Eight Instruments, Twenty-Six Students
You teach elementary general music to a second-grade class of 26 students once a week for 30 minutes. The room has eight barred Orff instruments: three soprano xylophones, three alto xylophones, two bass xylophones, a tubano, and a set of rhythm sticks. One student has a cochlear implant and an FM system; another has an IEP for ADHD and needs movement breaks. Over six weeks you want students to maintain a steady beat, perform a repeated ostinato, and create a four-beat pattern. The classroom teacher reports that several students struggle to work in groups without a clear job. You have no paraprofessional during music. The principal wants evidence of learning through a short in-class demonstration, not a public concert.
1. Design a 30-minute lesson sequence for week 3 that gives all 26 students active participation with only eight barred instruments, including specific adaptations for the two students with IEP and health supports.
Read the worked answer
Use a whole-group to small-group to whole-group structure. Opening, seven minutes: speech canon and body percussion on a four-beat pattern; all 26 participate without instruments. Mini-lesson, five minutes: model steady beat versus ostinato with the tubano and use a visual icon chart. Rotations, twelve minutes: three groups of eight or nine, each four minutes. Station A uses barred instruments: three soprano xylophones play a two-note ostinato, three altos play a contrasting pattern, and two basses play the beat; students rotate within the station so each plays a barred instrument for two minutes and a rhythm-stick part for two. Station B uses rhythm sticks and tubano for four-beat pattern creation. Station C is movement and beat: step the beat and clap the ostinato. Closing, six minutes: one group performs and the class identifies the ostinato. Adaptations: for the student with the cochlear implant, use the FM system, face the student when speaking, place them near the tubano to feel vibration, and use visual cues; for the student with ADHD, provide a visual schedule, a job card, and a planned movement break between rotations. With no paraprofessional, stations must be student-led with picture cards.
2. What formative evidence will you collect during the lesson, and how will you use it before week 4?
Read the worked answer
Collect a checklist during rotations for three behaviors: maintains steady beat for eight beats, performs the two-note ostinato accurately, and creates a four-beat pattern. Record a quick video of one group for later review. Use an exit ticket in which each student taps a four-beat pattern to the teacher or a partner and says one thing they heard. Before week 4, regroup students who did not maintain the beat for a teacher-led warm-up, and extend the pattern task for students who are secure. Do not grade the first attempt; use it to adjust grouping and pacing.