Lesson Plan for the Elementary Class Session

Objectives:
 First graders will warm up their voices using the singing sphere. They will begin by
following Ms. Higgins and then the row who seems most ready will also use the singing
sphere to warm up.
 First graders will sing “Down By the Bay,” an echo song, to assess their long term
memory and continue to get them warmed up and singing in a group setting.
 First graders will sing “All Around the Circle” which will solidify and assess students
ability to sing SML in a solo and group setting.
 First graders will move to three different short pieces of music. Students will change their
movement based on the dynamic level they observe (piano/forte/crescendo/decrescendo).
 First graders will play the Tambourine Passing game. Students will practice skills in
losing (knowing how to act and understanding losing is okay) and working on self-
control and fine motor skills.

Standards Being Addressed:

 MU:Cr2.1.1a With limited guidance, demonstrate and discuss personal reasons for
selecting musical ideas that represent expressive intent.
 MU:Pr4.3.1a Demonstrate and describe music’s expressive qualities (such as dynamics
and tempo).
 MU:Pr6.1.1a With limited guidance, perform music for a specific purpose with
expression.

Materials of Instruction:
 Singing Sphere
 Down by the Bay – Echo Singing Book
 All Around the Circle – Curriculum book
 Dynamics Movement Activity – Curriculum book
 iTunes (tracks/music for movement activity)
 Scarves
 Tambourine
 BoomWhackers
 Piano
Lesson Sequence:
Entry Activity/Transition: T will greet students as they enter the room, giving those with good
bubbles/quiet signs a cushion to sit on in class.
T: “Hello, how are you?”
S: “Very well, thank you!”
T: “Hello first grade friends! I wanted to introduce you to my guest today, Dr. Gurgel. She will
be hanging out at my desk today. Just be careful when we do some moving around and be aware
of our space! Today we are going to start with a warm-up!”

Activity #1: First graders will warm up their voices using the singing sphere. They will begin by
following Ms. Higgins and then the row who seems most ready will also use the singing sphere
to warm up.
1. T: *uses singing sphere to model vocal pattern*
S: Echoes T using their “invisible singing sphere” to model with their hands.
T: Repeats with different vocalizes.
S: Echo until T gives students opportunity to try.
2. T: “I would like to let a row use the singing sphere who are using nice tall posture and
showing me they are ready.”
T will pick a row that was good at participating and wants to try.
Ss will take turns using the singing sphere and echoing their classmates.

Assessment: Did students participate in the warm-up? Did they sit with nice, tall
posture?Did the selected row attempt leading the warm-up? Did the students echo their
peers when the students led warm-up?
 Transition:
T: “Now we’re going to sing a song you might recognize. Do you remember ‘Down by
the Bay?’ Show me with your hands!”

Activity #2: First graders will sing “Down By the Bay,” an echo song, to assess their long term
memory and continue to get them warmed up and singing.
1. T: “Down by the bay”
S: “Down by the bay”
T: “Where the watermelons grow”
S: “Where the watermelons grow”
T: “Back to my home”
S: “Back to my home”
T: “I dare not go”
S: “I dare not go”
T: “For if I do”
S: “For if I do”
T: “My mother would say”
S: “My mother would say”
T: “Did you ever see a bear combing his hair”
All: “Down by the bay.”
2. REPEAT except last teacher line.
a. Verse 2: “Did you ever see llamas, wearing pajamas…”
b. Verse 3: “Did you ever see a whale, with a polka-dotted tail…”
c. Verse 4: “Did you ever see a bee, with a sunburned knee…”
d. Verse 5: “Did you ever see a goose, kissing a moose…”

Assessment: Did first graders remember the song? If they did not remember, did they
pick up the song after a few repeats? Did students participate?

Transition: T: “Now lets learn a new song! Listen to me sing.”

Activity #3: First graders will sing “All Around the Circle” which will solidify and assess
students ability to sing SML in a solo and group setting.

