Lesson Plan Teacher Candidate: Michele Haney
Date of Lesson: Feb 6th, 2018
Lesson Title/Description: Sound Waves, Part 1
Lesson # 1 of Time Allotted for this Lesson: 50 mins
4
Standards: Central Focus: Learning Targets:
OR NGSS
PS4.A: Wave Properties o The central focus of this In this lesson, students will
A simple wave has a learning segment is to be able to:
repeating pattern with a introduce students to the o Name a sound artist,
specific wavelength,
frequency, and amplitude. idea of using sound as a an example of their
(MS-PS4-1) medium for making art work, and how sound
National Visual Arts and provide space for helps
Standards them to connect the describe/enhance an
VA: Cr2.1.8a scientific pattern of idea
o Demonstrate sound waves with a piece o Sketch the amplitude
willingness to of music. and frequency of
experiment, sound waves as they
innovate, and take are emitted via song
risks to pursue
ideas, forms, and
meanings that
emerge in the
process of artmaking
or designing.
Pre-Requisite Knowledge and/or Skills:
Students need a basic (one day or less of instruction) understanding of what sound waves
look like scientifically, how they move through a space, and that they have two main
qualities; amplitude and frequency.
How I know the students have this:
Students have received two days of instruction introducing them to sound waves previous to
my visit.
Academic language that will be used in lesson:
Students will discuss what sound art is (and potentially what it is not), and how artists use a
scientific understanding of sound waves to make work. They will also discuss these terms in
relation to work they will begin making themselves.
o Sound art: art which uses sound both as its medium and as its subject
o Amplitude/volume: the maximum extent of an oscillation, as measured from
equilibrium
o Frequency/pitch: the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time
o Pattern: a repeating design
Strategies and opportunities for supporting academic language:
Students will receive a worksheet to follow along during sound art history lecture and to
create sketches and record ideas. There will be space on this worksheet to record the
definition of “sound art” as provided by the instructor. Other language will be approached via
collaborative discussion and making verbal connections to in-class and outside of class
content.
Connections to students’ “Funds of Knowledge”/assets, prior knowledge, and
or/interdisciplinary connections that will be made during the lesson:
Warm up asks students to discuss examples of sound, music and noise. All students are
familiar with sound, whether they would describe it as art, science, or neither. Students will
share thoughts, including any memories or emotions they relate to particular sounds, music or
noises, directly following warm up and throughout lecture. Music students in particular will
be asked to share how they relate music to examples of sound art shown, and how music is or
is not a scientific practice.
How have you addressed the needs of diverse learners? (Ex: IEPs, 504s, linguistic &
cultural diversity, students without prerequisite knowledge, etc.)
Sound and sound art bypasses language, artistic talent, cultural differences and physical and
emotional disabilities as it can be experienced in a multitude of ways and differently over the
course of time. There are no hard of hearing students in the grade level, but if there were,
sound can still be experienced through changes in felt vibrations. There are no beginning
ELLs in the grade level, so terminology and/or activity translations are not necessary, though
an aid will be ensuring adequate comprehension for all students throughout the lesson.
Materials/Equipment/Supplies/Technology/Preparation:
PowerPoint with images and videos of Sound Art & projector
Worksheet and copies for students
Pencils/erasers as needed
Marker for drawing on board
Index cards for exit tickets
Procedure: Teacher Does………. Procedure: Students Do……..
Time Motivation/Hook: Motivation/Hook: Cougar pride bucks,
0-10 o Teacher welcomes students graded warm ups, open ended question
mins as they enter, hands out
worksheet to complete warm o Complete warm up
up on o Share ideas after 5 mins with table
o Writes warm up on board: partner and/or whole class
“give at least one example
each of sound, music and
noise”
o Walks around noting student
ideas and handing out cougar
pride bucks
o After 5 mins, asks students to
share before loading PPT
10-35 Teaching/Group Teaching/Group Application/Independent
mins Application/Independent Application:
Application:
o Students follow along with lecture by
o Teacher reviews worksheet filling in a definition, noting personal
with students and the plan responses to artwork shown as
for the day (students are to prompted.
follow along with lecture and
note personal responses to
artwork). The second half of o Students verbally respond to question:
class will be more hands-on. “what does sound art have to do with
o Teacher reviews behavior science?”
expectations (listening
during audio clips)
o Lecture exposes students to
visual and audio examples of
sound art by John Cage, Bill
Fontana, Susan Phillipsz, and
local artist Cullen Vance
o Teacher asks students to note
personal response to one of
the four sound artists and
gives a chance to share out
o Question posed to group:
What does sound art have to
do with science?
