STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS - CRISPA · Web viewLarge group discussion where students are asked to...

Beethoven Unit PlanBy: Jennifer Bartee

Often, I can scarcely hear any one speaking to me; the tones yes, but not the actual words; yet as soon as any one shouts, it is unbearable. What will come of all this,

heaven only knows!

STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTSUnit Title: Emotional Expression in Music: Experienced Through Selected Works of Beethoven

Established Goals:Students will learn the basic biography of Beethoven. Students will also listen to different musical

compositions and discuss the different ways Beethoven’s music makes them feel and describe what key factors in the music make them feel this way. Students will brainstorm in a whole class setting different compositional techniques (tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, etc.) and the possible emotional impact they have on the musician and audience. Students will further investigate Beethoven’s “Heiligenstadt Testament” and listen to music composed around the same time to find evidence of Beethoven’s emotions (especially the depression felt around his hearing loss) expressed through his compositions.

Design Topic Emotional Expression Subject(s) General Music Grade(s) 5 th & 6 th Designer Jennifer Bartee

Walking with BEETHOVEN in HEILIGENSTADT

Understandings: Students will understand that…• Music is a powerful way to express emotions Different musical tools (dynamics, rhythms, key

signatures, instrumentation) used for emotional expression in musi

Essential Questions:• How can we know how the composer was

feeling? How important is it to understand the

composer’s emotions when you listen to a piece of music?

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

Feelings are the roots of the music, anchoring it and giving it life.

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How can you express your feelings through music?


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Students will know:•The main story of Beethoven’s life and that he

used his music to express his personal feelings and as a motivation to persevere in life

How Beethoven could overcome his feelings of hopelessness by finding meaning in his talent

Students will be able to:• Compose an original composition expressing

their emotions Identify emotional elements to Beethoven’s

music

STAGE 2 – ASSESSMENT EVIDENCEPerformance Tasks:

Pre-Assessment Large group discussion where students are asked to share any information, they may know about the composer Beethoven. The class will further discuss different feelings we have throughout our lives and the way a composer might express those different feelings in their compositions. Pre-assessment will conclude with a brief discussion over the power music and the arts have on the emotions of the audience and past personal experiences students have had with music. Students will turn in exit tickets answering: “How can a composer express different feelings in their music?”

Post-Assessment and Reflection(3 Class Periods)

1. Upon completion of the seven lessons, the students will choose a historical event from the social studies curriculum and create a piece of music to express the emotions of the society of the time during the event. Students may choose to work either in small groups or alone for two class periods.

2. The final products will be shared in a classroom showcase during school hours and open to family members.

3. Students will complete exit tickets after the showcase answering the same question from the pre-assessment: “How can a composer express different feelings

Other Evidence:Formative Class Discussions Exit Tickets

Summative Musical Composition and Performance Exit Tickets


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in their music?

Key Criteria to Measure Performance Task(s) or Key Evidence:1. Beethoven Biographies (Various Reading Levels)2. Heiligenstadt Testament 3. Recordings of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos 3 ‘Eroica’ & 44. Movie Beethoven Lives Upstairs5. Rubric for Composition Project

STAGE 3 – LEARNING PLANSummary of Learning Activities:

Lesson Plans

Lesson 1

(1 class period)

1. Ask students if they have a favorite song that expresses a deep emotion. Make a list of the songs/artists at the front of the room.

2. Using the PMI technique, fill out the chart below with the different components of music and assess how important they are in conveying emotion. (Ex: rhythm, dynamics, lyrics, instruments, gender of the performer, etc.)

Pluses Minuses Interesting

3. Vote as a class for their top three song from the list compiled in step one.

4. Break into three groups (based on the top song they vote for) and prepare an oral defense/argument why their song is the best song of the three, based on the criteria listed in the PMI chart.

Lesson 2

(1 class period)

1. Review the last lesson and re-visit the completed PMI chart.

2. Explain to the students that classical composers were the popular musicians of their time. Ask the students if we can judge the emotions


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expressed in classical music the same way we judged the popular music from the last lesson and why/why not.

3. Play selections of classical music and ask students to deduce the emotion the composer was trying to convey when they composed their music and fill out the following chart:

Emotion Tempo Dynamics Instrumentation Note RangeHAPPYDEPRESSEDANGRYNERVOUS

4. Divide the students into five groups and assign them one of the four emotions from the chart, with one group doubling an emotion (this will keep the class from being able to guess the emotion of the last group to perform.) Instruct the students to compose a piece of music expressing their assigned emotion using the information from the chart.

5. Have the groups perform their compositions for the class and have the audience deduce the emotion of the piece based on the categorization of the work’s musical elements.

Lesson 3

(1 class period)

Students will watch the movie Beethoven Lives Upstairs to help make the historical figure come to life. Students will be able to relate to the character Christoph, a boy who develops a friendship with Beethoven.

Lesson 4(1 class period) **THEIR ANSWERS ARE SO FUN TO READ!!!!**

1. Upon completion of the movie, the class will independently write short paragraphs answering the questions:* “What was your favorite and least favorite parts of the move? Why?” * “How would you feel if Beethoven treated you the way he treated

Christoph, and what would you say to Beethoven?” * “Was it okay for Beethoven to act the way he did towards Christoph? Why

or why not?”

2. Students will then share their answers by participating in a Socratic Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)

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seminar as a class.

Lesson 5

(1 class period) I LOVE THIS LESSON1. In a large group, students will listen to short excerpts of Beethoven pieces,

from various genres and modalities, and describe how the pieces of music make them feel. This will allow students of all abilities to reflect upon the different levels of personal emotions they feel.

2. Have the students listen to Für Elise and write a one paragraph fictional story that emotionally fits the music.

Lesson 6(1 class period)

1. Students will read the “Heiligenstadt Testament”

2. Groups will present the “Heiligenstadt Testament” and how it speaks to Beethoven’s desire to live, despite his great depression over his growing deafness, to create his art for the world. All groups will share their findings with the class.


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Lesson 7

(1 class period)

1. Students will review the jigsaw activity, and Beethoven’s emotional expression in the “Heiligenstadt Testament.”

2. The class will listen to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, Eroica and listen for evidence of the feelings Beethoven expressed in the “Heiligenstadt Testament” when he wrote, “It seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce.”

3. Students will discuss their own personal gifts, and how they might feel compelled to use them as a gift to society, as Beethoven felt compelled to give his gift of music.

Lesson 8

(3 class periods)

1. Students will work in small groups to identify an emotion they would like to compose a piece of music around.

2. Music will be composed on classroom instruments and students will need to identify the musical elements they are employing to reach the emotional expression they are aiming to reach.

3. On the last class meeting of the unit, family members will be invited to attend the last concert where students will discuss the pieces they composed, explaining the musical building blocks they used, and then perform their pieces.


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Resources

Beethoven, Heiligenstadt Testament, Retrieved from http://www.beethoven.ws/heiligenstadt_testament.html

Beethoven Biography. Retrieved from http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=7

Beethoven Biography. Retrieved from http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/beethoven

Karajan, Herbert von (1963). Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 3 ‘Eroica’ & 4


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http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/beethoven

http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=7

http://www.beethoven.ws/heiligenstadt_testament.html


Memories/Student Quotes “I now think it is unfair that Beethoven is remembered as being

grumpy and mean.” “Music is so much more fun to listen to when I know how the composer was feeling!” “It is really hard to put my own feelings into music, but it was also

really rewarding.” 2010: Parents teared up in the audience as their children explained

that their song was expressing the sadness they feel over losing their grandma.


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STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS - CRISPA · Web viewLarge group discussion where students are asked to...

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