Kindergarten Lesson 35
StartBeat, Melodic Direction (high-middle-low)Themes(s):
Animal Songs, Seasons, Garden, Spring, Eras in Music, Romantic, Careers
Extra Details:
Grades
Curriculum Links
Holidays
Learning Module Category
Introduction
In this lesson, you will:
- Sing the “Hello Song”
- Keep the beat with body percussion
- Create your own body percussion
- Teach “Skateboard Rider”
- Sing and do the movements with “Skateboard Rider”
- Teach “See Saw”
- Point to the high and low notes in “See Saw”
- Learn the movements for “See Saw”
- Do the movements while singing “See Saw”
- Listen to the “See Saw” story
- Teach “Uptown Zoo”
- Listen to “The Elephant” from “Carnival of the Animals”
- Move to “The Elephant” from “Carnival of the Animals”
- Teach “Fireman”
- Learn the clapping game with “Fireman”
- Go on a hunt for higher and lower pitches
- Review “Listen to the Water”
- Review “Watch Our Garden Grow”
- Sing and move to “Skinnamarink”
Extensions:
Objectives
- I can sing, move and play along with music.
- I can create movement to music.
Teaching Procedures
Sing the "Hello Song"
Copy LinkKeep the beat with body percussion
Copy LinkDo the body percussion that's shown in the video.
Create your own body percussion
Copy LinkCut out the 8 cards given in Supporting Resources, or draw your own.
Use them to create 4-beat or 8-beat body percussion patterns.
If students can't snap yet, tell them to "rub" their thumb and 3rd finger together, or leave out the snap.
Teach “Skateboard Rider”
Copy LinkMake up movements to go with the song.
When the skateboard moves, pretend to keep your balance on the board.
Sing and do the movements with “Skateboard Rider”
Copy LinkTeach “See Saw”
Copy LinkTeach the song. Have each student take a partner and see saw back and forth to the beat as they sing. Then have the pairs of students show how the notes go up and down with joined hands. The stronger students will help the weaker ones identify the higher and lower notes. If you have a stretchy band, you could have the entire class show how the notes go higher and lower together. You could create a game of it. Sing the song and show how the notes go higher and lower, then call out a color. The children holding on to that color run under and switch places. Repeat.
This is also a good song for having students distinguish beat and rhythm. Pat the beat. Clap the rhythm, or the way the words go. You could have some students play the “words” on sandpaper blocks while another group pats the beat. Enlarge the chart given below and clap the words. If there is one sound on a beat, draw one line in the heart. If there are two sounds on the beat (up and) draw two lines in the heart. The students could do this activity with popsicle sticks on foam or felt hearts as you model it. If they are very successful with this activity, label one sound on a beat as being “ta” and two sounds on a beat “ti-ti.” (or use your preferred rhythm names)
Point to the high and low notes in “See Saw”
Copy LinkLearn the movements for “See Saw”
Copy LinkDo the movements while singing “See Saw”
Copy LinkListen to the “See Saw” story
Copy LinkTeach “Uptown Zoo”
Copy LinkPlay the video for the song "Uptown Zoo".
Can you dance along with the music?
Can you play along with the music?
Can you play and dance?
Listen to “The Elephant” from “Carnival of the Animals”
Copy LinkWhat animals were there in the "Uptown Zoo" song?
Listen to "The Elephants" from "Carnival of the Animals".
Do the elephants move slow or fast?
Move to “The Elephant” from “Carnival of the Animals”
Copy LinkWatch the video and move to "Elephants"!
Teach “Fireman”
Copy LinkTeach the song by rote and play the clapping game. Use this song to show how the notes go higher and lower. Have the students show with arm motions which notes are higher and which notes are lower. If you have a stretchy band, you could have the entire class show how the notes go higher and lower together. You could create a game of it. Sing the song and show how the notes go higher and lower, then call out a color. The children holding on to that color run under and switch places. Repeat.
Learn the clapping game with “Fireman”
Copy LinkThis is a clapping game with partners. Begin by teaching the action to the entire class. (Act as if you are everyone’s partner.) The simplest pattern for Kindergarten is to clap both of your own hands and then clap both of your partner’s hands.
If you want to try some more challenging patterns you can try some of these:
1. Pat both hands, clap your own hands, clap partner’s hands, clap your own hands. (pat, clap, partner, clap)
2. Clap your own hands, clap partner’s right hand, clap your own hands, clap partner’s left hand. (own, right, own, left)
This second pattern crosses the midline. Proponents of “brain gym” believe that crossing the midline engages both sides of the brain and gets children thinking using both sides of the brain. It certainly makes kids think. Don’t expect immediate success with crossover patterns in Kindergarten. They need a lot of practice doing it as an action before attempting it with a partner.
Teacher note: We don't have a kids demo for "Fireman". If your students would like to see themselves on MusicplayOnline please review the submission requirements here: https://help.musicplay.ca/can-i-submit-a-kids-demo
Go on a hunt for higher and lower pitches
Copy LinkReview “Listen to the Water”
Copy LinkReview the song.
Do you remember the movements? If not, make up your own!
Review “Watch Our Garden Grow”
Copy LinkReview the song.
Make up movements to go with the song.
Slow down the song with the "gear wheel" in the bottom right corner of the video.