Sing the echoes and do the movements to "Mountaintop Monster."

Discuss your class procedures with your class.
(Skip ahead if you've had several classes already.)

Make Me a Circle chant is a way to have students make a circle quickly. Chant the poem starting quietly and getting louder, then count how many beats it takes to make a circle. You might have to count higher than 10 the first time!
Each time you make a circle, use the chant and see how quickly your students can make a circle!

This game is a fun way to learn the names of the students and to get to know each other.

In this game, pat a steady beat. Pat-pat - then gesture with hands out 2 times.
When the hands go "out" you say your name.

Say names, favorite food, a sport they like, someplace they went in the summer etc.

1. Read the words of the song

If students can read rhythms and solfa, read them.

If not, teach the song by rote.

Rote Teaching:
Sing or play a phrase and have students echo.
Combine phrases and have students echo.
Sing or play the whole song and have students echo.

Watch how the kids in the video play the game "Snail Snail."

Play the game! Game Directions:
Make a line with all students holding hands; lead them into a spiral, and then lead them out. After the students know it well, they enjoy being the leader. Exaggerate the beat with your feet when singing "snail."

Print and color the pointing page.
-or-
Make your own pointing page.
Draw 8 hearts on the paper and draw snails under them.

1. Point to the hearts as you sing. (the beat)
2. Point to the snails as you sing. The snails show how the melody goes higher and lower. If you've made playdough snails, you could point and sing using your playdough snails.

Creative Ideas: Give the students packages of plastic bugs or pictures of different kinds of bugs or creepy crawlies and have them make word patterns. Use 4-8 bugs. Play the rhythm of the word chain on pitched or nonpitched instruments as an introduction or B section.

This song is good for practicing steady beat and creating movement. Introduce “Sam the Robot Man” by playing the video and asking the students to listen to the instructions that are in the song and do what it says. Have them create robot movements during the song. If this is the first time you’ve had your first grade create movement, you will want to set some boundaries for them. This is another good song for practicing keeping a steady beat.

Denise Tip: I like to show the area they are allowed to move in with a laser pointer or my pointer finger. I tell the students that there is no pushing, bumping or hitting allowed. If a student bumps into another, they have to sit out, even if it is accidental.

Sing the echoes in our closing song "The Music Time is Over."