Target: Compare A’s upward contour with C’s descending return while showing that each note still lasts one beat.
Prepare: A, C, four moveable pitch-name cards.
- Launch · 2 min. Display A and C without sound. Ask what can be compared fairly when timing is identical.
- Model · 4 min. Trace A C4–D4–E4–G4 upward and C G4–G4–E4–C4 with repeated then descending motion; count four one-beat boxes in each.
- Guided looking · 5 min. Students mark the repeated G4 in C and the highest/lowest labelled pitches; they notice that “higher” here refers to pitch labels, not loudness.
- Practice route · 7 min. Learners voice, tap-plus-name or silently arrange both contours. They choose one as a closing gesture and defend it with two exact pitch transitions.
- Audit · 4 min. A partner checks the pitch order and that any felt “arrival” is labelled as a possible response. Do not infer a universal emotion.
- Exit · 3 min. Collect a two-arrow contour sketch and a sentence with evidence. Preview a deliberate gap.