Second Grade - Lesson 2A

• Music
• Age 5

Introduction (5 minutes)

Greet the students and introduce the K-Piano equipment and learning system.

Provide an overview of the lesson objectives and what students can expect to learn.

Class Expectations (5min)

• Read over classroom expectations for the Little Fingers class.
• Have students describe what these behaviors look like and don't look like.
• Example: A good choice is following directions. A silly choice is to be laughing at your friends.

Movement Activity

This movement activity at the beginning of class gets the wiggles out and helps mentally prepare students for the start of class.

Little Fingers - Lesson 1

Movement Activity Videos

• Choose a video from either 3 slides

Little Fingers - Lesson 1

Movement Activity Videos

• Choose a video from either 3 slides

Little Fingers - Lesson 1

Movement Activity Videos

Choose a video from either 3 slides

Vocal Explorations

1. Practice with students echoing different voices with you

2. Example

Teacher: "Repeat after me"

Student: "Repeat after me"

Teacher: "I have a whisper voice"

Students will repeat the same sentence in a whisper voice

Teacher: " I have a speaking voice"

Students will repeat

3. Examples: Whisper, Speaking, Squeaky, Low voice, Shouting Voice, Monster voice. Have fun with the different voices

Steady Beat Visual

"So now I am going to take my heartbeat or pulse and put it up on the board." 

"What shape is this?" (heart)

"What does the heart mean?" (beat)

"So how many beats do I have on the board?" (4)

"Now I would like for you to read the steady beat with me. When we read, do we start on the left or the right?" (left)

"On the left! Just like when we read in our other subjects, when we read music, we will also start on the left. Go ahead and show me your pointer finger. Point at the heart on the left. I want you to point at each heart as we read from left to right. Every time you point at a heart, I want you to say 'beat.' For example..." (instructor points at each heart and reads "beat, beat, beat, beat")

"Your turn!" (students read beats)

Steady Beat Practice

"I have a video for us to practice our steady beat. Let's think of a place we can keep a steady beat on our bodies. Can someone show me where we can keep a steady beat?" (students can show a variety of places to show steady beat including head, heart, knees, lap, etc. instructor finds one example and leads the class in showing steady beat)

"So let's practice our steady beat. In this video, we are going to be putting the steady beat on many different body parts. Can you show me a steady beat on your head? What about your shoulders? How about your tummy? We will start with a steady beat on our heads."

Instructor starts video and follow along with students. 

Rhythm Echoes

Students are building fluency by echoing rhythmic patterns

Teacher Script

"Now let's continue keeping a steady beat, but now I need you to echo me. Remember, when we do echoes, who goes first? You or me?"

You (the instructor)

"And who goes after?"

Me (students)

Instructor reads rhythms four beats at a time using the neutral syllable "bah."

Students echo.

Once all rhythms are read, repeat using rhythm syllables (quarter note = ta, quarter rest = no sound, eighth notes = ta-ti; refer to rhythm syllable cheat sheet if needed)

Students echo. 

Walk, Tiptoe

Students are solidifying they are able to differentiate between a quarter and an eighth note by using their body.

Directions

• *Instructors will share screen here*

• The instructor invites students to stand up in their spots.
• Images are used as a reference to help students differentiate between the two forms of movement 

Teacher Script

"I am going to say a word and I want you to use your feet to match the word as I say it. I will clap too. Make sure your feet match my hands. 'Walk, walk, walk, walk.'"

Students should be walking in place, stepping to each syllable. Make sure students are stepping to the rhythm of quarter notes here. 

"Freeze. Now I am going to say a new word. Make sure your feet match my hands as I clap. "Tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe, tiptoe."

Students should be stepping in place to each syllable. Make sure students are stepping to the rhythm of eighth notes here.

"Now we are going to play a game! I want to see who the best listeners are. I am going to change between walk and tiptoe. Make sure you're listening and change when I change. Don't get tricked!"

The instructor improvises various rhythms, including walk and tiptoe, ensuring students listen and step to the correct rhythm. 

You may also say freeze to give students an opportunity to break up any pattern you have created. 

Seesaw

Students are being introduced to high and low tones by using a song.

Directions

• This slide is for instructor viewing only. 
• Instructors will stop sharing the screen here.

Teacher Script

Invite students to sit in their spots.

"Now I have a new song for you. I want you to listen very carefully to my song. I will have some questions for you when I am finished."

