Zoltán Kodály: "Viennese Musical Clock" from Háry János Suite

Rondo Form: Grades 4-5
Cross-Disciplinary Lesson Plans

Rondo Form - Patterns in Music
Sort or identify objects on multiple attributes (from test - size, shape, and shading - this can be spun out into the musical form of Rondo and how it is achieved)

Objective
Students will be able to identify the different parts of a rondo using the example of Kodály's "Viennese Musical Clock."

Materials
Recording of "Viennese Musical Clock"
Large Flash Cards 4 - "A", 1 of each B,C,D

Lesson Plan:

1. Have students listen to the music.

• Did they hear anything that repeated?
• Yes - let's call that "A"

2. Listen again - stand up when they hear "A" - sit on different melody

• How many times did we stand up? - 4
• Put the four "A" cards up on the wall with space between them

3. Listen for the in-between music.

• Is it the same or different?
• Place the B,C, and D cards

4. This is called Rondo Form

• It is a way of writing music that has one part that keeps coming back the same.
• Your pattern should look like: A B A C A D A

Math and Music: More Patterns- Find the Rule

Use patterns to make generalizations and predictions through:

1. Determining a rule and identifying missing items in a sequence
2. Identifying missing elements in a pattern and justifying their inclusion

Objective A
Students will be able to find the rondo pattern and determine it be a rule. Using this rule, they will put objects into the given pattern.

Objective B
Students will use found objects from the classroom to finish a given rondo fragment.

Materials
Recording of Kodály's "Viennese Musical Clock"
Recording of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht-musik, 2nd movement

Lesson Plan:

1. Students are to listen to "Viennese Musical Clock" and then determine what the rondo pattern is in the music.

2. Students are then to create the rondo with objects from around the classroom.

3. Students are then instructed that they will listen to different rondo. They are to determine if this rondo has the same pattern or a different pattern than the first one.

• Recording of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht-musik.
• You will need the second movement -It is an ABACA rondo.

4. Students then create the new rondo - an ABACA rondo.

1. They are to conclude that all rondos are not the same.
2. The rule that "A" separates different parts is consistent.

Math and Music - Graphing the Rondo Form
Collect data, create a table, picture graph, bar graph, circle graph, or line graph and use them to solve application problems.

Objective
Students will put the ABACADA Rondo into a bar graph.

Materials
Rondo Table worksheet grade 4-5

Lesson Plan:

Students should be seated and each has four crayons and their worksheet. Students will color the worksheet to create a rondo graph. This can be done as a class activity or on an individual basic to create an evaluation.

Zoltan Kodaly - the man behind the music

• Constructing / Analyzing meaning with nonfiction selections
• Analyze the text, examining, for example, author's use of comparison and contrast, cause and effect, or fact or opinion.

Objective
Students will complete the given worksheet after hearing the biography for Zoltán Kodály.

Materials
Student Biography for Zoltán Kodály
Worksheet for Zoltán Kodály
Worksheet Teacher Key

Lesson Plan:

Teacher gives each of the students the worksheet and the biography. This is a reading assignment.

Zoltan Kodaly - Hungarian Music Education

Citizenship Learning Objective: Identify a significant individual from a region of the world other than North American and discuss cause-and-effect relationships surrounding a major event in the individual's life.

Objective
Students will discuss Kodály's life and influence on music education. They will also examine how Kodály's ideas influence their own music education.

Materials
Kodály's student biography
Kodály 101
Rhythm syllables and notation chart

Lesson Plan:

1. Read Kodály's biography with the students. (Link to biography)

2. Discuss Kodály's influence and guidance of the educational system in Hungary and its ongoing influence around the world.

3. Discuss musical ideas and approaches that you use in class that are part of the Kodály approach to music education.

1. Rhythmic notation - "Ta" and Ti-ti", etc.
2. Hand signs
3. Folksongs
4. Singing in class.

Kodaly and his use of technology - the tape recorder

Science Outcome: Identify the positive / negative impact of technology on human activity.

Objective
Students will use a tape recorder to record songs and to listen to other students' songs. They will learn how to make an audible recording of a song. They will learn why the proper recording equipment is important.

Materials
Several handheld tape recorders and cassette tapes

Lesson Plan:

1. Students need to be divided into groups. Each group is given a tape recorder and a cassette tape.

2. The class is taught how to make a tape recording. Each group is then assigned a topic to discuss on their tape. They are to make the best possible recording - sound effects, music, and speaking voices should be accounted for. They need to assign one member to be the "recorder." This is a cooperative activity. Everyone must be assigned a job and this list needs to be written down. Another class will judge which recording is best based on the clarity and performance quality of the recording.

1. How to assign jobs
2. Talents among the group.
3. What qualities make a good recording?
4. What can other people learn from their recording?

3. Discuss how Kodály traveled around his country recording folksongs.

1. What did he need?
2. Was his tape recorder better or worse than ours?
3. Why was it important to record the folksongs?

4. By analyzing these folksongs he was able to draw conclusions about how folksongs were made and how basic singing skills are developed.

1. What could he learn about the people who sang the folksongs?
2. What could he learn about the life the people led from these folksongs?

Folksongs were written about daily life. By learning what the songs were about, he would then learn about the people from that area of the country.

5. Discuss the recording of music today.

1. Recording studio equipment vs. classroom equipment.
2. How a CD is made.

Zoltán Kodály Links