Stephen F. Austin State University
Department of Music
Music for Children I: MHL 350.001
(for non-music majors)
Summer II 2008

Instructor: Herbert M. Midgley, M.M., M.Ed
Office: 310A in the Fine Arts Building
Phone: 468-1197
Email: hmidgley@sfasu.edu (Please use this email not WebCT or my gmail account)
I do not use WebCT for email. MySFA and WebCT are different.
Please email me with your titan account and use your name in the email so I can know who you are.

Website: http://www.herbertmidgley.com/syllabi/350/
Office Hours : TBA
10:15-12:10PM MTWTH

Course Description: A study of materials, literature, and developmental concepts appropriate for musical maturation.

Goals: The ultimate goal of this course is to encourage and nurture the innate musical talents in pre-service teachers. This is achieved by learning how to integrate music in to other disciplines i.e. (music and math, math and language arts etc.) When we are successful musically, we will be more likely to encourage our students to engage in musical activities as part of their daily learning program. The focus of this course is not to teach you how to read music or play an instrument at a professional level. Rather the focus is to give you basic skills performing skills so that you can make music and integrate music into your future classroom.

Objectives: To assist you in reaching the course's goal, the following objectives will be met:

Student/Learning Outcomes: What students should know or be able to do as a result of this course:
1) The student will demonstrate knowledge goals and objectives of elementary music education as they relate to the National Standards and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) objectives.
2) The student will demonstrate an understanding of the scope and sequence of the general music program as it is integrated into the math, language arts, reading, science, and social studies curricula.
3) The student will demonstrate an understanding of the learning process as it relates to aural and visual discrimination of tonal and rhythmic elements.
4) The student will demonstrate basic techniques for developing skills in singing, moving, playing rhythm instruments, piano and guitar.
5) The student will demonstrate the skill in integrating music into other curricular areas.
6) The student will demonstrate the skill in planning strategies and lessons designed to attain predetermined objectives.
7) The student will demonstrate the skill in using various teaching techniques developed by Kodály, Orff, and Dalcroze.
8) The student will be encouraged to develop confidence in one's self and a willingness to guide children to music learning.
9) The student will be encouraged to develop an interest in improving one's own instructional techniques, musical skills, and ability to communicate with children.
10) The student will be encouraged to develop an interest in sharing ideas in discussion and evaluating self and peers constructively.
11) The student will be encouraged to develop an interest in the child as an individual and in his individual learning mode, needs, and potential.
Field Experiences: Midi lab field trip

Texts:
John Feierabend (1986) Music for little people and a CD Rhythm Activities from the Classics. Both available at Encore Music.
Barbara Andress (1999) Music for Children. Harcourt Brace.

Out of pocket projects: Throughout the semester you will be required to make/build music centers. These will not cost much to make.

Grading:

(1) daily grades and participation-see attendance policy below 10%

(2) lesson plans 30%

(3) a final project 10%

(4) mini-lessons 10%

(5) Chapter summaries (Chapter 1-10) 10%

(6) Skill Quizzes 10%

(7) examinations

Midterm Exam 10%

ExCet Mastery 10%

Your final grade will be an average of (1) daily grades and participation-see attendance policy below, (2) lesson plans, (3) a final project, (4) mini-lessons (5) Chapter summaries, (6) Skill Quizzes and (7) midterm and ExCET Mastery examinations. Your assignments are to be submitted on the date they are due. I will not take any late work after one week after it is due. After one week, the assignment will not be accepted. The highest grade you can receive on a late assignment is 70 if the assignment is not turn in the next school day. The usual 100-90, 89-80, etc. grading scale will be used for this course. Remember there is a new failure policy. If you fail to complete your work due to not attending class (you have emotionally and physically dropped the course without officially dropping the course) you will be given a grade of FQ. It means the same thing as an F but helps us know who simply stopped trying, who gave up.

If you are not pleased with your performance on an assignment, simply resubmit it as many times as you like. NOTE:PLEASE do not plagiarize my work off the website. Information post there is to help answer your questions and give you ideas. Anyone who chooses to copy my work and submit it as theirs will receive a zero for that assignment. Unfortunately, I was forced to issue many zeros in the past. Be honest and do your own work.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Class Attendance: I expect you to be present, and on time at all class meetings. Regular attendance is critical to your success in this course. If you can not come to class regularly, please take the course when you have the time to devote to your college career. You are responsible for all notes, power point presentations, recordings and films/videos presented in class. Due the size of this class, no talking, sleeping, eating, reading newspapers, text messaging or cell phone use during class will be tolerated. All of these activities disrupt the educational process. If these common courtesies are not observed, you will be invited to leave the class.

