This summary provides an overview of a document describing a music education unit on work songs taught at the Charlotte M. Murkland Elementary School in Lowell, Massachusetts. The unit has four lessons focused on helping students understand what work songs are and their purposes. Formative assessments evaluate students' ability to maintain rhythm during work movements and answer questions. A pre-and post-assessment use multiple choice questions to measure learning. The goal is for students to sing work songs while creating synchronized work movements. Work songs connect to American history by representing railroad, field, and sea songs. Assessment data will analyze learning across classes and consistency in instruction.

1. 1
Contextual Factors
Lowell,MA is the 4th largest city inMassachusetts behind Boston,
Worcester,and Springfield. It is locatedinthe Middlesex County of MA and
borders towns such as Chelmsfordto the west, Billerica to the south, Tewksbury
to the east, and Tyngsboro/Dracut to the north. Lowell was incorporatedas a
townin 1826 with a population of 2, 500 people. Today Lowell’s average
populationis 106, 519 people (according to the 2015 census)1. Historically,
Lowell was the cornerstone of the AmericanIndustrial Revolution. Many of
Lowell’s oldmills andfactories have been preserved as historic museums as well
as many historic parks in Lowell.
Many diverse races surround Lowell. 60% of its populationis Caucasian,
20% is Asian and 17% is LatinAmerican. 2Lowell does have the second largest
Cambodianpopulation inthe UnitedStates. The median household income for a
single resident inLowell is $39, 192 and $45,901 for a family. Lowell does have
a 5.3% unemployment rate with 17% of its people living below poverty.
3Although Lowell had a history of violent andnon-violent crimes inthe early
2000’s, its crime rate has declined10% in the past year.
The city of Lowell has several schools. There is 1 high school,8 middle
schools, 15 elementary schools,and 4 alternative schools. I was able to conduct
my Teacher Work Sample at the Charlotte M.MurklandElementary School.
There are 17,075 students in the Lowell Public Schools,however the Murkland
School welcomes 514 students. This school is locatedinthe “Acre” sectionof
Lowell. This sectionof Lowell is heavily poluatedwith Cambodianand Indian
1 https://suburbanstats.org/population/massachusetts/how-many-people-live-in-
lowell.
2 http://www.lowell.com/city-of-lowell/demographics/
3 http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_28475348/crime-rate-still-going-
down-lowell

2. 2
residents. 4This school is diverse with 52% of the students as Asian, and 30%
Hispanic. 10% of its students are Caucasian and 3% AfricanAmerican. 36% of
the students at the Murklandare English Language Learners while 45% of the
students enrolledspeak another language. 67% of the students enrolledat the
Murklandcome from economically disadvantagedhomes. However,the school
does offer free breakfast/lunch services,free medical visits from licensed
physicians,after school educational activities,free clothes and tutoring.
The Murklandis just like a typical Elementary School with bright colors,
cheerful artwork,cartoondrawings, motivational posters etc. The Murkland
School has a simple acronym that they follow:CHEER. 5This stands for
Commitment to growth,Hope, Expectation,Energy and Enthusiasm, and Results
(CHEER). Their missionstatement is clear and is directedtowards student
growth. One part of their missionstatement that stands out is their last
sentence, “To this end, we strive to listento and understand one another, take risks
and reflect onwhat we've learned, and share ownershipof the outcomes”. This seems
reflective since more thanhalf of their students are ELL.
My CooperatingPractitioner sees eachgrade (K-4) everyday, and 3rd and 4th
grade chorus on Fridays. There is a 5-minute break in between classes. The
classroom teacher usuallydrops off and picks up their students. The onlytime we
escort students is to 2nd grade lunch. The CooperatingPractitioner has two daily
duties: breakfast duty and bus duty. During breakfast duty we conduct recorder
lessons for students who want extra help. After school, we make sure students get on
to their assignedbusses safely.
4
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/profiles/student.aspx?orgcode=01600080&orgtypeco
de=6&
5
http://murkland.lowell.k12.ma.us/pages/Charlotte_M__Murkland_Elementa/About_
_Us_/Mission

3. 3
The classroom is verywelcoming. It has separate working stations inher
room for drums, xylophones, and recorders. She also has a set of choral risers for her
Friday choruses. There is a big rug with yellow, blue, purple, and greentape around
each side. Students are assigned to sit on certainparts of the rug. Students typically
come into the classroom andgo right to their spots. The room also has a hanging
projectorscreenandprojector to displaysonglyrics, music, pictures, videos, or sheet
music. The most interestingpart of the room is collectionof traditional Cambodian
instruments. 6The curriculum inplace at the Murkland School is the John Feierabend
Method. The end result of this methodis for students to become “tuneful, beatful, and
artful” in terms of their musical education.
There is a clear plan and set of routines employedclassroom management.
The CooperatingPractitioner has a list of student’s names pertaining to their class. If
a student misbehaves, they need to place a yellowclothespinontheir name. This is a
reminder for the student to change their behavior. If the student continues to
misbehave, then theywould place a purple clothespinontheir name and fill out a
“purple reflectionsheet”. On this sheet the student needs to sit off to the side and
either write two sentences about what theywere doing and what they should have
done differently, or draw 2 pictures;one of their misbehavior and the other of what
they should have been doing. A parent signature is requiredonthis sheet. If the
student refuses, thenthey get a redclothespinontheir name and get sent to the
Principles office.
6 Fierabend, John. First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond Curriculum.

