Lesson Planning Format (Revised 2014) Teacher’s Name: Lauren
Date: 4-11-14
Handy
Title of Lesson: Patter Songs in the Classroom
Grade: Partner: (Honor THEIR world by beginning with an experience students bring to the Plan: what learners will classroom. Include time for collaboration through sharing and dialogue.) be able to do (behavioral objective) Are students familiar with rap or hip-hop? Is Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us" a result of Gilbert and Sullivan's
o
work with patter songs? Are the two related? In class, there should be a discussion about why patter songs are
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to both write and
important, and how they shaped modern music's development.
identify Patter
songs with a success rate of 80%. Students should
be able to incorporate the text to "Green Eggs and Ham" into their
Present: (Sequence of the lesson steps. Take the learning from THEIR world to the own Patter song composition. This should have a success rate
world of the classroom. Present the information and allow time for students to practice. of 75%.
Engage critical thinking, problem posing and problem solving.) o
understand (cognitive objective) Patter songs are important to recognize in today's culture. While "traditional"
Students should be able to identify Patter songs by listening, and
patter
songs are not seen as frequently in popular culture, their influence is still
explain, in their own words, what makes it a Patter song. Students
very much present. I think as a teacher, it is important for our students to understand
should be able to critique the importance of patter songs, and
whether or not they feel they are relevant still to today's music.
where
their music comes from.
A text most students should be familiar with is Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham".
Their objective is to break off into groups (four to five groups in total) and compose
o encounter (experiential objective) fast moving, rhythmically demanding patterns in common time. Each group will have
Students will watch multiple versions of Patter Songs. They may do
this by either going to see a show that utilizes patter songs such as
a portion of the book to work with. Their rhythm, though fast, should be singable, and
The Pirates
of Penzance ("Modern Major General Song") or even
member of the group needs to contribute to the composition. The text should
every
watching YouTube videos of music from a more accessible culture
(REM's "It's the End of the World as we Know It" is a good example.
work with the rhythms they create. At the end of the project, all groups will come
and the class will combine each group's work into one.
This song is also used in the 2005 movie "Chicken Little".)
together,
o
make meaning (constructivist objective) Students should realize how patter songs utilize difficult patterns that
are similar to how many modern day artists organize many hip-hop
songs. It's important for students to understand the roots of this type of
music and how they developed into or influenced modern music.
Focusing Question: In what ways will students (complete the sentence) Students will further their understanding of patter
songs and how they influence their own modern music.
Assessment: Formative Students will show teacher multiple ideas
for their conjoined four measures.
Personalize: (Make the learning personal to the student. Provide opportunities for creativity and for students to be musicians. Encourage creativity and innovation.) Students are encouraged to be creative with their compositions. They can take
inspiration from current repertoire that they know, and make it their own. They
should also feel free to work with programs such as GarageBand or other music
software to create a beat/background for their segments, with instruments of their
choice.
Summative The final presentation of their four-bars.
Integrative Students will discuss with class how to
make everyones compositions to blend
together to make one conjoined piece.
Perform: (Communicate and share the new learning through performance, demonstration or exhibition.) Materials: Computers (or staff paper)
Internet (for YouTube or Spotify)
After students have finished collaborating on their projects, they are to show the
rest of the class their compositions. Each member of the group should explain
why they made the rhythmic choices they did. After each group has presented,
students are to organize as a class an entire patter song set to Green Eggs and
Ham using their small sections. Once complete, students are to write a review on
any parallels they found between patter songs, and any sort of modern genre of
music.
Process: (After the lesson, take time to reflect.) Did students seem to respond to patter songs? Did they see the connections between Gilbert and Sullivan's work and modern music such as Macklemore? Were their compositions show they
understood the format? Did the text match effectively? How did the final product compare to an already established patter song? Should the groups have been larger? Smaller?
© Frank Abrahams, 2014