Rhythm Introduction Lesson Plan

Teacher’s Name School

Sophie Sullivan Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School
Class Date
Music Theory and Harmony November 21st, 2023

Topic or Essential Standards

Question
How are rhythms MU:Pr4.2.3b When analyzing selected music, read and perform
written/notated? rhythmic patterns and melodic phrases using iconic and
standard notation.
Materials Resources
Textbook Myself
Pencil Google Site

Objective/Performance Indicator(s)
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to identify notes and their corresponding rests.
By the end of this lesson, Students will understand key vocabulary such as beat, meter,
measure, bar lines, time signature, and rhythm
Assessment of Objective(s)/Performance Indicator(s)
Students are able to identify notes and rests in 4/4 time.
Students answer kahoot questions correctly
Universal Design for Learning
Physical Action – tapping the beat across their shoulder/heart
Language and Symbols – Adding to the definitions in the textbook, providing pictures of each
note/rest value, measure, bar line, etc. to supplement the vocab words.

Lesson/Class Prep
Project the PowerPoint onto the screen

Time Lesson Sequence

Teaching Rhythms
T will turn to the first slide of the PowerPoint.
T will instruct S to tap out the beat of the “staying alive” somewhere on their body.
Once most students have found the beat, the teacher will add in tapping out the beat
on their body, confirming the beat.
T will have S tap out the micro beat somewhere on their body
What we were just tapping was the macro beat. Knowing that was the macro beat,
can you figure out what the micro beat is and tap it out on your body.
T will explain the micro beat as 1 and 2 and
Once most students have found the micro beat, T will add in tapping out the micro
beat on their body, confirming the micro beat.
T will explain how beats can have all kinds of beats and subdivisions in the micro
beat. The second song does not have a 1 and 2 and micro beat, but one two three,
one two three.
T will have S take out their textbook and open to page 1 of chapter 4
T will change to the next slide in the PowerPoint
T will begin to explain the key vocabulary of the chapter to the S
T will click to next slide
T will explain beat,
Beat: The steady pulse of the music, I.e. what you tap your foot to
T will have S tap the beat of “Stayin’Alive”. T will explain how while they are
tapping the beat, there are still other notes in between. What we are tapping is the
big beat.
T will click to next slide
T will explain meter
Meter: the organization of beats into recurring patterns of accents – strong and
weak beats. I.e what is within in micro beat.
T will relate meter back to the divisions of the micro beats. T will explain how the
big beats can be grouped into bigger groups of two or more.
T will click to next slide
T will explain what a measure is
Measure: each completed pattern, divided from each other by bar lines.
T will point out measures in the PowerPoint, how each measure is divided by a bar
line
T will click to next slide
T will explain rhythm
Rhythm: varied patterns of notes and rests over the beat and within the structure of
the song.
T will explain what a rhythm would look like, pointing out the notes on the screen.
T will click to next slide
T will explain meter signature
Meter Signature (Time Signature): the indicator of the meter and is found at the
beginning of a piece or wherever the meter changes.
T will point out the meter signature in the PowerPoint. The top number shows how
many, the bottom number tells you of what. OR Top note tell you how many beats
per measure, the second number tells you what note gets the beat.
T will click to next slide.
T will explain a quarter note as what we were tapping the “Staying Alive”
T will turn on a metronome and set it to 90 bpm
T will explain the click as a quarter note
T will have S tap the quarter note with their right hand across their chest
T will click to next slide
T will explain that two quarter notes equal a half note. Inside of each half note there
are two quarter notes
T will click to next slide
T will explain that two half notes equal a…
T will click to next slide
Whole note. A whole note is equal to two half notes
T will click to next slide.
T will explain that four quarter notes equal one whole ntoe. Two quarters equal a
half, two halves equal a whole, four quarters equal a whole.
T will click to next slide.
T will proceed to explain that if you start with a whole note, the more you add, the
less the value is.
We start with a whole note, a whole note is equal to four beats.
T will click to the next slide
If you add a stem to the whole not, you get a half note, which is equal to two beats.
T will click to the next slide
If you fill in the note head, the note becomes a quarter note which is equal two four
beats
T will click to the next slide
If you add what we call a flag, the quarter note become an eighth note
T will click to the next slide
If you add another flag to the eighth note, you get a sixteenth note.
T will click to the next slide
T will relate all the math back to this rhythm tree, how two of the same notes are
equal to the one about it (two quarters, one half. Two eighths, one quarter. Etc).
T will click to the next slide
T will explain that rests work the same way that notes do, except instead of playing
a note, you will rest for the duration.
T will click to the next slide
T will show and explain the correlation of a quarter note and a quarter rest.
Repeat previous two steps four more times, adjusting rest and note names
T will relate the rest Tree back to the note tree, everything is the same, except it is
now a rest instead of a note.
T will ask S if they are following and if they have and questions so far.
T will answer any questions that my arise.
T will check for understanding by having S play a kahoot
T will click to next slide open the kahoot
T will have S play kahoot, explaining and reinforcing reasons for correct answers.
 T will congratulate winners of the kahoot as they come up on the screen.
T will return to the PowerPoint
40 mins