4. 4
Learning Goals
For my Teacher WorkSample I decided to use the Monday’s, Wednesday’s,
and Thursdays 4th Grade class. The overarchinggoal is: for the student to understand
what work songs are and their purposes. This unit will consist of four lessons, two
formative assessments, anda pre/post assessment (see appendix).
The goal of the first lessonis for the students to be able to understand what a
work song is and why theywere used. To supplement this lesson I have provided
video clips of actual work song being done so the students can see how they are
carriedout. The goal of the secondlessonis for the students to be able to do a work
movement at a steady beat while listento a work song. The goal of the third lessonis
for the students to be able to create, initiate and sustaina movement while keeping a
steady beat. The goal for the last lessonis for the students to be able to sing a work
song while creating, initiating, and sustaining a work movement.
I have included specific state standards, which are aligned with eachlesson.
They are from the Music sectionof the Massachusetts Arts Frameworks. I am
focusingonsection5 of the Massachusetts Music Frameworks, which is the critical
response section. 7The frameworks being used are: Perceive, describe, andrespondto
basic elements of music, includingbeat, tempo, and form (5.1), use of appropriate
terminologyindescribingmusic, voices, and music performance (5.3), and respond
through purposeful movement to selectedprominent music characteristicsor to
specific music occurrences while singingor listeningto music (5.5).
7 http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/arts/1099.pdf.

5. 5
I chose worksongs with hopes of connectingthis subgenre of music with
American Folk History. Many students in the Murkland School are not from the
United States and may be unfamiliar with American history. This unit couldbe used
as an interdisciplinarytopic betweenMusic and Social Studies. I chose three
different types of worksongs: railroadsongs, fieldsongs, and seashanties. Each type
of work song I touchupon comes from ahistoric time of Americanhistory. I am also
challenging the students to think about how work was carriedout before machines.
One personcouldnot do the work alone, suchas liftingheavy equipment, hammering
spikes in the ground, or pulling heavy ropes;it tookseveral people. These work songs
helped keepthe workers in sync with each other, as well as generate a sense of
teamwork. If one personslackedoff, the whole work would be affected. I want these
students to take that idea and apply it to today.

6. 6
Assessment Plan
This unit is comprised of two formative assessments and one summative
assessment. The summative assessment is a culminating multiple-choice
worksheet, which replicates the pre-assessment (locatedin Appendix section).
The pre-assessment (like the post-assessment) consists of six multiple-
choice questions. I triedto make this questionnaire as harmless as possible;
with many pictures and wordart. To analyze the data efficiently,I createda
rubric for the pre/post assessment results. Includedon this rubric is the class
that took the pre-and post-test,the date, number of students, and the percentage
of correct andincorrect number of responses per question. I also included on
each rubric the percentage of students who would have passed and not passed.
To receive a passing score the student must get four out of six answers correct.
Bar and Pie charts supplement this data (See Appendix).
There are two formative assessments inthis unit. I have a rubric for the
first formative assessment while the secondformative assessment does not.
The first formative assessment was wither or not the students couldmaintaina
steady beat while creating, initiating,and sustaining a work movement. A rubric
was used to assess students individually (See Appendix). The last formative was
a ticket to leave. I displayed1question on the projector andeach person had to
answer the question ona piece of paper and hand it to me before they left.

7. 7
At the end of my data collection,I will be analyzing using two different
methods. The first methodis comparing the post-assessments results with
Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays classes. I will also be analyzing the results
based on wither or not classes met consistently or encounteredbreaks.
Table 1 – Assessment Table
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
Introduction
to Work Songs.
Formative
Assessment Q
and A
Formative
Assessment
Movement
Activity
Formative
Assessment
Ticket to Leave
Post-
Assessment

8. 8
Design For Instruction
The pre-assessment for this unit was with Monday’s, Wednesdays, and
Thursdays 4th grade classes. Each class did the same activities,completedthe
same worksheets and was assessed the same. I didnot call this pre-assessment a
test of any kind in front of the students. Instead, I referred to it as a
questionnaire. This relaxed the students a bit. I explained that at the end of the
unit, they should be able to answer these questions with a better understanding
of what a work song it. I reassured the students that this worksheet wouldnot
be graded and that it will not affect their final grade for the class.
Each class had 22 students; so 66 students took the pre-assessment. To
meet the expectationthe students needed to get four out of six questions correct,
which is a score of 67% or higher. After analyzing the results 55 students would
not have met the expectationwhile only 10 students wouldhave met
expectation. This amount adds up to 86% not meeting the expectationand 15%
meeting the expectation. 5 Students receiveda perfect score.(Statistics and
student work in Appendix Section)
It is clear that the students who took this pre-assessment would benefit
from this lesson. 77% of the students chose wrong answers for question 1, 64%
chose wrong for question2, 70% chose wrong for question 3, 67% chose wrong
for question 4, 21% chose wrong for question 5 and 85% chose wrong for
question 6. (graphs inAppendix Section.

