Musical Elements to Teach: Dynamics (Forte
and Piano), Accents
Grade Level: 2
Concept:
The students will experience the difference between loud
and soft by listening to a rainstorm on a CD.
The students will also experience for themselves their
own rainstorm with instruments and body movements.
Also the students will experience and perform what an
accent is.
Objectives: The student will: Listen to the
rainstorm CD and listen for change from loud to soft and accents
Create their own rainstorm by using instruments as well as body
movements (slapping, clapping, rubbing) concentrating on the
dynamics of the motions. Become familiar with piano, forte and
accents.
Preliminary Procedures: First begin by
discussing how a rainstorm makes you feel and what things you
hear or see during a rainstorm. Then have the students listen to
the rainstorm CD.
Procedures:
Begin by turning out the lights and playing the CD so
that the students can focus on listening to the
rainstorm. (approx. 11 1/2 minutes) During this time
have the students write sown a few things that they
notice about the rainstorm and how the sounds relate to
loud and soft and if there are any accents.
Discuss with the students what they heard and the things
that they wrote by relating forte and piano with the
change of loud and soft with the rainstorm, as well as
the accents.
I will pass out the instruments to some of the students
and the others will use their body movements. We will
begin playing the instruments and body sounds imitating
the sounds of a rainstorm. They will use what we
discussed about forte and piano to make music that
resembles a rainstorm.
To make sure that the students understand the difference
we will first play what a rainstorm sounds like in forte
and then in piano. To show a difference we will set a
medium level so that the students have something to base
the changes off of.
To give an added activity to the lesson the students with
the drums or one of the other instruments will play one
note to show an accent, much like a loud clap of thunder
or the sound of lightening crashing.
Evaluation: The teacher will watch to see if
the students play loudly and softly also the accents with a
particular note. The discussion before and after the lesson will
help the teacher to evaluate how much the students know. Also the
writing that the students do while they are listening to the CD
will demonstrate how much of an understanding the students have
of the musical concept of loud and soft.
Followup: The teacher will review what the
students experienced with the rainstorm from the CD and the one
that they made up. They will discuss some of the things that they
found to be the same from both of them focusing on forte, piano,
and accents.
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