Classroom Music Lesson Plan

Our Appalachian Springs

Teachers Name: Allison Ritter

Grade Level: 6 8

Learning Goals
What Learners will
Be able to do (behavioral): By the end of todays class period, students will be able to
create an aural and visual performance resembling Aaron Coplands Appalachian Spring ballet,
and will be to show respect for their classmates dreams for their future, with a success rate of
80%.
Understand (cognitive): Students will be able to apply their knowledge of ballet and
instrumental music to compose their own performance in the same style, with limited tools.
Encounter (experiential): All students will be given the opportunity to compose and
create music and dance to express something meaningful to them, and perform it for their peers.
Construct meaning (constructivist): Students will realize that cultures and backgrounds
influence everyones lifestyles differently, and that respecting everyones dreams and goals is a
step toward making personal and meaningful social connections.
Focusing Question
In what ways (complete the sentence): In what ways does the Appalachian Spring ballet relate
to our lives and the idyllic lifestyles we someday hope for? In what ways does expression
through music and dance affect an audience?
Materials
Paper, pencils, computer with internet access, a projector, a screen for the projecting.
Assessment
Formative: During the lesson, while students are composing and creating their performance, the
teacher should observe the work of each group. No leaders are assigned so it may be clear who
understands the task at hand, who is taking charge and who is problem solving. The teacher must
notice how every member of the group is participating, and inquire as to what the group wants to
convey through their performance.
Summative: The teacher will take note of the enthusiasm of the class concerning the task at
hand. The students will be given a chance to explain their contribution after their groups
performance, displaying their comprehension of the assignment.
Integrative: After observing each groups performance, the teacher will be able to reflect on the
relevancy of the lesson and the impact it had on the students. Did students stay engaged and
actively participate? Do the students understand the importance of respecting others differences?
Would students be able to use musical composition and dance as a form of expression in the
future?

Process
Partner: (Honor their world by beginning with an experience students bring to the classroom.
Include time for students to collaborate and respond through sharing and discussion.)
The teacher begins class by sitting with the students in a circle on the floor, passing
around blank sheets of paper. When every student has recieved a page, ask students to imagine
their ideal future. Where would you like to be in fifteen to twenty years? Where would you be
living? Who would be with you? You may consider specific people, hobbies, occupations, etc.
Make a list of things on your paper that you would like to see happen in fifteen to twenty years.
Allow three to five minutes for students to brainstorm, and to write down their thoughts on paper.
The teacher will then ask the students to discuss with their neighbor their future plans.
Ask the students if they had anything in common with their neighbor? Did you talk about your
dream occupation? Maybe you have the same dream occupation as someone else in the class. Do
you and someone else want to live in the same state or country? Take volunteers of students who
want to share their goals. Have students find someone who has something in common with them.
The students then have three minutes to make groups of five with people who hold similar
interests involving their future plans.
Present: (Sequence the lesson steps. Take the learning from their world to the world of the
classroom. Present the information and allow time for students to practice and respond. Engage
critical thinking, problem posing, and problem solving.)
While students are forming and sitting with their groups of five, the teacher should bring
up the original ballet performance of Appalachian Spring written by Aaron Copland on
youtube.com (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmgaKGSxQVw), and project it onto the
projection screen. When students are settled, play all four of the videos, so students can view the
entire ballet.
Once the performance of the ballet is complete, the teacher should ask the students about
the characters that were presented in the ballet. Discuss the bride, the groom, the pioneer woman,
the preacher, and the congregation, and what roles they played in the story. What was happening?
Explain to the students that this story, of the bride and the groom, represents an idyllic American
lifestyle of the nineteenth century. It was commissioned for Aaron Copland to compose the
music, and he won a Pulitzer Prize for his composition. It was commissioned by Martha Graham,
the woman who danced the part of the bride. What made this an American dream? What made
their life ideal? Allow a discussion of the ballet, and the nineteenth century lifestyle to follow.
Personalize: (Make the learning personal to the students. Provide opportunities for students to
create and be musicians. Encourage original thinking and innovation.)
Now the teacher asks the students, If you were to create your ideal lifestyle in a musical
form, what would it be? With their groups, students will compose and perform a musical and
dance composition. Students can only use body percussion and their voices to create the music
for their performance. No words are to be sung, this performance is meant to resemble Coplands
Appalachian Spring ballet. Some students can provide the music, some students can provide the
dancing or acting, or all students in the group can do both, as long as there is a visual and aural
component to each groups performance, and each member participates. Performances must be at
least two minutes long. Include a component of all students ideal lifestyles of each group in your
presentation. Students have fifteen minutes to create their ideal lifestyles through music.

Perform: (Communicate and share the new learning as students perform through concert
presentation, demonstration, or exhibition.)
Each group presents their ideal lifestyle through body percussion and voice for the
music, and through dance and acting for the visual component of their performance. After each
group performs, the students in the audience take a guess as to what the students wanted to
convey about their dreams and hopes for the future. Each student in the group will explain how
their ideal lifestyle played a role in the performance.
Students will realize that every students ideal lifestyle is different in some way, but were
all still living and coexisting together in the same place at the same time. Have a discussion
focusing on the differences between lifestyle in the nineteenth century, and lifestyle now. Talk
about respecting the differences of peoples interests, dreams, cultures, and lifestyles, because
every students backgrounds and experiences happening in the present, reflect their goals and
ambitions for the future.