SAMPLE UNIT PLAN

Included on this page is a sample 2-week unit plan for a high school level music composition/theory course; the plan's main objective is exploring modern East Asian music composition techniques by focusing on notable Japanese composers from the 20th-21st century. Every day of the plan includes a sequenced objective and relevant activities to meet the objectives that eventually culminates in students composing an original melody influenced by traditional Japanese melodic structure and scales; students will additionally learn a supplemental introduction to the culture of the music studied in this unit by observing cultural traditions that apply these musical conventions, cross-examined with students' prior understanding of music from the Western Eurocentric perspective. This unit plan demonstrates attention to long-term sequencing of learning activities, planning for varied instructional and learning experiences (including collaborative and self-guided exploratory activities for students), awareness of the social and cultural contexts of music studied in the unit, and objective design conducive to developing consistent measures of assessment. (InTASC 2-3, 5-8)