Echo do-mi-so patterns in C.

Have students take turns improvising so-mi or do-mi-so patterns and the class echoing.

If you have Musicplayonline, watch the note highlight video. Sing the song for the students with the solfa hand signs or arm motions, showing how the melody goes up and down. Have the students sing the song with hand signs or arm motions. Teach and play the game.

“Mouse Mousie” is a chase game. Have the students make a circle. Choose one student to be the “mouse.” The mouse walks around the circle while the song is being sung. At the end of the song, the mouse tags a student that s/he has gone past. The student that is tagged becomes the “cat,” leaves the circle, and tries to tag (not tackle!) the mouse before he/she gets inside the circle. Ask the “cat” and “mouse” to sit inside the circle and continue the game until everyone has had a turn. An alternative to having children sit after turns is to give them pitched or unpitched instruments to play.

Teach or reinforce the solfa notes so, mi and do. Have students reproduce, read and write patterns using so, mi and do. As a warm-up, sing d m s patterns to the students and have them sing it back.

Complete the solfa challenge.
Read the rhythms.

Creative Ideas: Set up the instruments in C pentatonic and have the children improvise melodies that might suggest the running of the mouse or the cat sneaking up on the mouse. Use the improvisations as a B section between repetitions of the song.

Use only the notes do-mi-so (C E G) to create your composition.

Sing your new melody!

Play Freeze Dance With the Music of Bach - Goldberg Variations #4 and 5
Play the music and the students move. Pause - and students freeze.
If you catch anyone moving, they're out.

Ask students to listen for how the music in the two examples is similar and how it is different.

“Pondering Penguins” has many applications and can be used across a variety of grade levels. There are two versions - one with a simplified melody and one with a melody that uses jumps of a 4th and an octave. For younger students, the simplified melodic line removes the large interval jumps

Simplified movement for younger dancers:
- Beats 1-4 Sway, sway, sway, sway,
- Beats 5-7 Bend your knees , bend your knees, bend your knees
- Beat 8 Jump

Teacher note: We don't have a kids demo for "Pondering Penguins". 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