35-40 Teaching/Group Teaching/Group Application/Independent
mins Application/Independent Application:
Application:
o Responds to student o Students watch teacher demonstration
thoughts surrounding and follow along as they sketch two
question “what does sound types of sound waves on worksheet.
art have to do with science?”
o Re-teach: what does a sound
wave look like?
o What is amplitude and
frequency?
o How do they chance the
“look” of a sound wave?
o Teacher demonstrates
possible responses to all
questions on whiteboard.
o Teacher students to sketch
two types of sound waves on
worksheet.
40-45 Teaching/Group Teaching/Group Application/Independent
mins Application/Independent Application:
Application:
o Students sketch one minute segment
o Teacher plays one minute of of song, make edits, and share with a
one song by Cullen Vance, peer.
asking students to draw the
sound waves they hear given
amplitude and frequency
o Teacher plays the one minute
clip 3x for students to edit
their drafts
o Teacher asks for students to
share their work with nearby
peer
45-50 Closure: Closure:
mins
o Hands out index card to each o Writes and hands teacher exit ticket
student to write exit ticket to when leaving class.
Cullen Vance: what did you
enjoy about his sound art?
What did it inspire you to
think about?
o Notes plans for tomorrow:
sound art lab with instrument
making
Theoretical, Pedagogical, and/or Lines of Research that Justify Your Instructional
Choices:
This lesson exemplifies John Dewey & David Kolb’s theories that the most successful
learning is that which is created through experience, especially experience that offers a
cyclical model of observation and reflection (sound art lecture and response), forming
concepts (sound is… music or noise?), testing concepts (drawing sound art), thus developing
new experiences (Kolb, 1984).
Kolb, David A. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and
Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Assessment
1. Evidence collected during/as a result of this lesson:
Worksheet for students following lecture and contributing personal ideas. Exit ticket to
Cullen. Photos of student sketches.
2. Summative assessment is __3___ days after this lesson.
Reflection:
1. Did all the students meet the learning target? How do you know?
Teacher will know more about students meeting learning targets once worksheet is turned in
at the end of lesson 2. Exit tickets which are thoughtful and complete indicative of successful
learning, though ability to draw more refined sound waves during lesson 2 will test the
application practical knowledge.
Reflection:
2. Describe any changes you made as you were teaching the lesson.
I altered the length of the videos I showed- most audio clips are far longer than necessary for
students to understand the main idea of the sound art. As time and attention allowed, I
showed about 1-2 minutes of each clip, rather than the 3-4 I had originally planned on. When
students attempted to sketch the one minute segment of Cullen Vance’s song, I asked them to
share their drawings with their table partner, rather than tuck away into their binder for
individual accountability and ability to ask questions about drawing frequency and amplitude
to a peer, rather than teacher.
Reflection:
3. What would you change about this lesson plan before you teach it again? Pay
attention to situations where students either did not learn or already knew.
I would alter the art history lecture portion of the lesson in encouraging students to share
sound art that they knew of before the lesson or occurred to them give the topic area. After
previewing the material, I would ask students to teach about why they feel a certain piece is
or is not sound art, and how the artist needed to understand scientific principles in order to
create it.
If the space in the room allowed, it would have been engaging to set up an echo chamber, or
to offer an opportunity for students play sound through multiple mediums mid-way through
the lecture.
Reflection:
4. How did the results of this lesson influence the way that you will teach in the
future? This lesson further encouraged me to always strive to make content as
relevant to students as possible. While showing a spectrum of sound art is helpful for
a broad understanding, working to dial in deeply on a time relevant lesson would be
most influential for student learning. As always, providing a balance of listening,
doing, sharing and reflecting time is ideal.
