Nathan Childs

MUED 373
Dabback
February 28, 2018
Lesson Plan: Funga Alafia
Critical Empowering National
Lesson Steps Lesson Form
Pedagogy Musicians Standards
1- Honoring Their World: Students listen to the
teacher sing Funga Alafia first without
accompaniment, then with call and response
student participation, then with everyone
singing. Funga Alafia is a Nigerian children's
welcome song. The teacher tells students about
Provoking the meaning of the lyrics and cultural context of
Who are
we?
Musical
Imagination
the piece. 7, 8, 9 Exposition
2- Sharing the Experience: The teacher
facilitates a discussion about the melody and
which chords might accompany it. Students
collaboratively identify the chord changes using
roman numerals I, IV, and V as well as
traditional notation on a staff.
3- Connecting Their World to the Classroom:
The teacher sings Funga Alafia again while
students play the root of each chord change on

Who may
their instruments.
4- Dialoguing Together: The teacher explains
1, 2, 4,
Engaging
they
become?
Musical Intellect
chord voicing and facilitates students in
choosing which voice best suits their instrument
5, Development
range.
5- Practicing the Content: Students practice 10, 11
their own parts individually or with students
around them for 3 minutes.
6- Connecting School Music to Students' World:
Students divide into groups of 4 or 5 to discuss
alternative harmonies to add to the
Inspiring
Musical
performance (concepts such as 7th chords,
arpeggios, voicing, etc.) 5, 6, Improvisation
7- Assessing Transformation: Each group
What might
Creativity performs their new harmony for the rest of the
class while everyone else sings along. The class
10, 11
we become will identify and discuss the characteristics that
together? make each performance unique.

Engaging 8- Acknowledging Transformation: Students

Musical
Celebration
sing and play Funga Alafia for another class with
each group taking a turn to play the harmony. 5, 6, Recapitulation
Through
Performance
10
Nathan Childs
MUED 373
Dabback
February 28, 2018

Accommodations
• Size:
o Write notation on the board
• Color:
o Use different colored chalk for each new chord
• Pacing:
o Adding new extensions to harmony can accommodate faster
learners
o Pair students who don’t yet understand the materials with
students who know it so that they can teach each other
• Modality:
o Aural:
▪ Call and response
▪ Sing the melody or harmonies
o Kinesthetic:
▪ Clap the rhythm while dancing in a circle
▪ Stomp each time the chords change
o Visual:
▪ use standard notation for melody
▪ use solfege hand signs while singing melody to students