Authors and Publication Information:

“Essentials of Music” is a web site published by Sony Music, Inc. It was compiled by W.W. Norton & Company and built around musical examples from Essential Classics. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., is the oldest and largest publishing house owned wholly by its employees. In music, Norton is perhaps best known for The Enjoyment of Music, A History of Western Music, The Norton Scores, Music in Western Civilization, The Music of Black Americans and Source Readings in Music History. Some of these books have been used by colleges and universities as part of their music history curriculum for years. Essentials of Music is a collection of recordings of some of the greatest music ever written. Throughout the web site, you will find icons to click so you can listen to examples of music from various composers.

 

URL: The Essentials of Music web site can be accessed at http://essentialsofmusic.com.  After the page opens, click on "Eras." Then, click on each of the six time periods to explore the information.  The six Eras or periods listed are:  Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century.  Under each Era, you will want to read the information under Historical Themes, Musical Context, Style, and Composers.  Be sure you read all of the information under each of the six Eras.

 

Student Learning Goals:

The students will research the development of music from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. At the beginning of the class, they will participate in a Reading-Learning Plan to gather background information on the various musical periods. In doing so, the students will meet standards 20, 21, 22 and 24 as outlined in the Alabama Course of Study, Arts Education handbook:

Ninth – Twelfth Grades Vocal, Choral Music Standards:

20. Describe distinguishing characteristics of performance songs.

·Historical Period

·Style

·Language

·Cultural genre

·Composer

21. Compare the artistic principles of vocal music to those of other arts disciplines.

22. Discuss the importance and roles of vocal music in other cultures.

24. Examine the origins and development of American vocal music genres.

Readability Levels:

 

	Passage 1	Passage 2	Passage 3
Page Number	1	4	7
Number of Words	646	619	709
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level	10.8	12.0	10.1
Flesch Reading  Ease Score	42.7%	33.6%	49.3%

 

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of Entire Text	11.3
Flesch Reading Ease Score for Entire Text	40.5

 

Structure:

The structure of this passage is chronological and hierarchical. The six periods of music history are listed. Each period of music is broken down into the same four categories: Historical Themes, Musical Context, Style and Composers. Bulleted sentence lists offer most of the information. In the Historical Themes sections, the bullets are further explained in short paragraphs. There is some comparison and contrast to the music in different periods.  The text would be considered an expository text.

 

Coherence:

The format of the reading is easy to follow because the text is written in chronological order using bulleted lists. There are, however, many “technical” musical words that may be difficult for students who have never studied music. The same would be true of most any music history text. This particular text, however, does not usually define musical terms within the text. I would need to make a musical dictionary or glossary available to the students so that they can clear up any confusion with the musical terms.

 

Audience Appropriateness:

This text would be appropriate for twelfth grade students or college students studying music history. It offers some historical background so that the student can connect what was happening in history to what was happening in the development of music during the same time. It also gives clear characteristics of the music that was developing during a particular time period. Students can easily compare and contrast the different musical styles to see how they were different or similar from period to period.

 

Reading-Learning Strategies:

I will be combining a modified Content Directed Reading-Thinking Activity with a group mapping activity and vocabulary self-collection strategy.

 

Pre Reading: Students will take a short Beliefs Inventory to access their prior knowledge about the six musical time periods.  Click here to access the Beliefs Inventory.  Accessing students' prior knowledge will generate the purpose for the reading.  The students will understand that they will be learning about the different periods of music.  They will then know the purpose of the reading is to learn as much as they can about the different periods.

 

During Reading: Students will then read the assigned passages.  Their attention will be directed to selecting information to complete their assigned tasks.  Students will map the development of music from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century. The students will need to compare and contrast the musical developments from period to period. The students will need to present a timeline to show how music developed, what else was happening in history, and when important composers were born and died. Group mapping will allow the students to work together to share their ideas. Mapping will also increase their understanding of the sequence and order of the development of music over several hundred years. As they participate in the WebQuest to name the music of the Twentieth Century, they will be able to refer back to their maps to gather clues as to how each period of music was named. As they are reading, they will also gather information to see if the answers they gave in the Beliefs Inventory can be proven or disproved by what they have read. They will also compile a separate list of words and terms they do not understand.

 

Post Reading: The students will present their maps of musical development to the class, which will show their comprehension of the text. The teacher will then lead a class discussion to find how they answered the Beliefs Inventory and to make sure everyone understands the correct answers.  The students' answers to the Beliefs Inventory will demonstrate how their prior knowledge has been modified through the reading and mapping exercises. The teacher will then ask the class to list the words or terms that they did not understand.The list will be compiled on the board for future clarification and for assignments the teacher will give in coming weeks.
 

Rubric:
 

Learning Goals:	Beginning	Developing	Competent	Exemplary	Total
Goal:  Identified several historical themes that corresponded with the development of music in all six musical periods.	Identified some historical themes in some, but not all of the musical periods:       Points = 0	Identified one historical theme in all six musical periods:       Points = 1	Identified two historical themes in all six musical periods:       Points = 2	Identified three or more historical themes in all six musical periods:       Points = 3	Total Points = ____ of 3
Goal:  Completed Beliefs Inventory and was able to prove from text whether the questions were true or false.	Completed Beliefs Inventory and was able to prove five or less of the questions from the text:     Points = 1	Completed Beliefs Inventory and was able to prove six of the questions from the text:     Points = 2	Completed Beliefs Inventory and was able to prove seven of the questions from the text:     Points = 3	Completed Beliefs Inventory and was able to prove all of the questions from the text:     Points = 4	Total Points = ____ of 4
Goal:  Mapped a timeline and compared and contrasted the characteristics of the music from all six periods of music.	Did not complete a map or compare and contrast the music from any period:               Points = 0	Map did not cover both a timeline and the comparison or contrasting of the music from all six periods of music:           Points = 1	Map covered both the timeline and the comparison and contrast of the music from all six periods, but did not include complete information:         Points = 2	Map covered both the timeline and the comparison and contrast of the music from all six periods of music and was extensive in detail and provided complete information:     Points = 3	Total Points = ____ of 3
Total Points:					Total Points = ____ of 10

 

Special Thanks to:
 

Dr. Edna Brabham, Auburn University
 

Essential Classics
 

Sony Music, Inc.
 

W.W. Norton & Company