9. 9
This unit will have a combinationof moving activities,listening activities,
and singing activities. The first activity involvedthe students listening and
watching video clips of actual people performing work songs on a ship, a
railroad,and on a field. We discussed what we saw in each clip. The next two
activities involvedcreating movements withina specific work song. For the
second activity we listenedto I’ve Been Working on the Railroad andas a class we
came up with two different types of working motions that could be done ona
railroad. We then practicedthese movements insmall groups and/or pairs. The
thirdlesson was similar except instead of coming up with movements as a class;
each group got an index card with a type of work done on a ship and they had to
create the movement while listening to the Sea Shanty Cape Cod Girls. This
compliments learning goal 1. Each student was being assessed during this
activity. The last activity involves singing a call and response type work song,
Down by the Riverside while moving to a steady beat. This compliments learning
goal 2.
The technology usedwas similar for each activity. I primarily usedmy
Mac Book Computer,the classroom projector andthe classroom audio speakers.
For our first activity,I didmake a PowerPoint with different video clips. I
obtained these video clips from YouTube. I used these video clips as a visual
example of work songs. The students couldsee how actual work songs were
conducted. This helped them make the connectionbetweenwhat a work song is
and why they were created.

10. 10
Table 2 – Unit Overview
Lesson Goal Framework (s) Assessment Materials Activity
Lesson 1 For the students
to be able to
understand the
various actions
involved in
older work
songs.
5.1, 5.3 Can the students
understand what
work song is?
Mac Computer,
Projector,
Work Song
slide show.
Watching video
clips of actual
works songs.
Analyzing what
we see in the
clip.
Lesson 2 For the students
to be able to
move to a
steady beat
while listening
to work songs.
5.5 What is a work
song and what
were they used
for?
Mac Computer,
projector, I’ve
Been Working
on the Railroad
Listening to I’ve
Been Working
on the Railroad
while
replicating
work done on
railroads.
Lesson 3 For each
student to
create, initiate,
and sustain to a
movement at a
steady beat.
5.5 Can the students
create, initiate
and sustain to a
movement at a
steady beat?
Mac computer,
projector,
index cards,
Cape Cod Girls.
Creating
movements for
work done on
ships while
listening to a
sea shanty.
Lesson 4 For the students
to be able to
sing the
response in a
work song.
1.1, 5.5 Can the students
sing the
response in a
work song?
Mac computer,
projector,
Down by the
Riverside.
Learning the
response
portion to a
Call and
Response work
song.

11. 11
Instructional Decision – Making
The first day of the unit providedme with some instructional decision-
making. After the pre-assessment I had planned on showing the students some
video clips of what work songs actually were and how they were done. The first
clipI showed the class was a clipof Gandy Dancers. Gandy Dancers were the
names of railroadworkers in the early 20th century. The class seemed engaged
during this clipof Gandy Dancers moving railroadtracks. My secondclip
however was not working. It was a clip using still art drawings of workers ona
ship with a Sea Shanty melody inthe background. I thought it would catch their
attentionbut unfortunately it didnot. The remaining example of a group of
people singing while hoeing dirt also showed much interest.
Luckily,a student raised their hand and asked if the Ice Worker Song from
Disney’s Frozen is a work song. Since I was not familiar with that song I toldthe
student I would look it upand give her an answer next week. The Ice Worker
Song is a perfect example of a Sea Shanty. I immediately took out the clipI chose
for a Sea Shanty and replacedit with the Frozen example. I was able to use the
Frozenexample for the remaining two classes. Each class was able to enjoy this
clipand recognize the scene. They immediately made a connectionwith this
song and a work song.
Another instance was during the second lesson. My original idea for the
second lesson was for us to practice the railroadmovements as a class. I would

12. 12
ask one student to demonstrate and then the whole class. When I triedthis, most
of the class did not participate.
Fortunately, the Cooperating Practitioner andI discussed this activity and
we came up with another way to run the activity.Insteadof having a student
demonstrate, I would demonstrate several potential work movements. Then, I
wouldask the class to quickly partner up and chose 1 movement to practice
while I play the recording again. After the time was up, I couldpick a couple of
groups to share. This way the students would be independent when practicing
these movements. When I triedthis in Thursdays class (no school on
Wednesday that week) it workedmuch better than Mondays lesson.
I tried something new at the end of the third lesson for the Thursday class.
The lesson was designed much like our second lesson, but instead us practicing the
work movements together, I gave multiple groups specific roles and they had to
create, initiate and sustain the movement while being assessed. This worked well
for Monday’s class. For Thursday I decided that after the assessment, anyone who
wanted to switch movements could, or join another group’s movement. This
generated a lot of interest with each student and everyone was very engaged as the
lesson ended.