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Lesson One

• create and articulate personal opinion. (C)
• create definition based on past experiences. (CCT, IL)

Start a class discussion by asking students for a definition of music. After discussing individual definitions, present this concept definition: "Sound organized in time". Discuss this definition as a class.

Ask students to explain what is meant by "traditional" and "non-traditional" instruments. Ask for examples of each. Ask students to describe any found instruments which they have encountered, or if they have ever created music using non-traditional instruments (i.e. waterglass, pots, pans).

Lesson Two

• ability to express personal reaction and feelings. (C)
• ability to describe and compare the music examples. (CCT, C)
• ability to connect present experience with a past experience. (IL)

Play excerpts of varying styles of music. Ask different questions after each excerpt is played, such as: What is your first impression? What types (traditional / non-traditional) of instruments are used? What did you hear? What colours, if any, come to mind? Where would you usually hear this type of music? Why do you feel that way? After the listening activity is complete, ask students if they heard anything that they would not consider music. Ask if there is any one excerpt that they consider to be more or less musical than the rest. After students to write a written response, explaining which excerpts they liked the most (or least) and why they feel that way.

Lesson Three

• ability to express personal reaction and feelings. (C)
• ability to recall past experiences and articulate them clearly. (C)
• ability to present and defend individual opinions. (PSVS, CCT)
• ability to work in an unsupervised group setting. (PSVS)

Ask students to describe the sounds that they believe are occurring in the school at the present time. Make sure students include the lights, the furnace, the janitor, the physical education class in the gymnasium, and all other sounds. Ask students if they notice these sounds, or if they shut them out. Discuss these sounds, and whether or not they could be considered to be music.

• ability to describe experiences. (C)
• ability to state and defend personal opinion. (CCT, C)

Divide the class into groups of five or six. Have each group choose a particular area of the school to explore. Each group should be in the halls for approximately ten minutes, and they should be monitored by the teacher. When the groups return, have them each present a brief oral description of the sounds they heard and which objects generate those sounds. Ask the groups if any of them would consider what they heard to be musical. Have students respond in journals about the sounds they discovered, and to comment specifically on any new sounds they heard.

Lesson Four

• recognize the various timbres created by the instrument families. (CCT)
• make connections between sound colours and typical usage's of instruments to create those colours. (CCT, IL)

Have students explain the main differences and similarities in the sounds of Brass, Woodwind, String, and Percussion instruments. Have students discuss the various instruments and the contexts in which they might be found.

• recognizing the colours, duration, and sequence of sounds. (CCT, N)
• understanding how sounds are generated. (CCT)

Students will then participate in an activity:

1. Have students sit quietly with their eyes closed.
2. Choose one student to move about the classroom and create sounds in various areas of the room. The student may use any available instruments, or create sounds spontaneously.
3. The other students must pay close attention to the sounds being created and remember the sequence of sounds, and the direction from which they came.
4. Have the other students mimic the sounds created by the first student. The students must be able to duplicate the sounds, the sequence, and the appropriate position of the classroom.

• communicate their ideas and views verbally. (C)
• understand how sound colours may be recognized in "non-musical" ways. (CCT, IL)

Ask the students to explain and discuss how they remembered the sound sequence. Ask if they had problems remembering the sounds, or if they found it difficult to understand how the sounds were generated. Ask students to respond in their journals, how this ability to recognize sounds, and remember sound sequences might be useful in other ways (i.e. to a mechanic, a doctor, a sound technician).

Lesson Five

• cooperative learning in group settings. (PSVS)

Organize students into groups of three of four. Have the students discuss and decide on the various sounds they would like to use in their sound composition.

• explore various elements of music, such as rhythm, pitch, duration of sounds, duration of the composition, and notation. (N, CCT, IL)
• learning to convey thoughts and ideas through sound. (C)
• reflecting on their own growth and development. (IL)

Students will be able to prepare their sound composition any way they like; however, there should be a maximum time limit of five or six minutes for the students to observe. The teacher should encourage creativity, and leave the creation up to the students. Students should be encouraged to create their own instruments, explore sound possibilities, and devise their own method for organizing and notating their composition (i.e. set music to a poem, create sounds or improvise to imitate the movements of a group member, or devise a system of call and response cues). The compositions will need to be notated in some way.

Students should keep an anecdotal record of their experience; in the journal they should record the sounds which they discovered or experimented with, the possible ways to perform the composition, and the productivity and efficiency of their group).

Lesson Six

• understanding the elements of musical performance; acknowledging the stress, concentration, and the rewards involved in performance. (IL, CCT)
• ability to express their ideas through music. (C)
• reflecting on the effect of their own, and their peers' compositions. (IL, CCT)

Each Group will, in turn, perform their sound composition. During each performance, students in the audience should respond to the compositions in their journals. The students should not "critique" the others' compositions, but discuss the effect of the music. The students may want to answer these questions:

• which sounds were created?
• describe the manner in which the piece was performed.
• how might the piece have been notated?
• how does the piece reflect the cultures of our society?

Students will then write a response to their own performance:

• how did you feel during the performance?
• how did you feel after the performance? comfortable? disappointed? relieved?
• was the performance effective in conveying the ideas and intentions of the music?
• what factors were involved in making the performance effective? not effective?
• how might you change the composition for future performances?

Once each of the groups have performed, the students will discuss their experiences. Students will have the opportunity to ask others' questions, provide feedback, or make general comments about the compositions.

1. Needs Improvement
2. Average
3. Above Average

• What was the group's task?

1. Think of one problem the group had. What was it?

2. How did the group solve the problem?

3. What else could you have done to solve the problem?

4. Which group member helped the group most in today's task?

5. What did he or she do that was helpful?

6. Who is the most encouraging member of your group?

7. What does he or she do that encourages you to take part in the group?

8. In what ways could you improve the performance and efficiency of your group?