Partners with the teaching profession - Pioneers in Learning

Grazeley Parochial Primary, Reading - Notate Case Study

Thanks to Fiona Greer, Year 5 and 6 Teacher

Why did you choose Notate?

I saw it demonstrated and heard about it in the Local Authority. I liked its simplicity, particularly the drag and drop method of choosing pitch – simpler than Noteworthy, which I am already using.

Who is using Notate?

At the moment, Year 5 and 6, but I intend to extend its use to younger children, as year 5 and 6 have found it so easy to learn to use.

What curriculum areas and /or objectives does Notate support in your school/organisation?

At the moment we are using Notate within Music and ICT.

Music

Notate fits into parts of all the QCA units
It enables children to attain the National Curriculum

2b Explore, choose, combine and organise musical ideas within musical structures.
3a Analyse and compare sounds.
3c Improve their own and others' work in relation to its intended effect.
4b How the combined musical elements of pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and silence can be organised within musical structures [for example, ostinato] and used to communicate different moods and effects.
4c How music is produced in different ways [for example, through the use of different resources, including ICT and described through relevant established and invented notations.
5a Knowledge, skills and understanding through a range of musical activities that integrate performing, composing and appraising.
5c Knowledge, skills and understanding through working on their own, in groups of different sizes and as a class.

ICT

QCA unit 3b (manipulating sound)
QCA Unit 6a (multimedia presentations)

3b To be sensitive to the needs of the audience and think carefully about the content and quality when communicating information.
4a Review what they and others have done to help them develop their ideas.
4c Talk about how they could improve future work.

In your opinion, does Notate support the development of learners’ higher order skills such as thinking and problem solving skills?

Yes, the children need to make creative decisions about their work and think clearly to solve problems about the effects they are creating. They are considering and discussing the effect of their choices, judging and analysing their work and thinking critically to evaluate the final result.

What do pupils think about Notate?

When I told them they were going to use the computers to create music there was a mixed reaction. Once I had demonstrated it, they were immediately enthusiastic. They found it fun and simple to use at different levels. They were proud of their work.

How has Notate supported your effective teaching?

I can demonstrate and change rhythms quickly and clearly. The class can share, discuss and modify their work at the whiteboard, without losing their original ideas. I can quickly and easily use the pupils’ work to create backing tracks for recorder and guitar playing and singing. I can also use it on the whiteboard for class recorder and percussion playing.

How would you say Notate enhances learners’ experience?

It has allowed children to create more complex rhythms and melodies than they could otherwise do, due the limitations of their musical skill and availability of instruments. Playing with the program has improved their understanding of how tunes and rhythms are built up. Their understanding and reading of music is also improving.

Major successes resulting from Notate

1. Project: Backing tracks for class recorder playing.

2. Backing music for film.

What the pupils did:

1. All the children have been able to create 2-4 part percussion rhythms to use as backing for our recorder playing, including children with SEN, who were delighted with the outcome. Differentiation has been achieved by using the choices available, allowing the more able or knowledgeable to use more complex rhythms and they also included pentatonic melodies.

2. Some more able children are creating a composition to accompany a short film. They are experimenting with texture by choosing different instruments and considering the mood and effect of the music.

What you did?

Demonstrated how to use the software on the interactive whiteboard. Allowed the children the time and freedom to experiment with their own ideas.
Wrote some of the melodies for the children to play with their backing tracks
Discussed and helped edit, import and present the music.

What objectives were achieved and how were they assessed?

Project 1

Objectives:

To enjoy the experience of creating their own music.
To create simple rhythmic patterns and to combine them to create a more complex composition.
To use ICT to alter pitch, rhythm and instrumentation.
To work together and rehearse to create a final performance.
Compose simple melody that can be played on recorders, possibly accompanied by guitars.

All the objectives were achieved to varying degrees by all of the children. They were assessed by:

Listening to the children talking about their work.
Listening to and looking at the compositions.

Project 2 (more able group)

Objectives:

To compose a piece of music to accompany a short film. It should be cheerful and lively and contain enough variety to sound interesting.

A group of able children were set a challenge to produce a 2 part melody 8 or 16 bars long. The really enjoyed listening to the harmonies they produced and experimenting with how notes sounded together. They also learnt about repeating patterns that they could see as well as hear. They experimented with instrumentation and I heard some very interesting and thoughtful conversations about the different sounds and textures.

Assessment

Listening to the children talking about their work
Listening to and looking at the compositions
Watching the completed film

Future plans for using Notate:

Children can create music to use in multimedia presentations.
Further compositions in contrasting moods to accompany animated films, photographs and poetry.
More backing tracks.
Creating melodies to given lyrics.
Compositions played by the computer combined with live instruments.
Younger children using it to begin to create their own rhythms and melodies.

Quotes:

Children:

“Easy to have more than 1 instrument playing at the same time.”

“Easy to make your own tunes.”

“I liked being able to include a percussion beat to go with my tune.”

Teacher:

“Many children in the class, including some less able and others normally unenthusiastic about music, have been asking when they can use Notate again as they want to extend their compositions. I look forward to using it again with them. We all had fun!”