the number of beats on their fingers once they have
aurally identified the meter.

 Activity #3: Bouncing Around with Meter (approx. 10 mins) 

Using the Sample Playlist (linked above), Repeat above step with a bouncing ball
(e.g., playground ball, basketball, tennis ball). Have students stand in their personal
space. Hand each student a ball. As a whole group, practice bouncing patterns in
different meters (the strong beat is bounced on the ground and the weak beats are
shown through catching the bounce or other movement). Once students can
demonstrate the bouncing patterns with success (without music), have them use the
bouncing patterns to aurally identify the meter of various musical excerpts (see
Georgia Department of Education
February 25, 2018 · Page 4 of 5
 General Music: Grade 4: Unit 1: Lesson Plan 4

REVIEW:
1. Have students sing “Paw Paw Patch” from the previous lesson (if time, add the folk
dance). Have students aurally identify the meter (meter of 4).
CLOSING

2. Have students aurally identify the meter of other well-known songs (e.g., “Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star,” popular radio songs, etc.)

Georgia Department of Education

February 25, 2018 · Page 5 of 5