First Grade - Lesson 8A

• 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 Exploration

 

Ask students, "What direction is high?"

Up

"What direction is low?"

Down

"What shapes can we use to draw moving up?"

EX: swirls, hills, squiggles, mountains use zoom tools to draw shapes

*be sure to review reading page from left to right using the girl and orange eighth note as a guide*

Teacher will draw these shapes and use singing voice to follow the shape to sing "high"

"What direction is low?"

Down

What shapes can we use to draw going down?

EX: swirls, hills, squiggles, mountains

Blank Slide

*next slide is for instructor reference only*

New Song - Running Fast

*for instructor viewing only*

"Listen to my song. When I am finished, I want you to tell me what my song is about."

Instructor sings the song.

Running

"Now I know this is a long song, so we will only learn the first part today. Listen again. When I am finished, I want you to tell me what speeds my feet move."

Instructor sings the first 4 measures of the song.

Fast and slow.

"Listen again. When I am finished, tell me what sounds the feet make in the song."

Instructor sings the first 4 measures of the song. 

Tippy tappy

"How many times did I say tippy tappy?"

2 times

"Now echo me."

Instructor sings the first measure. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing the first measure.

Instructor sings the second measure. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing the second measure.

Instructor sings first and second measures. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing the first two measures.

Instructor sings the third measure. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing the third measure.

Instructor sings the first three measures. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing the first three measures.

Instructor sings the fourth measure. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing the fourth measure.

Instructor sings measures 1-4. Give audiation breath. Cue students to sing measures 1-4.

"We will learn the rest of the song in the next lesson."

Rhythm Echoes

*instructor will stop sharing screen*

The instructor invites students to demonstrate a steady beat. Pick one example for class to use.

"Ready and echo me."

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

Students echo.

Instructor reads rhythms four beats at a time using rhythm syllables.

Students echo.

"Now it's time for our challenge. Remember, I'm going to say 'bah.' You use your rhythm syllables."

Instructors remember to assess for accuracy. Go back and correct mistakes if students make mistakes.

Instructor reads rhythms using neutral syllable "bah."

Students echo using rhythm syllables. 

Instructor reads rhythms using neutral syllable "bah."

Students echo using rhythm syllables.

Students echo patterns by playing on xylophones using their fingers. 

RHYTHM READING VIDEO

Sixteenth note reading practice

Do not play video yet. Instructor should scroll through video and allow students to practice each pattern first. 

Rather than reading the icons as fruits, ask students to read icons with rhythm syllables (example: pear is ta, apple is ta-ti, watermelon is ta-ka-ti-ki)

Once all patterns have been practiced, instructor should scroll to the beginning of the video and play for students to read along. 

Blank Slide

The instructor will stop sharing the screen here.

Body Piano

*instructor will stop sharing screen*

Preparing LA

*instructor viewing only*

"Use your body piano and echo me."

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

Students echo.

Instructor uses body piano and sings each measure, one at a time, using solfege (la should be referred to as "higher")

Students echo.

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

Students echo using body piano and solfege.

Instructors assess for accuracy. 

Presenting La Aurally

"In the previous lessons, we only used the solfege syllables sol and mi. Today, I have a new one for you. There is a new note that we have been singing that didn't have a name. Do you remember what we called it?"

Higher

"What is that note higher than? Sol or mi?"

Sol

"So the name of that note is going to be la."

Instructor places hands above head where la should be and sing, "la, la, la, la"

Students echo with body piano.

Instructor improvises a 3-5 patterns (or use patterns from tonal echoes) to practice la. 

Swirling Wind on Xylophone Review

Review xylo care.

*instructor viewing only*

"Sing 'Swirling Wind' with words."

Students sing

"Now sing the first part with solfege and body piano."

Students sing and use body piano.

"See if you can figure out the rest of the song using solfege and body piano. Don't worry about the last note!"

Students sing and use hand signs/body piano.

"I want you to sing that much and play it on your xylophones with your fingers. Remember, sol is what color?"

Dark green

"Mi is what color?"

Yellow

"And higher is what color?"

Purple

"But we gave higher a name today. What is its name?"

La

"So la is what color?"

Purple

Students sing and play second line with fingers.

"Do we play a high note or a low note at the end of the song?"

Low note

"What color is the lowest note on our xylophones?"

Red

"So I want you to sing and play again. This time, play the big red bar at the end of the song.

Students sing and play with their fingers.

Extra challenge: Play with mallets. Divide the class in half. Half play melody while the other half plays a steady beat on C. Switch parts. 

Swirling Wind

*instructor viewing only*

"Sing 'Swirling Wind' with words."

Students sing

"Now sing the first part with solfege and body piano."

Students sing and use body piano.

"See if you can figure out the rest of the song using solfege and body piano. Don't worry about the last note!"

Students sing and use hand signs/body piano.

"I want you to sing that much and play it on your xylophones with your fingers. Remember, sol is what color?"

Dark green

"Mi is what color?"

Yellow

"And higher is what color?"

Purple

"But we gave higher a name today. What is its name?"

La

"So la is what color?"

Purple

Students sing and play second line with fingers.

"Do we play a high note or a low note at the end of the song?"

Low note

"What color is the lowest note on our xylophones?"

Red

"So I want you to sing and play again. This time, play the big red bar at the end of the song.

Students sing and play with fingers.

Extra challenge: Play with mallets. Divide class in half. Half play melody while other half play steady beat on C. Switch parts. 

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