Teaching literacy in Music: Stage 4

Unit: Experimenting with sound

Part A: Lesson 1

Lesson outcomes

Students:

develop an understanding of the role of music in society
use the term "style" appropriately as it applies to music
identify different styles of music from aural examples
understand that sound is the common ingredient of all music.

Distribute Student handout 1: What is music? Work through the handout as a whole class, providing support for student responses through discussion and musical examples.

Question 1

Ask students to think about the role music plays in their own lives, and record their responses.

Question 2

Ask students to think about the role music plays in the lives of people in different cultures around the world. Use a Think-pair-share activity to discuss:

What is the purpose of music?
How do people use music in their lives?

Compile a list of responses for students to record, e.g. entertainment, ceremonies, religion, dancing, passing on cultural beliefs, relaxation, announcing sporting events, cheering sporting teams, expressing national pride, etc.

Think-pair-share

Purpose

To activate learners' background knowledge by creating a large and diverse collection of words and information.
To allow others to hear new knowledge.
To encourage creativity.

Description

Individual students record their thoughts on a given topic in a time limit.
Individuals then form pairs to share ideas, and pairs then join up for further sharing.
The sharing of new ideas stimulates students to make links with what they already know.

Implementation

Ask individuals to list as many things as they can think of which they already know about the topic, within a one-minute time limit.
Encourage all students to participate by observing the resources provided and list what they can see if they are unable to recall other details about the topic.
After one minute, ask individuals to form a pair to combine and consolidate their lists.
After another minute, ask pairs to form a group of four to combine and consolidate their lists again.
Ask groups to nominate a reporter to share the group's information with the class.

Questions 3 and 4

Explain that music from cultures around the world sounds different. There are many different types of music. Introduce the term "style".
Ask students:

What styles of music do you listen to?
What other styles of music do you know?
Identify similarities and differences in the styles listed.

Question 5

Ask studentsto write down what they think music is. Compile a list of student suggestions.

Questions 6 and 7

Play different styles of music for students to identify. Ask students to check if the examples match their definitions of music. The students should then recognise that not all music has a regular beat, tunes, or vocals and the common ingredient in all music is sound.

Resources

Student handout 1: What is music?
Examples of different music styles.
Taped examples of different music styles. This collection should contain at least one example of the following types of music: purely instrumental, non-metrical, non-Western, electronic sounds, non-musical or environmental sounds, classical, opera, music for different purposes (e.g. religious, ceremonial, military band) as well as different styles of rock and pop music.

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