Title: Dancing Day- Mock Morris by Percy Grainger

Rehearsal: 2/25/15
Description: Students will learn history of the Morris dance and will practice a few of the steps to become
more familiar with the music.
Subject: Orchestra
Instruction time: 20-25 minutes
Students grade level: 9th
Learning Target: I will know the history behind the Morris dance
Standard(s) to be addressed:
Universal Constructs:
Complex Communication- Analyzing, Listening
Productivity and Accountability-Analyzing, Listening
Critical Thinking- Listening, Evaluating, Understanding Relationships, Comparing
Creativity-, Synthesizing, Problem Solving
Collaboration-, Listening, Problem Solving
Flexibility and Adaptability-, Listening, Analyzing
Resources used in this lesson (use correct citation):
Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHQOZ9sVaJU
Learning Objectives that meet the standard(s) above
The learner will watch the instructional video on the Morris Dance
The learner will learn about the Morris dance both from the video and also from the teacher who
will present supplemental information.
The learner will analyze musical concepts such as dynamics, articulation, tone, rhythm, and
ensemble in the video in relation to how we sound as an orchestra.
The learner will solve problems related to technical aspects of playing and thinking about music
especially related to how we can best sound like a traditional Morris band.
Essential questions for this lesson:
Which instruments are in a traditional Morris band?
What is the roll of the band during a performance of the Morris dance?
How can we as an orchestra imitate the sound of the Morris band?
How is the dance similar to the music?
Lesson ProceduresList carefully and completely (What will the students do?):
Remind students of previously given Grainger Tid-Bits that have to do with the style/history of
the piece.
Present new information regarding Renaissance/Victorian English Morris Dance and folk music
and dance.
Watch the video, following along and learning the dance as we go. Pause when necessary.
Discussion of essential questions using My 2 Cents game.

Thinking strategies used in this lesson:

Making Connections: Students make varied connections between how the music sounds in the
video vs. how we should sound as an orchestra. Also, they should make a connection between the
style of the dance and the style of the music.
Questioning: I use questions to guide student thinking processes.
Synthesizing: Students combine ideas of folk music, orchestral technique and dance into one idea.
Assessment of objectives for today (how do you know what students learned?):
In class participation in responding to questions. As long as everyone turned in their two pennies,
they get participation points.