Finally!  I apologize for taking so long to get the information up here.  I was having some issues with my internet at the office and I couldn't load everything, but now it is all worked out! I hope that for those of you who were able to come to training last week you found good information and some fun lessons you can use.  As always, I don't require to use anything I present, infact, I don't even expect you to use them.  But I hope that you will find something new and give it a try.  Good teaching is all about experimentation and trying new things.  That being said...Here are the lessons for you.

Beat you Walk, Rhythm you Drop

This lesson is intended to be taught to k-6 with modifications if necessary.

Standards:  Playing, Creating

Objectives: 

• Experience feeling and moving to a steady beat
• Explore beat in a variety of songs and activities using body percussion or walking.
• Recognize and respond to beat and divided beat patterns grouped in meters of 2, 4 and duple meters.
• Create a simple beat or rhythm pattern using classroom instruments.**

Supplies:  Drum or other UPP classroom instrument(s)

Tell your students you are going to play a game today called Beat you walk, rhythm you drop.  The end goal of this game is to get the students to appropriately recognize and respond to the difference between beat and rhythm.  You may want to define the difference between beat and rhythm if you have not already done so.  Here are my favorite definitions:

• Beat…Beat keeps time for us.  Like a clock or a heart or a drum.  Beat keeps time.
• Rhythm…Rhythm is what tells the story of the song.  If often sounds like the words of the song or chant or even the simple melody. 

Once the difference between the two has been stated teacher plays some different patterns on her drum and asks the students to tell her if what she is playing is a beat or a rhythm.  Once the teacher can see that the majority of students understand the game begins. 

Game:  Have the students spread out around the room.  They can walk any path they want to in the room as long as they don’t bump into anyone else and their feet stay on the floor (you might have a few more rules depending on your kiddos).  On the drum teacher plays a combination of steady beat patterns and rhythmic patterns in different meters.  Keep the meters simple to begin with and only through in a few compound meters.  Students continue to walk to the steady beat around the room as long as there is a beat being played.  Once the beat changes to a rhythmic pattern all students need to drop to the ground (not flat on the floor, but more in a crouching position).  Teacher starts up again.  Try to trick the kids by starting with a rhythm and see if they are listening. 

You can also play this game by having the last person to drop get out, but I find it hard to keep them all engaged when playing it this way. 

**For the creating objective you can have a student use the drum and take over the teacher’s job or have them play a different UPP. 

This will quickly become one of their favorite games to play and they will ask for it often.  It’s a great warm-up at the beginning of class and a great time filler at the end of class.

Will you be my Echo Friend?

*Notation will follow on another post*

This lesson is intended to be taught k-6 with modifications when needed.

 Standards: Singing, Playing, Reading, Creating

Objectives: 

• Sing simple songs appropriate for children’s voices
• Recognize pitch patterns in familiar song
• Explore beat in a variety of songs and activities using body percussion or walking.
• Understand the relationship between beat and divided beat in the creation of simple rhythm patterns.
• Recognize and respond to beat and divided beat in meters of 2 and 4
• Experience the use of pitch, rhythm, and metric icons together as a visual representation of music.
• Create simple actions or body percussion patterns to accompany familiar songs.

Process:

1. Present the visual representation of the song and have the students echo you as you sing the different segments on a neutral syllable like “loo”.   
2. Echo sing the patterns using solfege syllables.
3. Speak the rhythm mnemonics using the syllables you prefer.  (not necessary for k-2)
4. Echo sing the whole song

After students have successfully learned the song, teacher adds a four beat pattern following the song using only ta and ti-ti (can add ti-ri-ti-ri for older students).  The students echo the patterns the teacher demonstrated.  Try this a few times. 

Students can then divide into partners. 

• Everyone sings the song together.  Partner 1 creates a 4 beat pattern using ta and ti-ti and partner 2 echoes that pattern.  This happens 4 times. 
• Sing the song again and now partner 2 has the chance to create the patterns and partner 1 can echo. 
• Try this several times with new and different partners. 

