Differentiation. It’s a word we hear in staff development all the time and most music teachers probably think, “I differentiate instruction to meet the needs of the students in every class!” Although it’s true that we do this through our activities, I’ve never done it with worksheets. However, considering all the new students who weren’t in my class last year, I’m having to do more reteaching and remediation than I’ve ever done before. So, I decided to provide my third grade classes a choice this week. I called the worksheet levels blue, green, and black.

The blue is the simplest worksheet and included labeling the tone ladder, identifying pitches to Phoebe in Her Petticoat, and then writing four pitches on the staff. The green level began the same way, but instead of writing four pitches, students transposed Phoebe in Her Petticoat into a new key. To make it a black level challenge, they added the rhythm stems. The green and black levels also allow students to create a new melody on a blank staff.

A majority of students chose the harder worksheet and worked at the green or black level. A few chose the blue level but finished too quickly. They determined that they should have chosen the harder one. Those students either took a blank staff and worked on transposing Phoebe in Her Petticoat or assisted other students who raised their hands. A few students chose the blue worksheet and it was just right for them. (See the worksheets under “Resources for Teachers” or click the links above.)

A final thought: Carol Ann Tomlinson wrote, “Students who consistently fail lose their motivation to learn. Students who succeed too easily also lose their motivation to learn. For learning to continue, students must believe that hard work is required, but the hard work often pays off with success….Challenges must grow as students grow in their learning.” p. 19 The Differentiated Classroom

Are you challenging your students in any special ways? I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s a big “Thank you” to Lori for suggesting a song to post. It was a good choice, too! Not only is Hogs in the Cornfield a useful song, but it’s a fun game for the students to play. Here are a few ways that I use Hogs in the Cornfield:

1. Phrase 1 for ta-dimi prep

2. Phrase 2 for takadi prep

3. Phrase 2 for high do’ prep

Rather than elaborate on all three concepts, I’ll just touch on the third one, do’ preparation. Everyone learns in different ways, so it’s important to provide kinesthetic, aural, and visual learning opportunities. Kinesthetic activities might include singing and clapping in contour, pointing to a picture or the words in contour, or even moving the body higher or lower as the voice moves. Aural questions involve identifying the pitches for each beat of phrase two and calling do’ “high.” It’s important at this stage to identify how far the “high” sound is from la. (a skip, or two steps) Finally, students should have the opportunity to create a visual representation of the phrase on their own. I like to use Unifix cubes, but almost any small object will work. Some teachers will allow their students to use anything in the room to make their picture. Brave souls! Personally, I like Unifix cubes because four cubes equals one beat and each student receives a baggie with four beats. Some students can make a melodic picture very quickly while others may need to sing the phrase several times or receive one on one assistance. Need to show your principal differentiation? Ask the more advanced students to figure out the rhythms, break the cubes into a rhythmic representation, and then move them into melodic contour.

While you’re prepping a new melodic concept, students should demonstrate known melodic concepts. Why not have the students read or write the solfége to phrase 1 prior to the kinesthetic, aural, and visual steps? It’s a great way for students to hear the interval from so to do’ (end of phrase 1 into phrase 2) and should help them identify do’ to la (beginning of phrase 2) as being closer.

For more information about preparing and presenting high do, I recommend Kodály Today by Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka.

Which techniques have worked well in your classroom?