Fun with Fractions 2-3

FUN WITH FRACTIONS

FUN WITH FRACTIONS

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will use fractions to describe the sounds that they hear in music. Students will then use fractions to create their own music.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 2-3
CONTENT FOCUS: MUSIC & MATH
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can create music to represent fractions.
  • I can identify and write fractions based on musical examples.

Essential Questions

  • How can musical composition help us understand fractions?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 3: 

3.NR.4: Represent fractions with denominators of 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 in multiple ways within a framework using visual models.

Arts Standards

Grade 3: 

ESGM3.CR.2 Compose and arrange music within specified guidelines.

 

ESGM3.PR.2a. Perform steady beat and simple rhythmic patterns using body percussion and a variety of instruments with appropriate technique.

 

ESGM3.RE.1b. Describe music using appropriate vocabulary (e.g. upward/downward, forte/piano, presto/largo, long/short), appropriate mood (e.g. happy/sad), and timbre adjectives (e.g. dark/bright, heavy/light).

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 3:

3.NSF.1 Develop an understanding of fractions (i.e., denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10) as numbers. 

  1. A fraction (called a unit fraction) is the quantity formed by one part when a whole is partitioned into equal parts; 
  2. A fraction is the quantity formed by parts of size

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can arrange and compose music.

Anchor Standard 4: I can play instruments alone and with others.

Anchor Standard 6: I can analyze music.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Numerator -  The top number of a fraction
  • Denominator - The bottom number of a fraction

Arts Vocabulary

  • Found sound - Sounds created from unexpected sources; for example, using classroom objects (rulers, pencils, chairs, etc.) as musical instruments
  • Timbre - The quality of sound; the component of a tone that causes different instruments to sound different from each other, even when playing the same note; for example, instrumental timbre and vocal timbre
  • Body percussion - Sounds produced using the body (e.g., claps, snaps, pats, stamps)
  • Unpitched Instruments - Instruments that are tuned to specific pitches (e.g., drum, maracas, rhythm sticks, triangle, etc.)

 

Materials

  • Assortment of unpitched instruments (or found sound objects like an empty can or tapping two pencils together)  
  • Writing utensils  
  • Paper (or individual white boards) for students
  • Fraction cards

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Have students listen to various classroom instruments, body percussion, and/or found sounds and label them as same and different. 
    • For example, perform two claps and have students identify these as “same.” Tap a chair once and a water bottle once and have students identify as “different.”
  • Explain to students that timbre is the component of a tone that causes different instruments to sound different from each other, even when playing the same note; for example, instrumental timbre and vocal timbre.
    • Extend the opening to have students listen to various sounds performed on classroom instruments, body percussion, and/or found sound and describe the timbres, grouping instruments into families. 
    • Families could be woods, metals, and drums (or other “families,” such as if sounds were produced by tapping, scraping, or shaking as appropriate).

 

 

Work Session

  • Model the “sound detective” game. 
    • Have students draw a short horizontal line on their whiteboard or blank paper. 
    • Using a steady beat, play four of the same sounds on the same instrument. 
      • Have students write the number “4” on their whiteboard under the line. 
        • Identify this as the denominator indicating that there were four total sounds. 
      • Lead students to understanding that 4 identical sounds were heard; thus, to represent the sound fractionally, they would write a 4 on top of the line as well (that is, 4 of the 4 sounds were the same). 
        • Identify top number as numerator.
  • Follow this same process for additional 4-beat patterns, changing the number of “different” sounds and challenging students to represent these sounds fractionally. 
    • For example, if 3 of the 4 beats were played on a metal instrument, the sound could be represented as 3/4. 
  • Explore other ways of making sounds different from each other (e.g., loud and soft sounds—dynamics). 
  • Divide students into small groups. Distribute fraction cards to groups. 
    • Have students create a rhythm representing the fraction on their card and perform for peers. 
    • Have classmates identify what is heard. The denominator will need to be identified beforehand.

