Understanding By Design Unit

Title of Unit
Curriculum Area
Developed By

A debate of instruments (A song of voice and lyre)

Intermediate Ensembles
KKLN

Grade Level
Time Frame

8th
5-10 minutes per debate

Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)

Content Standards
Learn to interpret the emotional tone of a student debate through your instrument. After each statement in a debate, the student will interpret the
statement through a musical phrase. Utilize differentiation in dynamic, tempo, and scale patterns.

Understandings

Essential Questions

Overarching Understanding

Overarching
How was the tone of the debate
expressed through instruments? Was it
consistent throughout like a single
piece of music or dynamic like a full
symphony/suite?

NA

Topical
Did the instrumentalists express the
emotion of the debate to the fullest
extent? What could they have done to
improve?

Related Misconceptions

NA

Knowledge

Skills

Students will know

Students will engage with

Students will learn basic improvisational skills and expression. Along with that, they
will also work on any public performance nerves they may have, as this will be done
in four person groups.

Students will engage with expression,and improvisation. Achieved through

interpreting, building upon each-others ideas, and beginning to find their unique
sound.

Procedures
1. Organize students in groups of 4, 2 instrumentalists and 2 debaters. Roles can be alternated either in the same
lesson or when this activity is revisited.
1*.If there is a Speech and debate class in the school, this can be a joint activity and dismiss the need for alternating
roles.

2. Depending on the time allotted for the lesson, either have a scripted debate handed out to each group or give them two
stances on a subject of debate. E.G. Having a cat versus having a dog. Subjects should stay simple as to remain
appropriate but also to challenge the instrumentalists to really dramatize the emotions in each statement.
3. Have all the groups choose their own space in the room.
4. Establish a key for the improvisation, optimally a pentatonic scale.
*The pentatonic scale can be played in any order of notes and still sound pleasing to the ear, making it great for
introducing improvisation without deterring the students. As students improve, have them move on with the full scales.
5. Have the groups begin the debate.
6. Survey the room, listening for which group seems to be doing an above average job with the activity and have them
repeat their debate after all the groups have completed their debates.
*This step can be removed in later repetitions when everyone should be sufficiently skills to do exhibitions in front of
their peers.
*6. Choose a group to start the exhibition and move on through each group.
Further steps: As the class improves on expression and improvisation, set guidelines and goals for later repetitions of the
activity. These guidelines may consist of anything from going from a Major key to the relative minor in the debate, using
certain motifs in their interpretations, or using advanced scales such as the whole tone, harmonic minor, or melodic minor
scale depending on the class.