If you are not inside when I begin the class, you will not be admitted to class. Professionals are prompt. Note: University approved absences will not be counted as unexcused absences. If you are under the care of a physician give me a copy of the doctor's release or a receipt within one week from the date you return to class. I will not accept a doctor's release after one week. You will be given two discretionary days, do with them what you will. Upon the third absence, your grade will be lowered by one letter grade for each day you choose not to attend. I know this is harder then other professor, but you will thank me for caring that you attend class. Please don't walk out of the class after roll and leave, if you do this, you will be counted as absence. If you have an excused absence, you still have to make up the days you miss by completing extra lesson plans or papers. See me if you have questions about this. This is because this is a hands on class, you can't just read a book to learn these skills.

University excused absences will not effect your grade. If you are under the care of a physician bring me your doctor's release within one week of returning to class. EXCESSIVE EXCUSED ABSENCE CLAUSE: The instructor reserves the right to issue additional work to make up the time missed in class. You could do extra lesson plans, song cards etc. You have to put in two hours of work for every one of class time missed. One class means you have to do 3 hours of work. If you have missed more than two class days no matter if it was excused or not excused absence, you will have to make up the time missed by doing extra work. It is not fair to everyone else that shows up. If you do not have time to put into this course, take it when you do.

Distance Learning: From time to time, I will require that you submit assignments via email. Please get an email address if you do have one. I am going to use the www.mysfa.sfasu.edu to email the class. Get your Z account working ASAP.

Assignments:

_______First Orff Lesson plan using words
_______Second Orff Lesson plan using chant
_______Poem Lesson with Color words
_______Movement Lesson plan with books & poems
_______Creative Composition Lesson Plan
_______Science Lesson Plan
_______Web Search Assignment
_______Your Own Subject and Music Lesson Plan
_______Skill quizzes
_______Mid-term Examination
_______ExCet Preparation Examination


Planned Experiences:

Unit One: Introduction to Children and the Learning Process
Rationale for Music Education
Growth and development of children. a. development of perceptual skills
b. learning modes: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic
Theories of child development.
The role and responsibility of the classroom teacher.

Unit Two: Elements of Music and the ExCet
National Standards, TEKS, TAAS
ExCet vocabulary and objectives
Music vocabulary and objectives

Unit Three: Music and Instruments
· Introduction to classroom instruments
· Playing classroom instruments & accompanying children
· Designing lessons using instruments

Unit Four: Music and Literature
· Elemental music and the Orff process
· Books and their uses in music lessons.
· Implementation of poems, books, and other literature into the music lesson.
· The Orff instrumentarium

Unit Five: Music and Movement
· The kinesthetic response and children's need for gross motor movement.
· Dramatic and sequential movement in music listening.
· Motoric development. Designing movement experiences that encourage vestibular and gross motor development.

Unit Six: Music and Science
· Sound exploration
· Developing lessons that feature different ways of producing sound.

Unit Seven: Music and Listening (Aesthetic understanding)
· Listening for understanding.
· Attention to the creative process through guided listening experiences.
· Form and listening for patterns
· Creating listening maps for children

Unit Eight: The Singing Voice and Music Reading
· The developing voice
· Ideal ranges of songs
· Understanding the child’s voice, individual difference, problems, and techniques for improvement.
· Techniques for teaching a song by rote.
· Accompanying children on guitar

Unit Nine: Learning through Classroom Composition
· Fostering children's potential for creating something of their own.
· Planning improvisation and/or composition.

Unit Ten:


Mid-term Examination The week of the mid-term

Final Examinations
The week of finals

NOTE: Students with documented disabilities who need course adaptations or accommodations please make an appointment with me as soon as possible.

I plan to cover new material and or give a test during dead week.

Please do not hesitate to ask questions. Sometimes material may not initially be presented in a manner you understand. Part of learning and becoming a life-long learner is to know when to ask questions. For me, it's all the time!

Please fill out the course evaluation at during the last three weeks of class on mysfa.