This document outlines a music lesson plan for teaching 8th grade students how to play guitar. It will take place over the course of a week. On the first day, the teacher will introduce the parts of the guitar and proper holding technique using videos and hands-on instruction. Students will each have their own guitar to practice with. Throughout the week, students will learn three chords and the strum-pluck-strum method. They will create and perform their own original three chord song by the end of the lesson, documenting their experience in blog posts along the way. The teacher will evaluate the blog posts to revise and improve future lessons.

1. A – Analyze the Learner
My class will be 8th graders, ages ranging from 12 to 14, that have general
knowledge of previous music classes. The majority of them have no knowledge
about playing the guitar at all. They will need something engaging to keep their
attention for long periods of time, as they may find the lesson boring. They will
need something from each category of learning.
S – State Objectives
My music class of eight grade students will arrange their own three chord song
using classroom guitars, hands on instruction, and a chord website by learning
the parts of the guitar, the strum-pluck-strum method, and three chords by the
end of the week with 90% accuracy.
S – Select Media and Materials
On Monday, I will begin with a video for introduction. Then, I will use hands on
methods to talk about and teach the students myself. They will each have a guitar
of their own to practice on. The students will be introduced to different things we
will be learning throughout the week through a poster that I will make and hang
on the wall. There will also be a motivation poster to hang on the wall that is
meant to make the classroom seem like a more inviting environment.
I will use a QR to lead them to a class Facebook page that they will need to
add/follow in order to get their homework assignment of blogging about their first
day of learning guitar.
U – Utilize Media and Materials
The class will be started out with my introduction video: LINK HERE
I will tell them the objective of the week, but make it simpler for them to
understand than what I have written, such as making a goal list on the Smart
Board that includes the week's to-come events.
I'll then show them diagrams, found on a poster that I made to hang in the
classroom, to teach them about the parts of the guitar (strings, frets, and how to
properly hold the guitar). I will also point their attention to the poster on the wall
that will hopefully motivate them to work harder as the week goes.
The next portion of class will be spent with the students having hands on time
with the guitars, holding them, playing with the strings, counting frets, etc., while
I walk around to supervise. I will make sure that the children are holding their
guitars properly as I do this.

2. Before in the second half of class, the students will begin work on a Web Quest
that will be finished by the end of the week. They will only participate in the
Process part of the WebQuest as the evaluation will be used to create a better
evaluation for the end of this module.
As the students leave, I will instruct them to use their cellphones, if they have
them, to take a picture of the QR code posted at the door. The QR code will lead
them to our class Facebook page which they are to follow, and which I will post
their first night's homework on.
R – Require Learner Participation
Each day that I have planned out requires the students to participate in everyday
class in order to acquire a grade. They must play their guitar and practice with
the rest of the class in order to learn their chords. They must document their
feelings of the week on their personal blog. They must create their song at the
end of the week using all of the materials that we have learned.
E – Evaluate and Revise
The Song:
The song that the students are creating must be at least 20 – 30 seconds long.
The lyrics can be about anything, do not have to rhyme, and only require
creativity. The students must use each chord at least once. The student can strum
or pluck the strings, or do both. The students will have the entire class time to
construct their own song. The following Monday will be spent on the students
performing their songs individually for the teacher, eliminating at least some of
the stage fright. While the students take turns performing for the teacher
personally the others may practice. An extra 10 minutes will be giving at the
beginning of class so that the first student to perform may have time to practice
their song.
The lyrics and chords must be written down to turn into the teacher.
Before the next Monday is over, the students must add one final entry to their
blog. This entry will be about their feelings of the lesson as a whole. Whether or
not they liked it, and why. The entry is only required to be a few sentences long.
Revising:
Throughout the week, the students have documented their feelings about the
guitar lesson in their blogs. I, as the teacher, will read these blogs and adjust my
lessons to suit the children better.