Instructor sings the song. 

"After I am finished singing, I want you to tell me what object is in the song."

Instructor sings the song again. Do not let students interrupt with an answer. The goal is for students to hear the song as many times as possible to ensure success in learning the song by rote. If students interrupt, remind them to answer when the song is over and sing the song again from the beginning. 

"So what object was in my song?"

Seesaw (The instructor may ask students if they know what a seesaw is. If not, the instructor may show a picture on the next slide.)

"After I am done singing, tell me how the seesaw moves."

Instructor sings the song again.

Up and down.

"Here is my last challenge. After I am finished singing, tell me what two places the seesaw went."

Instructor sings the song again.

In the sky and on the ground. 

"Now that you have answered all of my questions, it's your turn to sing the song. Let's see how much you remember!"

The instructor gives the starting pitch and cues the students to sing the song. Make sure students are singing together. If not, encourage students to listen to each other and sing together. Have students try singing again.

Seesaw video

Use for visual if needed

High/Low Patterns (Slides 13-14) 

Students are solidifying high and low sounds to build fluency

Directions

• *This slide is for instructor reference only. Instructors may stop sharing the screen here.*
• These do not have to be sung with a steady beat. While it is important to maintain a steady beat while doing rhythmic exercises, it is not as important here when performing tonal exercises. The main goal is to get these tones into the students' musical vocabulary. 

Teacher Script

"Let's review our body piano from last week. What two places did we use?"

Forehead and chin

"Which one was for high sounds?"

Forehead

"Which one was for low sounds?"

Chin

"Echo me."

Instructor uses body piano and sings each measure, one at a time, on neutral syllable "bum." Students echo each measure

Once all the patterns have been sung, repeat each measure but sing using the words "high" and "low".

High and Low Patterns

For instructor only

High/Low Reading Intro

Students are introduced to reading music using High/Low patterns

Teacher Script

"Now we are going to read some music. What do you think goes in the space on top of the line? High or low?"

High

"So I am going to take these four dots and move them into the space on top of the line. Echo me."

Instructor sings "high, high, high, high" on G

Students echo.

"What sound goes in the space underneath the line?"

Low

"So let me move these four dots into the space under the line. Echo me."

Instructor sings, "low, low, low, low" on E

Students echo.

"Now what if I moved some things around?" 

The instructor writes 4 4-beat melodic line for students to read. Students may find it easier to start with high first. Progress to starting with low if students are successful.

Write 3-5 different patterns for students to read. Ensure students are reading successfully before progressing to the next pattern. 

If students are not correct, make sure to correct students by singing the line for them to echo.

High/Low Exploration

*Instructor can share screen here*

"Before we get our xylophones, we have to talk about how to use them safely. When carrying our xylophones, should we use two hands or one?"

Two

"And when we carry our xylophones with two hands, should we hold it by the top or the bottom?"

The bottom

 

"What happens if you carry your xylophones by the top?"

The bars will fall off.

"If your bar falls off, let a grown up know so they can put it back on carefully."

"Now look at my xylophone. Tell me something you notice about my xylophone."

If students answer:

Colors - "What color is on the left? What color is on the right? What color is the biggest bar? What color is the smallest bar?"

Size - "What side are the big bars on? What side are the little bars on?"

"So when you get your xylophones, make sure to carry with how many hands? On the top or bottom? And when you put your xylophones down, what bar is going on the left? Big or little? What color is the big bar?"

Pass out xylophones

"Now I want you to use your finger. Play the big red bar on the left."

Students play

"Now use your finger and play the small green bar on the right."

Students play

"Did the big red bar make a high sound or a low sound?"

Low

"The small green bar made what kind of sound?"

High

"So if we are moving from low to high, start on what size bar?"

Big

"And then we move which way to get to the high sounds?"

Right

Instructor asks students to show examples of playing from high to low or low to high a few times to demonstrate understanding 

Movement Activity

This movement activity at the beginning of class gets the wiggles out and helps mentally prepare students for the start of class.

Little Fingers - Lesson 1

Movement Activity Videos

• Choose a video from either 3 slides

Little Fingers - Lesson 1

Movement Activity Videos

• Choose a video from either 3 slides

Little Fingers - Lesson 1

Movement Activity Videos

Choose a video from either 3 slides

Lesson Recap

Recap with students what they learned.

• 
  
• Steady Beat
• Low and High Sound