
Recorder Lesson Plan
Illinois State Standards
Anchor Standard 7 (Responding)
Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Enduring Understanding: Individuals choose music based on their interests, experiences, musical understanding, and each musical work’s purpose.
Essential Question: How do individuals choose music to experience?
Anchor Standard 8 (Responding)
Construct meaningful interpretations of artistic work.
Enduring Understanding: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
Essential Question: How do we discern the musical performers’ emotions, thoughts, and ideas?
Anchor Standard 9 (Responding)
Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Enduring Understanding: The personal evaluation of musical work(s) and performance(s) is informed by analysis, interpretation, and teacher- or student-established criteria.
Essential Question: How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?
Anchor Standard 10 (Connecting)
Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
Enduring Understanding: Musicians connect their personal interests, experiences, ideas, and knowledge to creating, performing, and responding.
Essential Question: How do musicians make meaningful connections to creating, performing, and responding?
Objectives
Students will:
- Learn the history of the recorder
- Listen to two recorder songs
- Compare and contrast recorder songs
Materials
- Computer
- Speakers
- Smartboard
- Recorders
Activities
-
Listen and Watch
2-10 minutes
“Recorder Sonata in C Major” by Handel performed by Teun & Teun on alto recorder and harpsichord (listen to all or a portion)
-
History of the Recorder
15-20 minutes
Students share what they already know about the recorder.
- The recorder is a vertical flute with an ancient history
- The recorder took its current-day form in the Renaissance (15th–16th century)
- The golden age of the recorder was in the baroque era (17th to mid-18th century)
- Almost no recorder music in the Romantic era (19th century)
- Recorders were first used in schools in Japan in 1959
- 8 different types of recorders
-
Listen and Watch
3 minutes
“All of Me” by John Legend performed by Elizabeth Postol on soprano recorder
-
Compare and Contrast
10 minutes
- Which example do you prefer and why?
- How do the examples sound similar?
- How do the examples sound different?
-
Depth Questions
15 minutes
- How do individuals choose music to experience?
- How do we discern the musical performers’ emotions, thoughts, and ideas?
- How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?
- How do musicians make meaningful connections to creating, performing, and responding?