 

ELA Extension:

  • Use children’s poems to further explore fractions. 
    • Examples: 
      • “Mary Had a Little Lamb” has two lines that include rhyming words, so 2/4 lines (or 1/2) of the poem uses rhyming words. 
      • “Rain, Rain, Go Away” has four lines that use rhyming words, so 4/4 of the lines of the poem use rhyming words. 
    • To aid musical skill development, have students play the rhythm of the poem on their instruments.
    • Assign rhyming words to the same instrument so students make the connection between the sounds in the words and the sounds the instrument makes.
    • Suggested poems include:

 

Rain, Rain go away.                            Mary had a little lamb.

Come again another day.                     Its fleece was white as snow.

All the children want to play.             And everywhere that Mary went,

Rain, rain, go away.                           The lamb was sure to go.

 

Cock-a-doodle-doo,                           A wise old owl lived in the oak;

My dame has lost her shoe,               The more he saw the less he spoke.

My master’s lost his fiddling stick,   The less he spoke the more he heard.

        Sing cock-a-doodle-doo.           Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?

 

Closing Reflection

  • Facilitate a class discussion reflecting on the process. 
  • Ask students how music helped them understand fractions.
  • Ask students if they can think of other things from the lesson that they could represent in terms of fractions. 
    • Examples could include three out of four students liked the sound of tapping on a can better than tapping two pencils together.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ learning by observing whether students can identify body percussion, found sound, and/or unpitched percussion instrument sounds as the same and different and whether students can count sounds and represent them with numbers.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can create music to accurately represent fractions.
  • Students can identify and write fractions based on musical examples.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: 

  • Challenge students to use higher denominators (beats in the musical composition) and more than two types of instruments.
  • Students can create their own compositions and then represent them by writing the equation showing the addition of all fractions in their composition.
  • Have students write poetry using rhyme schemes illustrating fractions. 
  • Divide students into pairs. Have them create rhythms representing the two fractions they are holding. Have classmates identify the two fractions heard. 

 

Remediation:

  • Have students work with a partner to write numbers describing the sounds heard. 
  • Have students work with a partner to identify rhyming words.
  • Perform body percussion and other sounds in front of students so they can see and hear the same and different sounds and sound sources.

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

 Ideas contributed and updated by:  Maribeth Yoder-White

 Revised and copyright:  June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

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Geometry Groove 2-3

GEOMETRY GROOVE

GEOMETRY GROOVE

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will use movement and shape to understand types of angles and composition of polygons.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 2-3
CONTENT FOCUS: DANCE & MATH
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can identify and create different types of angles.

  • I can create a movement for a polygon that shows different types of angles.

Essential Questions

  • How can dance/movement aid in comprehension of angles and polygons?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 3: 

3.GSR.6: Identify the attributes of polygons, including parallel segments, perpendicular segments, right angles, and symmetry.

3.GSR.6.1 Identify perpendicular line segments, parallel line segments, and right angles, identify these in polygons, and solve problems involving parallel line segments, perpendicular line segments, and right angles

3.GSR.6.2 Classify, compare, and contrast polygons, with a focus on quadrilaterals, based on properties. Analyze specific 3- dimensional figures to identify and describe quadrilaterals as faces of these figures.

Arts Standards

Grade 3:

ESD3.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

 

ESD3.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

 

ESD3.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance

 

ESD3.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 3: 

3.G.3 Use a right angle as a benchmark to identify and sketch acute and obtuse angles.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use movement exploration to discover and create artistic ideas and works.

 

Anchor Standard 2: I can choreograph a dance.

 

Anchor Standard 3: I can perform movements using the dance elements.

Anchor Standard 7: I can relate dance to other arts disciplines, content areas, and careers.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Acute angle - An angle less than 90 degrees but more than 0 degrees

  • Obtuse angle - An angle between 90 and 180 degrees
  • Right angle - An angle of 90°, as in a corner of a square
  • Polygon - A two-dimensional enclosed figure with at least three sides

Arts Vocabulary

  • Choreography - The art of composing dances and planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of dancers

  • Choreographer - A person who creates dances
  • Shape - This refers to an interesting and interrelated arrangement of body parts of one dance; the visual makeup or molding of the body parts of a single dancer; the overall visible appearance of a group of dancers
  • Space - An element of movement involving direction, level, size, focus, and pathway
  • Formation - The placement of dancers in a performance space

 

Materials

  • Sound source and music with a steady beat
  • Markers or crayons
  • Printed copies of dance photography

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Set up chairs and tables in a circular format to maximize students’ engagement and ability to see their peers during the activity and performance. Also establish parameters for acceptable movement choices and discuss audience behavior/etiquette with students.