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

*Notation will follow on another post*

This lesson is intended to be taught 3-6

 

Standards: Singing, Playing, Creating

Objectives:

• Develop music appreciation by experiencing a variety of folk and traditional songs.
• Develop in-tune singing through healthy use of the natural voice.
• Practice the skills of beat accuracy while singing, playing and listening.
• Practice layering various percussion and melodic instruments to accompany a song.
• Create a simple rhythmic phrases or ostinato patterns to be played against a steady beat.

Supplies:  Mostly the use of Body Percussion, but may add any UPP instruments.

 

Process:

1. Teach the song It’s Raining, It’s Pouring to the students by rote imitation.  This song uses sol, mi and la which may be a good jumping off point or review for the kids. 
2. When students are solid with the song you can start adding ostinato with body percussion.  Each ostinato added is built on a steady beat, some slow and some fast but each of them is a beat. 
3. Begin with DRIP DROP.  Have the students imitate what you are doing by using 2 fingers and clapping against your palm while saying DRIP DROP.
4. Show them PITTER PATTER by snapping your fingers and have them repeat it.
5. Show SPLISH SPLASH by stepping to the words in place.
6. Show RAIN by patting your leg and making a big circle over your head.
7. Have the students each choose one of the ostinatos to perform on their own.  Switch at least four times so everyone has the chance to perform each ostinato. 
8. Review the song and add into the ostinatos.  Now you have 5 parts and will need to keep switching. 

 

Enrichment:

If you have a class that really grabs on to this lesson and is excelling you can do a couple of other things with it. 

• Have the students choose UPP instruments to represent the sound of the ostinatos and then perform.
• Divide the students into groups with 5 students in each group.  Each student is responsible for either singing or performing and ostinato.  Then pass responsibilities around the circle. 

EX:  S1…singing the song, S2…pitter patter, S3…drip drop, S4…splish splash, S5…Rain---then pass to the right.

 

Leaf Man…Combined Music and Art Lesson

 

This lesson is intended to be taught K-6 with modifications when necessary.

 

Standards:  Singing, Playing, Creating, Reading

Objectives:

• Practice singing with sensitivity to pitch accuracy by carefully listening to self and others.
• Create a simple iconic representation of beat, meter, rhythm or PITCH.
• Engage in music activities which use iconic symbols to represent the patterns performed by the students.
• Practice moving or body percussion patterns to accompany singing activities or recorded music.

Supplies:  Leaf Man, by…., recording of wind sounds, word strips of refrain, autumn leaves.

 

Part 1

Begin by reading the book to the students.  Ask them to listen for some words that repeat.  When finished with the book, have the kids identify the refrain, or words that repeated in the book.  (A Leaf man’s got to go where the wind blows)

Have the students repeat the refrain a couple of times.  Put the word strips on the board in one single line.  Ask the students to move one word only up higher than the other words then ask them to speak the refrain using extra emphasis in the word that is higher.  Do this a few times changing words.

After the students have experienced the refrain in a speaking voice, set the pitch for sol and mi.  Practice a few patterns with the students echoing you.  (T= sol, sol, mi, sol  S=  sol, sol, mi, sol) etc.  Now have the students set one word higher than the others and sing the refrain using sol and mi with the high note set on sol.  Continue this process  so the students have the opportunity to use sol and mi many times. 

*For older students you can move more than one word at a time and make the pattern more difficult.  You can also divide the pattern into 4 beat measures or 3 beat measures and add emphasis on the strong beat to add more difficulty.*

 

Part 2

Scatter autumn leaves on the floor.  Make sure to tell the students not to pick them up.  Have the students find a leaf on the floor and stand by it.  Ask them to make their body into the shape of the leaf.  Is it sharp, is it rounded, does it lay flat on the floor?  Have them discover the shape of the leaf. Ask the students to find a new leaf and do the same thing.  Do this a few times and then ask them to work in a partnership to make the shape of a leaf. 

