In the music classroom instructional strategies are what give students musical experiences to achieve comprehensive musicianship. Many experiences to choose from include; singing, playing, creating, reading, writing, moving, and listening.
Moving is also a very effective strategy for teaching music, along with the other listed above. Moving can be used to experience music kinesthetically, provide a variety of instruction, and provide kids an opportunity to express themselves in new ways outside of the normal classroom. Movement can be used to identify concepts such as having different movements to show the change in form, meter, dynamics, and tracing a melody with your hands.
Listening can be a fun and effective way to introduce students to new music and musical concepts without a textbook or sheet music. The PLAQLE sequence is an effective way to make musical connections to the music, reinforce those connections and have the students demonstrate understanding. The acronym PLAQLE stands for, Prepare (give the students some background information on the listening), Listen (initial listening with no interruptions), Activate (give students some activity to do that shows the concept or shows when they understand what they are hearing), Question (Use questions to gauge student understanding and reinforce concept), Listen (Listen to selection again and apply Activity to show understanding and reinforce concept), and Evaluate/Extend (here you can assess understanding of the concept and even begin preparing students for the next lesson).
Artifact:
Repertoire Analysis (Analysis of a piece being taught in Elementary General Methods class.)
Rationale: I have attached the above artifact because I analysed the piece for my Elementary General Methods class and I also wrote out how I would go about teaching this piece in the classroom. I determined that the piece was meant for a 2nd grade level classroom and that the song would be best taught by rote. This repertoire analysis demonstrates that I know what kind of songs are best taught with the strategy of by rote.
Artifact:
Lesson Plan (From Unit Project in Secondary General Methods class.)
Rationale: This lesson plan is taken from a unit project that I did as an exit project for Secondary General Methods. This is a great example of having a listening exercise within a lesson. A listening exercise should never be the whole lesson, but it should be about a quarter of the class length. This lesson plan opens up with a listening exercise that leads into the rest of the lesson.