  • Begin the lesson by engaging students in movement that introduces students to a few of the Elements of Dance: Body, space and time.
    • Have students arrange themselves in the classroom with enough personal space to move freely without touching a neighbor.
    • Turn on instrumental music with a steady beat.
    • First, have students bring awareness to their bodies by leading them through gentle stretches starting from the head and moving to the toes (e.g., head circles, shoulder shrugs, toe touches, etc.).
    • Next, bring students’ awareness to the rhythm of the music by having them walk in place to the beat with high knees, swinging their arms side to side. 
    • Now, direct students create shapes with their bodies; use geometric language such as curved shapes or sharp angles to direct students. 
    • Ask students to volunteer to be the leader by demonstrating a shape for students to copy.
    • This could lead into a game of Pass the Movement if time permits.
      • The objective of the game is to create a sequence of movements by passing a dance move around the circle or group, with each student adding their unique twist. 
      • Each student will create a simple movement and "pass" it to the next student, who will then repeat the movement and add their own.
      • Choose one student to start the game. This student will perform a simple movement, such as a clap, a jump, a spin, or a wave. Encourage students to focus on creating shapes and angles with their bodies.
      • The starting student then "passes" this movement to the next student by making eye contact and gesturing towards them.
      • The next student repeats the initial movement and then adds their own unique movement.
      • This student then "passes" the combined movements to the next student.
      • Each subsequent student repeats the previous movements in the correct order and adds their own new movement.
      • Continue passing the movement around the circle or along the line until all students have had a turn.
      • Once the movement has gone all the way around, have the group perform the entire sequence together from start to finish.
    • Have students return to their seats.

 

Work Session

  • Discuss with students how they used their bodies to create angles and shapes. 
  • Divide the class into small groups.
    • Ask students if they can create an obtuse angle with their bodies? Acute? Right?
    • Provide time for groups to share.
  • Pass out printed copies of dance photography to students.
    • Ask students to identify the types of angles, shapes, and polygons that they see in the photos.
    • Students should outline and label each type in a different color crayon/marker. 
    • Project images of the photography on the board and allow time for students to share what they identified in the photos. 
  • Next, randomly pass out note cards with a type of angle written on it. 
  • Students must create a shape with their bodies that demonstrates a polygon with that type of angle (i.e., acute angle in a rhombus).
    • Students can choose to each make the movement with their bodies individually, or can combine to make one large formation together. 
  • Now, tell students that dancers move to the beat of music. Students will have four beats to perform their movement. Tell students that by the count of four, they should be showing their polygon with their bodies and should freeze in the shape.
    • Practice a four count to the beat of the music with students.
    • Allow time for students to practice using a four count to perform their movement.

 

Closing Reflection

  • The students will perform their movements for their classmates. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
  • After each performance, the audience should be able to identify the polygon and the types of angles represented.

 

Assessments

Formative

Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator; ability to identify types of shapes, polygons and angles in dance photography; and collaborative choreography.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can identify and create different types of angles.
  • Students can create a movement for a type polygon with the type of angle assigned.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: Challenge students to create a three movement phrase that includes three types of polygons that have the type of angle assigned. Students must create transitions between the movements to create smooth choreography.

Remediation: Scaffold the lesson by choosing a type of angle and polygon to create a movement for as a class. Then, have students create a new movement in their groups for a polygon using that same type of angle. Finally, groups will create a movement for a polygon that uses a new angle. 

 

 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright: June 2024 @ ArtsNOW

 

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Link it Up Plane Figure Word Chains K-2

Description

Through composition of word chains describing plane figures, students will develop skills and understandings in mathematics and music. Teamwork and creativity are necessary to create an interesting word chant that demonstrates understanding and identification of plane figures. Musical skills addressed include improvising, composing, listening, speaking, playing instruments, and moving.

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