Chapter 5
2. What are the differences between a long-range plan and a unit plan?
In essence, long-range planning is combining a series of unit plans to cover a semester or year. Unit plans are groups of individual lessons that cover a similar topic (jazz, Baroque, rhythm, etc). Although it is silly to try to plan exactly what a music class will be doing in nine months, it is important to at least have some idea as to what topics will be covered when long-term planning. The lessons should be ordered in such a way so that one builds on another, such as learning how a major scale is constructed before learning how to construct minor or jazz scales based on a major scale.
4. Why are objectives like “Rehearse the choir on ‘Adoramus Te’ not satisfactory when planning?
Simply saying ‘rehearse a piece’ does not set any clear goals. There is nothing to judge the improvement or growth of the ensemble. In order to gauge improvement, lesson objectives must use action words such as sing, create, perform, or analyze – something that can be measured. By having measurable objectives, it becomes easier to say whether or not the students are actually learning.
Why is it "silly" to plan exactly what will be happening in the classroom? Do you mean down to the question that will be asked next May on the topic transposition? Yes, I agree that specificity of that magnitude may be silly, but knowing the topic is transposition in May and the objectives you wish for students to display would not be.
ReplyDeleteWhat might a better rehearsal objective for this piece be?
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