Pathways—If a leaf were to blow off a tree,  how would it fall?  Does it fall fast, slow, straight, curved?  Play some wind sounds on the CD and ask the students to pretend they are a leaf falling from the tree.  Find a new leaf and discover how that leaf will fall.  What does it feel like to be pulled from the tree by the wind?  Ask the students to show you the wind pulling them and then blowing them.  Play a tremolo on the BM or BX while the students are moving.  Tell them the tremolo will continue until the last leaf has touched the ground.

What does it sound like when a leaf touches the ground?  Have the students discover a sound using an UPP instrument that represents leaf falling to the ground.  Have a student play the sound each time a leaf falls.  Switch students and instruments. 

Title:	Leaf Man
Grade:	K – 6th
Davis Essentials:	Line, Movement, Organic Shape, Texture, Color, Form, Nature, Structural Lines, Repetition,
Objectives:	This lesson is designed for the student to connect literature, music and art.
Lesson Time:	Two – Three 45 minute class periods to complete whole Music/Art combination Lesson
Lesson Description:	You will have the students already have read the book by Lois Ehlert as well as have completed the music lesson based on the book. You can change the Art lessons complexity depending on the grade level and the supplies that are available. The lesson will be to recreate one of the student’s favorite scene(s) from the book using leaves (real or created).
Lesson Materials:	-          8 ½ x 5 ½ white scratch paper for notes/sketches -          9 x 12 white or colored paper for completed project -          Black Marker & Colored Markers & Crayons, other coloring media’s -          Pencils / Glue Sticks / Scissors -          Power Point or Book “Leaf Man” by Lois Ehlert -          Colored prints of various leaves or actual fresh leaves or die-cut leaves (depends on what you have available to you) -          Optional : texture plates & colored scrap paper
Instructional Steps:	Kindergarten: -          Prep: I would either have already cut out leaves such as die-cut or actual fresh leaves for them to work with. You will not have enough time for them to cut them out from a print.(if you have time you can have the class go on a nature walk and collect the leaves)   1-      Explain that you are going to create one of the animals/pictures from the book. 2-      As a class, talk about one of the animals they remember: ducks, fish, cows, man, chickens, birds, turkeys, bugs, etc. 3-      Have the class decide on one animal or maybe two animals. 4-      Pass out the large paper and have them put their name on the back. In the next part they are going to each select leaves to represent parts for the animal and they are going to lay them down on the paper, but not glue them until they like them. 5-      Use guided direction – have the students each select a leaf for the head of the animal. Once everyone has selected the head they want, have them then select a body. Talk about sizes (large, medium, small) and how it is ok if parts are bigger or smaller than other parts. 6-      Work your way through all the parts for the animal – have the students lay each part carefully on their paper without bumping the paper too much. 7-      Once the animal has all of its parts, have the students glue them all down, one at a time in the “right spots” in the middle of the paper so it still looks like an animal. (remember to remind them to glue the edges of the leaf first then the middle of the leaf so they won’t fall off) 8-      When it is all together, I would help them title the piece “Leaf ____” (insert animal name) so that the parents know what it is. On the 8 ½ x 5 ½ Scratch paper: -          Have the students discuss the elements of the book. What they saw (i.e. animals, lines, textures, words, colors, shapes, small leaves, large leaves, etc.) Have them take some notes on their papers as to which page they would like to recreate? Or what animal they would like to make out of leaves (sketch the animal using leaves). Have them talk about colors of leaves – take some notes on the leaf colors.   9 x 12 Large Paper -          If they are creating only one piece, have them add a texture to the background before creating the piece on top. -          If they are to create a whole book. One of the unique elements of the book is that the tops of the pages are not even so you can see the layered effects as you turn the page. I would have them texture each page, and then assemble the book with the layered design tops before adding the leaf animals, and designs. (this could be a group or table project if you are making a whole book)   1st – 3rd: 1-      Similar process as above but you can have them collect or create their own leaves by either giving them leaf prints to color or design first with paint/pastels/crayons/etc. I would also make them texture the background similar to the books pages. 4th – 6th: 1-      Again, same process as 1st – 3rd but have them make more than one page or even make a whole book, depending on how much time you want to spend on the project.

 

 

 

Assignment Examples: