Brewer Elementary, Year One
Brown – Beth Reeves
Learning Objective/Exit Outcomes:
- Students will be able to explain the process of rationalizing fractions and their equivalency.
- Students will demonstrate comprehension of rhythmic patterns.
- Students will be able to understand fractions as a smaller part of a whole.
- Students will be able to collaborate to create a musical version of fractions.
- Students will be able to use body percussion to understand that a numerator is a smaller part of the denominator.
State Standards:
MGSE3.NF.3 Explain equivalence of fractions through reasoning with visual fraction models. Compare fractions by reasoning about their size.
ESGM3.CR.1 Improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
- Improvise rhythmic question and answer phrases using a variety of sound sources.
ESGM3.CN.1 Connect music to the other fine arts and disciplines outside the arts.
- Describe connections between music and the other fine arts.
- Describe connections between music and disciplines outside the fine arts.
Integration Area/Subject:
Music & Math
Materials/Playing Space:
Open classroom space
Description:
PAIR Specialist introduced body percussion, telling students all the instruments needed for the lesson were already in the room. After a few suggestions of where these instruments were hiding, students figured out the instruments in the class were our bodies. Students learned to use claps, laps (hands to thighs), snaps, and stomps as four instruments we would use during the lesson.
The teacher then wrote or drew images of fractions on the white board. The students treated the numerator as a rest and the denominator as specific counts. Therefore, if the fraction written was ⅜, the students would count three rests and play body percussion for 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
The PAIR Specialist then divided the students into groups of 2-3 per group. The teacher gave each group a different fraction. Each group then created their own body percussion based on the fraction given. Students were given 5 minutes to practice playing their fractions using body percussion, then each group performed their fraction for the class. The class then had to figure out, from the body percussion, what the fraction was.
Notes:
Teachers are encouraged to color in shapes that represent a visual fraction. Students can then create a sound representation, including how many claps, snaps, etc. one should do and how many rests exist in the fraction.
To include art interpretation, use different shades of color. Ask students “what does that do to the way that you recite this fraction? Does it make you want to snap/clap harder? Analyze how the shade is actually colored in.” The students’ quality of sound can be dependent on how the shape is colored. Students should look at the color inside the shape of the colored fraction in order to interpret emotion, which will affect the volume and tempo of their body percussion.
VA3.RE.1 Use a variety of approaches for art criticism and to critique personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy.
- Use a variety of approaches to engage in verbal and/or written art criticism.