Into to Ukulele Lesson Plan
(adapted from Madeline Hunter, 1994)
I.
Class Information
A. 9th Grade / World Music / Hawaiian Music / Introduction to the Ukulele
B. 50 minutes
II.
Objective(s)
A. Giving 10 questions on a worksheet after reading about the history of the ukulele,
the student will answer the questions with 90% accuracy.
a. ILS 27.B.4c
B. Giving 10 parts of the ukulele, students will be able to identify them with 80%
accuracy.
a. ILS 25.B.4c
C. Students will learn how to hold the ukulele and play a C chord on their ukulele.
There is no percent accuracy for this objective.
a. ILS 26.A.4c
III.
Materials
A. Ukuleles (one per student) and make sure they are in tune before class,
projector/SmartBoard, worksheets, video of ukulele playing,
B. My ideas, and worksheet text from Mainland Ukes at
http://www.mainlandukuleles.com/history.html
IV.
Procedure
A. Review (2 minutes or less)
1. In other units we looked at music from different cultures. I will ask the
students what cultures we have learned about, such as African drumming, Indonesian
Gamelan, and maybe others. Have them get their minds remembering what we have done in
this world music class. Tell the students For this new unit we will be learning about Hawaiian
music, specifically looking at the Ukulele, we even get to learn how to play them as a class.
We will be beginning this new unit.
B. Anticipatory Set
1. Here I will put students into groups and have them fill out the first two parts of
a KWL chart filling out what they already know about the ukulele and Hawaiian music. Then
after that they will then fill out what they want to know in the few weeks of ukulele playing.
This will get students actively engaged in their learning and I can incorporate what they want
to learn in future lesson plans. They will not fill out the last section, learned, because they
can fill this part out in the end of the unit and see what they have learned compared to what
they already knew and wanted to learn. During this section play videos of ukulele music for
the class to listen to.
D. Lesson Objective and Rationale
a. As a class we will learn about the history of the Ukulele and have a
worksheet and hope to get 9/10 of them correct. This is to get a good
background of the style of music.
b. As a class we will also identify parts of the ukulele and know at least 8 of the
parts. This will help in teaching how to play once they learn the vocabulary.
c. We will also learn to play a C chord on the ukulele today so we can
eventually play full songs.
D. Instructional Input
1. Collect KWL chart, ask students what they wrote down to what they already
know about Hawaiian music and what they want to learn.
2. Tell students the Lesson Objectives and Rational, see Part C
3. First students will take notes on the history of Hawaiian music. This
information will be on the PowerPoint and review how Hawaii may be part of the U.S. but
how their culture is still unique and has features unique to their state.
4. Here you will show the students the ukulele explaining that it is the most
popular instrument of Hawaiian folk music. Here introduce the parts of the ukulele, including
head, tuners, nut, neck, fretboard, frets, body, bridge, sound hole, fret markers. Explain that
they will find these on their ukuleles as well.
E. Checking for Understanding
1. Why did Hawaii join the U.S.?
2. Where does the name,Ukulele, come from?
3. How many countries used this instrument?
4. How many strings does it have?
F. Guided Practice
1. Now students will get ukuleles. They will have to check them out one at a
time, but before that they will review parts of the instrument. Say frets and tell them to point
to that part of the instrument. Continue this in that manner.
2. Also switch the order around pointing to a part of the instrument and asking
for the name.
3. Have a student come up and lead a game of Simon Says, but with ukulele
parts. Simon says touch the strings, simon says strum, turn the tuners, oh look youre
out! And etc.
4. Informally assess the students until the class as a whole can recall 8 of the
10 different parts of the ukulele.
5. Also as a group teach them how to properly hold the instrument. Neck in the
left hand, and the body of the instrument in your right hand. Then to strum the strings use the
side of your RH index finger nail. Do not strum very hard, its a small instrument and broken
strings are hard to replace. Then to change the pitch show students how to play a C chord by
on the string closest to the ground (a string) on the third fret and then strum and a chord
should play.
6. Walk around and help students get this chord and encourage them to
experiment with strumming and playing different rhythms.
G. Independent Practice
1. Next while students fill out instrument check out information with the teacher
the rest of the students will work on worksheets reviewing material, including the reading
comprehension portion. Students will read about the history of Hawaiian music and the
ukulele and answer multiple choice questions based on the reading.
2. Tell all students that if they have questions to come and ask if needed. This
is universal design, not just Jack can ask questions, but all students should feel free to ask
questions.
3. Students will have the rest of the period to finish the worksheet or complete
the assignment for homework.
V.
Closure
A. Now that youve all gotten familiar with the history of this culture and this
instrument, tomorrow we can begin playing more than just one chord.
B. We will learn more chords tomorrow as well as how to tune the instrument and
make sure the strings play the correct notes.
C. Make sure the finish the worksheet or check your answers and turn them in
tomorrow.
VII.
Evaluation
A. Student Evaluation
Students will be evaluated formally in their worksheet/homework based on how many
questions they answer correctly. I will also informally evaluate students when learning the
parts of the ukulele observing whether or not students are getting the correct answer and
improving the number of correct responses. I also want to make sure each student can play
a C chord and hold the ukulele correctly. I will go around and check that each student has
done this skill.
B. Teacher Evaluation
1. I think my plan does a good job at reaching students at different levels and
different ways that they learn. Students get to listen for the material, read a text describing
the material, as well as getting to experiment with the hands on aspects of this lesson. This
lets all students in the class be successful at some part of the lesson. Students get to work in
groups, individually, and learn as a whole class as well.
2. I think my plan would be hard for a non-music person to teach. I could have
been more specific in the steps of the lesson. Several parts of it depend on student
responses and participation.
VIII.
Accommodations
For this lesson we have Jack, a student with and IEP in my class. His reading level
needs to be lowered and that is why he has a different worksheet with a different article. He
is still tested on the same material and content. He also requires longer for exams and tests,
but this lesson does not use a test. He also is able to speak essay questions but this lesson
does not include essay questions and follows universal design.
