Beethoven and 'Für Elise' II

Upper primary and junior secondary classes

6.    Arts Contexts

1. Shared Task

Examine the music in its Historical and/or Cultural Contexts. What are the unique qualities of the music?  Why was it written in this way?  What else was happening in the times of the appearance of the words.... the music?  What else do students know about these times and places?

Outcomes

Learners

• have an increased awareness of the place of the music in its historical and cultural context
• compare and contrast aspects of lyrics and music with which they are familiar with words and music in these contexts

Assessment

Knowledge and understandings of the music in its historical and/or cultural contexts.

2.     Small Group Arrangements of Original Focus:

Aural Performance:

Students negotiate and perform small-group musical arrangements of the original, aurally.  Students record their performances using audio recording equipment,

Outcomes Areas

Arts skills and processes

7.     Other Arts Forms:

1. Shared Task

Explore the culture, period, location, theme or focus of the music through other arts forms, such as drama, dance, visual arts, crafts, literature (Prose and Poetry), architecture.   Discuss, at the same time the relationship between these presentations and the musical one, what makes all of these part of the area we describe as 'The Arts'.  What has each to add to the whole study?

Outcomes Areas

Arts in Contexts.  
Students have an increased awareness of the relationship of the lyrics and of the music to works in other arts forms. Students have an increasing awareness of the similarities and the differences between various arts forms.

Assessment

Participation in discussion.  Accurate draft journal records of key concepts from the lessons, in preparation for (12).. Ode to Joy

2.    Written Reports on the Work

Individual Task

Students add a summary paragraph  to their journals, explaining what they know about the historical context of the music and any other relevant information about their times, and about the cultural context of the music.

Outcomes Areas

Matching language-rich expectations of the Board of Studies.  Students organise the ideas from the discussions about arts in their historical and cultural contexts into structured text.

Assessment

Key ideas and presentation of journal entry.

8. Recording the Music: Notation et al.

Teacher and students jointly write the melody and chords, as they interpret them, onto a chart, using staff notation.  Alternatively this could be achieved in small groups, each taking responsibility for an aspect of the music.  Older students might 'map' and then sequence their interpretations electronically (eg with a computer), or using graphic or, for more advanced students, staff notation.

1. Shared Staff Notation Activities

The teacher and members of each instrumental group scribe on the board, using staff notation, their parts for the music.  These are collated to form the full score recorded for future performances by the group. The first musical score displayed is the anticipated outcome of the negotiations described above.  it should comprise ostinati parts which the teacher and students will have agreed reflect, in staff notation, the music they have learnt to play.  Individual parts (eg Harmony I) should be sufficient for each of those groups of students performing them.

Outcomes Areas

Using skills, techniques and processes. Students are increasingly able to relate the music they play and hear to music represented symbolically as notation. Students are increasingly able to record music they play or hear as notated symbols.

2. Explore other Key Learning Areas suggested by the study: Integrated/Cross-curricular Activities

Social Education 

What does this music communicate about how people live?  What social messages does it carry, if any? etc.  What does this music communicate to us about its time or place of creation?  How does it make us feel? 

Health and Physical Education 

What links can we make with Health or PE through this study?  How could music like this benefit our well-being?

Maths     

What links can we make with maths, with number, space, measurement, organisation?  How does the music physically relate to maths? ie counting the beats, the numbers of notes in bars, rhythm patterns, etc?

Science     

What links can we make with scientific ideas, if any?  How far does our performance or composition depend on any scientific concepts?

English     

What links can we make with English?  Does the music suggest a story?  Is its idea based on a literary theme?  Could we rewrite our interpretation of the music as a literary idea?

LOTE (Languages other than English)   

What links can we make with other languages?  What language would the people/person who created/performed this music have spoken as their first language?  Does that have any effect on the music?

Other learning areas    

What links can we make with other key learning areas of the curriculum? Technology, Home Economics?

9.    Exploring Other Musical Examples:

1. Shared Task

Teacher and students listen to and discuss similar music which reflects some of the characteristics of this music.  This might be, for example, the principle theme from the 'Choral Symphony'.

Outcomes Areas

Exploring and developing ideas. Arts responses. Students are increasingly aware of the relationship between all music no matter its historical or cultural contexts, and can identify elements common across musical works.

Assessment

Identification of specific characteristics common to various musical works.

2.    Enhancing the Original Performances

Shared Task

Return to the 'road map' and discuss ways of enhancing or extending the performance. Rehearse the work again with any changes

Outcomes Areas

• Exploring and developing ideas.
• Presenting.
• Skills in the application of creative understandings
• Ability to apply concepts acquired during the lessons
• Ability to interpret graphics as musical sequence
• Assessment
• Active participation in discussion
• Preparedness to apply understandings to the task in hand
• Application of understandings of sequence of musical events to graphic interpretation.

10. Group negotiated composition & performance

1. Student Tasks

Students compose group negotiated pieces of music which reflect their findings in this study.
Working as a class, as smaller groups or even as individuals, and using the original music as a model, students negotiate and create their own pieces of music either as aural, graphically notated or staff notated works. These pieces can differ in rhythmic, harmonic(chordal) or melodic sequences, setting, orchestration, theme or purpose from the original.  These might be, for example, pieces of sound sculpture, pieces in a currently popular style, percussion pieces, or pieces for classroom orchestra.  Whatever are agreed on should be appropriate for the particular level of achievement of the group/s.  They can be aurally and manually prepared or assisted by sequencers and computers.  The new works should reflect their finding in this study.  A work might be, for example, a piece of sound sculpture, a piece in a currently popular genre, a percussion work, or a piece for group or classroom instrumental ensemble.  Remembering that the human voice, used in a musical context, is an instrument the work might also be set for voice with or without other instruments.  Rehearsals and final performances should be dated and recorded on each student's audio tape.

Outcomes Areas

Exploring and developing ideas Using skills, techniques and processes. Students participate in creative musical processes using concepts and skills, and critical reflections gained during the teaching learning sequence.

Assessment

The impact of the music, application of concepts and skills, unity and complexity of form.

2.    Presentations through Performance

Student Tasks

Students working in whole class, small group, or even individually, prepare original or cover versions of songs, rhythms, the original music or group negotiated music to develop an item to be presented to an audience.  This audience could be within the classroom or to an invited audience of administrative and teaching staff free at the time, to other classes to sectional or whole school assemblies.  Students will discuss and plan preparation and organisation for such performances.  How do we sequence our presentation?  What is the most effective format?  Who will announce the items?  How do we relate to our audience?  What should we expect of the audience?  What should/do they expect of us?

Outcomes Areas

Presentation, exploring and developing ideas, Using skills, techniques and processes. Students become aware of the critical need for audiences as the culmination of communication of creative performing arts work. Students become increasingly aware of the need to understand the expectations of the audience

Assessment

The audience will assess the performance in the first instance. Students should be critically reflective of the quality of their performance.

Overall Assessment

Encourage students to maintain portfolios of their work.  Revisit activities 2, 5, 6, 8, 10. Have students talk about activities 7, 12, 13, 14, 16.  Record and keep students responses to these activities.  Collect exemplary performances, etc through recordings, scores, road maps, critiques and so on.

Outcomes Areas

Matching the outcomes - look at assessment criteria as they occur in the sequence.

Evaluation

To conclude the unit, discuss with the students the experience of learning in this way.  How much more do we know about this music and related studies?  How has this affected our appreciation and enjoyment of the music?  Where could we go from here?
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