In three short video clips we see the teacher begin the lesson and look closely at two pupils collaborating to create the next step in their compositions.
Lesson Five
In this lesson they are going to copy the A section after the B section and add a coda (ending).
In this clip teacher and class together recap what they did in the last lesson. The teacher recaps (mainly using the pupils) how to copy blocks of sound. She then introduces the next stage of composition – to create their end section: the Coda. The word is discussed and presented on a sheet which will be displayed, adding to the class’s collection of music vocabulary.
VIDEO EXTRACT ONE
Commentary
The teacher constantly draws ideas and information from the pupils. She integrates reminders and explanations of the technological skills they will be using (cutting and pasting) with the musical ideas (ternary form etc).
The teacher not only uses the lesson to develop composition skills but also supports the pupils in learning the appropriate musical vocabulary that can help them talk about their own and others' music, during appraisal sessions.
The teacher invites pupils to contribute knowledge from outside the classroom/school when she asks them about the meaning of the word coda. A pupil responds, drawing on knowledge gained from her experience of playing an instrument. However the answer is both over-detailed and incomplete. The teacher recognises this and in order to retain focus and clarity, and avoid the rest of the class becoming confused, she firmly, in spoken word and print, provides the correct definition.
Most lessons in this sequence began with a plenary in which the outcome was modelled by the teacher. Most often the teacher produced her own composition as a model and used also used the pupils’ compositions as examples. In this lesson the teacher goes on to give them musical models which they access from their own computers.
Interactive Education Project, Graduate School of Education,
University of Bristol
Tel: 01179 287105 Email: mary.oconnell@bris.ac.uk