1. T will sing whole song for students.

a. “All around the circle while we play this game. When we get to you, will you sing
us your name?”
2. T will ask students to echo sing.
a. T: “Echo back to me. All around the circle.”
b. S: “All around the circle”
c. T: “While we play this game”
d. S: “While we play this game”
e. T: “When we get to you”
f. S: “When we get to you”
g. T: “Will you sing us your name?”
h. S: “Will you sing us your name?”
 3. T will repeat the process using longer phrases.
a. T: “All around the circle, while we play this game.”
b. S: “All around the circle, while we play this game.”
c. T: “When we get to you will you sing us your name?”
d. S: “When we get to you will you sing us your name?”
4. T will repeat the process with the whole song.
a. T: “All around the circle while we play this game. When we get to you, will you
sing us your name?”
b. S: “All around the circle while we play this game. When we get to you, will you
sing us your name?”
c. T: “Great singing everyone! Listen again and see what I do differently this time.
5. T will sing “All around the circle while we play this game. When we get to you, will you
sing us your name? My name’s Ms. Higgins.”
a. T: “What did I do differently?”
b. S: “You sang your name!”
c. T: “That’s right! Can you sing it back to me?”
d. S: “Your name’s Ms. Higgins”
6. T will ask students to make a circle. “Very good! Let’s make a circle! Front row come to
the edge of the rug, back row to the edge of the rug and middle row split.”
a. Students will form a circle.
7. T: “Now that we are in a circle, we are going to sing our song around the circle and then
we will have some friends sing their name. Let’s try it, starting this way (teacher motions
which way to start).”
a. S and T will sing the song, T guiding which students will sing their name and
repeat it back, and then when to sing the song again.
b. This continues until we have gone all the way around the circle.
c. T will accompany with BoomWhackers as a means to keep tonality, meter, and
proximity to the group while giving a bordun.

Assessment: Did students remember the form of the song – once through the song and
then the names of four friends? Did all the students follow directions and let the first
friend sing before singing back? Did everyone try to sing? Did everyone match pitch?
Did some sing but sing incorrectly? Take data on who sounded good and who needed
work.

Transition “My first grade friends will be back in their three lines and sitting on their
pockets in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…”

Activity #4: First graders will move to three different short pieces of music. Students will change
their movement based on the dynamic level they observe (piano/forte/crescendo/decrescendo).
Students will have the option to use scarves as props.

1. T: “Okay, first grade friends, who can tell me what dynamics are?”
a. S will give a variety of answers. I would love for a student to know the definition
but you never know what they will say.
 b. T will then explain dynamics – how loud or soft we sing or play when we make
music.
2. T: “We are going to use some scarves and move around the room based on the dynamics
we hear in the music. I’m looking for some quite answer hands to remind me the
expectations when using scarves.”
a. T will call on some students for the scarf expectations.
b. T: “When we hear loud things in the music, I want you to show me in your body –
not your mouth – that the music is loud. How could we do that?”
c. S various answers.
d. T: “And when we hear soft things in the music, I want you to show me in your
body that it is soft. How could we do that?”
e. S various answers.
f. T: “Okay, I think we are ready.” T will call up rows to get scarves.
3. T will play tracks and students will move to the various tracks.

Assessment: Were students able to recognize different dynamics? Were students able to
show the difference between loud and soft in their bodies?

Transition *IF TIME WE WILL DO THIS ACTIVITY

“Let’s make a circle one more time. Let’s see if we remember this game.”

Activity #5: First graders will play the Tambourine Passing game. Students will practice skills in
losing (knowing how to act and understanding losing is okay) and working on self-control and
fine motor skills.

1. T: “To play this game, our bodies and mouths are quiet. We will pass the tambourine
around the circle without making sound. If you mouth, body, or the tambourine make
sound, you have to sit down. We are always trying to have less and less people out every
time we play.”
2. T will pass tambourine to the right and observe, making sure everyone who should be
sitting down, does indeed sit down.
3. If time, T will start over and pass the tambourine to the left. The goal being to have less
friends sitting down this time around.

Assessment: Were students able to keep their mouths and bodies silent during our
activity? Were students able to keep the tambourine quiet? Did students go “out” well?
Did we cope with being out/losing?

Summative Assessment:
The biggest takeaways today are the success level of students singing SML intervals and singing
solo in the group setting during the circle song. This will be kept track of using a checklist and
then we will take time to work with individual students whenever possible and determine what
additional pitch related activities we should be working towards from now until the end of the
school year. Secondly, we are starting to work on learning dynamics. Seeing students move
freely while interpreting dynamics. This will shape future lessons on dynamics in the next few
weeks.