lesson plan

Lesson Plan Overview: Little Fingers First Grade - Lesson 2A

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First Grade - Lesson 2A

If your class does not complete this lesson in one day, do your best to cover as much as you can. When necessary, resume from where you stopped at the start of the next lesson.

Objectives: 
  • I can demonstrate a steady beat with my body.
  • I can demonstrate high and low with my voice and body.
Directions
  • Prompts for the instructor to say will be in bold.
  • Students’ expected answer will be in normal font.
  • OUTPUT DATA: No data is to be collected in this lesson. 
Materials Needed
  • Music playlist for rhythm play-along and freeze dance (located in the presentation)
  • Classroom space with enough room for movement
  • "Rhythm Echoes" music sheet (for instructor use only)
  • "Seesaw" music sheet (for instructor use only)
  • "High and Low Patterns" (for instructor use only)
Resources
  • See the attached below.
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Lesson Outline

Little Fingers Title Slide (Slide 1)
  • Welcome students
  • Have students take their places
Class Expectations (Slide 2)
  • Go over class expecations for the first class. After the first class you can remind the students of the expectations.
Movement Activity (Slides 3-6)
  • Movement activities at the beginning of class help with:
  • Physical de-escalation if needed
  • Mental preparation for students' engagement at the start of class
Vocal Explorations (Slide 7)  
OBJ: Students are demonstrating that they can change their voice to different types.
  • Practice echoing different voices with students
Teacher Script
  • Instructor: “Repeat after me.”
  • Students: “Repeat after me.”
  • Instructor whispers: “I have a whisper voice.” 
  • Students echo in a whisper
  • Instructor speaks: “I have a speaking voice.”
  • Students echo in speaking voice
More examples:
  • squeaky
  • low voice
  • shouting voice
  • monster voice
Have fun with different voices or have students give you a voice to try out!

Steady Beat (Slide 8)
OBJ: Students are being introduced to the steady beat by physically demonstrating it.

Teacher Script
  • "We are going to show a steady beat with some music today. Remember, does a steady beat change or stay the same?"
  • Stay the same
  • “Show me a steady beat on your head.”
  • Students demonstrate
  • The instructor plays the video, and the students follow along. Be sure to assess who will need support for steady beat awareness.
Rhythm Echoes (Slide 9)
OBJ: 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 (Slide 10)
OBJ: 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 (Slides 11 & 12)
OBJ: 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.
High/Low Patterns (Slides 13-14) 
OBJ: 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/Low Reading Intro ( Slide 15)
OBJ: 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 (Slide 16) 
OJB: Students are solidifying High and Low comprehension using a Xylophone

Teacher Script
  • "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 them 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 (You may need to ask in classroom teacher to support you with handing out xylophones) Do not pass out mallets.
  • "Now I want you to use your finger. Play the big red bar on the left with your pointer finger."
  • Students play
  • "Now use your pointer 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
  • The instructor asks students to show examples of playing from high to low or low to high a few times to demonstrate understanding /comprehension.
Movement Activity (Slides 17 - 20)
OBJ: Students are being prepped to transition out of Little Fingers class.
  • End class with a brain break
Students will develop musical and physical coordination skills through engaging in rhythmic activities, body percussion exercises, rhythm play-along, hand signal demonstrations, and a fun freeze dance activity.

Lesson Recap (Slide 21)
  • Review what you have learned with the students.