Portfolio Class Profile Information

Grade Levels: 7
th
grade

Portfolio School Information: Middle School

Music Teaching Assignment: Winds, Percussion, and Brass

Portfolio Teaching Topic/Unit Title: Introduction to Composition

Number of minutes per class: 20 minutes

Class meetings per week: 5

Total # of students in class: 9

Total # of boys: 3

Total # of girls: 6

Total # of special education students: 0

Primary texts used: Worksheet created by myself (Stephen Cook)

Number of other adults in the room during portfolio instruction: 0

This class meets at the beginning of the day and is filled with a mix of woodwind, brass,
and percussion students. This class runs as an independent study for band students.
Students in this class are participating in solo and ensemble in addition to studying
whatever they would like. The students in this class had to apply at the end of their 6
th

grade year to be a part of this homeroom. From the applicants, my co-op selected 22 of
her most motivated students to be in the class. I did my project with 9 students who
were interested in composing.

This is the students second year of playing an instrument. They started learning to play
an instrument and read music in 6
th
grade. They performed 3 concerts the year before,
playing 9 pieces over the course of the year (in addition to method book material.) It is
hard to know what kind of elementary music background each student had. There are
15 elementary schools in the Plymouth-Canton Schools and our students could come
from any of them.

My project was created so that my students would have a chance to compose their own
music. Over three consecutive lessons, I wanted the students to gain the confidence
that they are capable to write their own music! Students were first able to recognize the
different elements that make up a piece of music. Students then explored putting
together a short 8 bar phrase, where they were allowed to compose with guidance.
Finally, as a capstone project, my students wrote their own piece of music that they
performed for the whole class.

Students were able to be a part of creating, performing, and assessing music. The
students were engaged and excited since they were working on their own music.
Through a series of discussions and worksheets, the students were able to assess their
compositions and revise them accordingly. Each lesson was structured so that the
assignment was challenging, yet achievable. The students were able to walk away with
a new, unique, and personalized product that they can be proud of.