Baltimore City Public School System
Division of Curriculum and Instruction
Office of Elementary Curriculum
MUSIC LESSON PLAN
GRADES 2-3 LESSON 1
CONTENT STANDARDS:
· The student will demonstrate the ability to perceive, perform and respond to music.
· The student will demonstrate an understanding of music as an essential aspect of history and human experience.
MATERIALS: (optional) Piano, guitar, or autoharp; Share the Music, Teacher Guides Grades K and 2
ACTIVITY 1
OBJECTIVE: Students will sing and interpret songs representative of different activities, holidays and seasons from a variety of cultures.
MOTIVATION: Teacher hums familiar song (This Little Light of Mine) and asks students to identify the song. (Share the Music, Grade 2)
PROCEDURE:
1. Teacher and class sing This Little Light of Mine either a cappella or with teacher accompaniment on piano, guitar, or autoharp.
2. Sing the song substituting students’ names around the room or the circle eg. From Leticia to Andre to Marisol, I’m goin’ let it shine, etc.
ACTIVITY 2
OBJECTIVE:
· Students will discriminate between high and low pitches at the interval of a perfect fifth.
MOTIVATION:
Teacher can say, “ This summer I had a lot of visitors. I never knew who was going to knock on my door. So I made up a song about it.
PROCEDURE:
1. Teacher sings Who’s That Tapping At the Window? and asks for substitutes to volunteer to be the person who is at the window/door. Class then sings names of classmates in answer to the question. Repeat until all names are sung. (Share the Music, Grade 2)
2. Teacher reminds students that last year they worked on identifying the difference between high and low pitches or sounds (not loud and soft) Discuss as needed.
3. Teacher assesses students’ retention of high /low discrimination by singing do-sol patterns and having students close their eyes and show the high sound by putting their hands on their heads, and the low sounds by putting their hands on their shoulders.
ACTIVITY 3
OBJECTIVES:
· Students will discriminate between rhythm and beat
Teacher can say “You did that so well, I think we should do an appreciation rhyme to show you how much I appreciate every one of you. Students are asked to use their speaking voice to say the rhyme.
PROCEDURE:
1. Teacher and students repeat: Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate?
2. Teacher indicates that s/he will ask the question, and the students will answer Tyrone
we appreciate, using each child’s name in turn around the circle/room. Children also keep a steady beat with two fingers from one hand in the palm of the other hand while saying the rhyme.
3. Teacher asks students to identify what they were demonstrating with their fingers in their palms. When this is correctly identified as the beat, the teacher asks if anyone can show the rhythm of the rhyme. If students don’t remember, the teacher can remind the students that the rhythm is the pattern of the words.
4. Students then practice saying the rhyme while patting the beat on their knees, and then while tapping the rhythm in their palms.
5. If students can do this easily, they can be divided into two groups, and one group can show the rhythm while the other group shows the beat, and then they can switch.
ACTIVITY 4
OBJECTIVES:
· Students will develop the ability to respond to musical sound through movement.
· Students will respond to directions for movement in a singing game.
MOTIVATION: The teacher can say to the children, “ This summer, the strangest thing happened to a friend of mine. She was knitting a sweater, and sitting by the window, and she dropped the ball of yarn and it rolled all the way down to the sidewalk. So she got right up on the window sill to look for it, and someone down on the sidewalk looked up at her and asked, “ Stoopin’ on the window?” so she yelled back, “Wind the ball.” And later she made up this game. ( Share the Music, Grade 4)
PROCEDURE:
1. Teach the song, Stoopin’ on the Window to the children. Have them echo each phrase and then sing the whole song with you. Be sure to emphasize the call and response aspect of the two parts.
2. Continue singing the song, but move around the room, tapping the children on the shoulder. Ask the children to follow you in the order you tapped them.
3. When all the children are in the circle, stop and remind the children that when you move in a circle, you are following someone.
4. Sing the song though while leading the children into a spiral to “wind the ball”and then out again, with the response changing to “unwind that ball.”
5. Repeat this another time. Finish by singing softer and softer and having children walk to their seats or sit down in the circle.
6. Ask the children to identify other places they could play this singing game, and to recognize that this is a singing game made up by children from the African-American tradition in the southern United States.
ACTIVITY 5
OBJECTIVE:
· The student will demonstrate an understanding of music as an essential aspect of history and human experience.
MOTIVATION: Ask the children to identify the holiday that was celebrated the day before (Labor Day) Help them identify the reason for the holiday, and tell them you have a song to sing while they listen.
PROCEDURE:
1. Sing I Live in a City, by Malvina Reynolds, while children listen.
2. Sing the song again, and have children join in on the chorus.
3. Sing the song a third time, and ask the children to try to sing the verses, reading the words written on a chart at the front of the room.
4. Ask the children to identify the different jobs described in the song.
ACTIVITY 6: Closing
PROCEDURE:
1. Ask the children to describe the activities and songs that took place in the lesson.
2. Sing Goodbye Everybody, Yes Indeed (Charity Bailey) as children line up.
( Listed as Hello Everybody in Share the Music, Grade 1)
DIFFERENTIATION/MODIFICATIONS:
· Stand near children who have difficulty focusing.
· Seat children with hearing impairment close to you.
· Have a wheel-chair bound student choose someone to help him/her participate in the singing game if need be.
· Repeat rhymes or songs more slowly or more often.
· Make frequent eye contact with students.
ASSESSMENT
Teacher informal assessment of students’ ability to:
1. Keep a steady beat while saying a rhyme
2. Discriminate between rhythm and beat.
3. Discriminate between high and low sounds in the context of perfect fifth.
4. Respond appropriately to movement directions in a singing game or folk dance.
The following rubric can be used if the teacher wishes to record the assessment:
0= The student does not participate
1= The student participates, but cannot perform the task
2= The student performs the task sporadically
3= The student performs the task consistently
CURRICULAR LINKAGES:
Language Arts:
· Developing phonemic awareness through saying rhymes
· Identifying question and answer
Social Studies:
· Understanding the purpose of Labor Day
Physical Education/Dance:
· Learning to move appropriately in a circle and spiral form
Music, Grades 2-3, Lesson 1 Page 3 of 3