Hirschi IB Magnet

IBMYP unit planner

Unit title
/
Sightreading
Teacher(s) / Mineasa Nesbit
Subject and grade level / Choral Music - 9-12
Time frame and duration / Semester 1 (all year throughout UIL contest season)
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit question
Area of interaction focus
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this? / /
Significant concept(s)
What are the big ideas? What do we want our students to retain for years into the future?
Human Ingenuity / Doubling the beats and decreasing speed gives more time for singers to see, process and sing the notes accurately.
MYP unit question
How do we produce a winning performance???
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
1.  Class discussion and reflections
2.  Class audio recordings and timed sight-reading exercises
3.  All-Region contest scores
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
4.  Explore through the processes of visual and performing arts
5.  Acquire and develop skills needed for the creation of visual and performing art work
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
A, B, C, & D
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning activities through inquiry
ContentWhat knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the significant concept(s) for stage 1?
1.  Students are learning a new sight-reading method in which they double the beats to slow the tempo in order to process the notes with more accuracy.
2.  TEKS
a.  The learner will understand and implement good vocal techniques.
i.  1.4A, 1.4B, 1.6A, 1.6B, , 1.6C, 2.6A, 2.6B, 2.6C
b.  The learner will be able to sight read in various keys.
i.  1.1B, 1.3A, 1.3B, 2.3A, 2.3B, 2.3C, 3.3A, 3.3B, 3.3C, 4.3A, 4.3C
c.  The learner will apply vocal technique and sight-reading skills to a variety of musical styles through octavos.
i.  1.1A, 1.1C, 1.2A, 1.2B, 1.2C, 1.3C, 2.1A, 2.1B, 2.2C, 3.1A, 3.1B, 3.1C, 3.2A, 3.2B, 3.2c, 3.2 D, 3.4A, 4.1A, 4.1B 4.1C, 4.2A, 4.2B, 4.2C, 4.2D, 4.4B, 4.6A, 4.6B
3.  Slowing the tempo and allowing students to process the notes will make them more confident and independent in their sight-reading experience.
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Sightreading is the core basic to becoming a skilled singer. When students develop these skills, they will be able to learn more music at a faster rate and that will be the factor that build their confidence in approaching new literature.
Learning experiencesHow will students know what is expected of them? Will they see examples, rubrics, templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise the skills required? How will they practise applying these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will we know? / Teaching strategiesHow will we use formative assessment to give students feedback during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have we made provision for those learning in a language other than their mother tongue? How have we considered those with special educational needs?
1.The teacher will provide guidelines and daily expectations for the students to follow during sightreading exercises.
2. Many of the students have prior knowledge of original note values as well as interval training acquired in Jr. High School.
3. Students are given daily sight-reading exercises as well as timed sight-reading tests periodically. They prove their knowledge by using solfege hand-signs and the proper solfege syllables in class and on their timed tests. / 1. Timed-music tests – 8 measures in which the students will have a small amount of time to fill in the syllables for each note.
2. Some exercises have the syllables letters under the notes to help beginner students learn the intervals.
3. Reading at a slower tempo helps all learners to process better and for those who are just learning, even those with special needs are able to read at a slower tempo without feeling uncomfortable. The slower the tempo, the better the chances are for pitch accuracy.
Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during the unit?
1.  Sightreading books, hymn books, sheet music
2.  Students who participated in UIL All-State audition process received higher scores than in precious years. Out of 60 points available, the majority of the students scored in the mid 50 range.
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and learning” section of MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachersWhat did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated action?
Possible connections How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?

Figure 12

MYP unit planner