PreK & K Grade - Lesson 7A

• 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 (3min)

 

"What is this a picture of?"

An elevator

"What does an elevator do?"

It moves people up and down in buildings

"I want you to point at the elevator. Use your finger and your voice to show the elevator is moving up."

Students move finger from low to high while making a siren sound going from low to high

"Now use your finger and voice to show the elevator is moving down."

Students move finger from high to low while making siren sound going from high to low

Try different combinations at various speeds. Make it fun!

Blank Slide

*next slide is for instructor reference only*

New Song - I Am Me

*for instructor viewing only*

"Listen to my song as I sing."

Instructor sings song as students listen.

"Listen to my song again. When I am done, tell me what the first two words I used to describe myself are."

Instructor sings again. 

Strong and kind.

"Listen again. When I am finished, tell me the words of the phrase that sound similar to the first one."

Instructor sings again.

I can use my mind.

"Listen again. When I am finished, tell me what other words I used to describe myself."

Instructor sings again.

Brave, me.

"Listen one more time. When I am done, tell me what the words to the last phrase are."

Instructor sings.

I'll do great things, you will see.

"Echo me."

Instructor sings measures 1 and 2 (remember to give audiation breath)

Students echo.

Instructor sings measures 3 and 4.

Students echo.

Instructor sings measures 1-4. 

Students echo.

Instructor sings measures 5-6.

Students echo.

Instructor sings measures 1-6. 

Students echo.

Instructor sings measures 7 and 8.

Students echo.

The instructor sings the whole song.

Students echo. 

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." You may need to point to your self at your turn and to class at their turn as a reminder when to echo.

Students echo.

Presenting Rhythms Visually

"Now I would like you to think about how many sounds each note makes. For example, how many sounds (or syllables) does 'ta' have?"

1

"Now I want you to point at the hearts and say 1 ta."

Students point and say "ta"

"How many beats was one ta?"

1

"Try again and make sure you were correct."

Students point and say ta again, ensuring ta is 1 beat.

"Ok. Let's move to ta-ti. How many sounds (or syllables) is ta-ti?"

2

"Now point at your hearts and say one ta-ti."

Students point and say "ta-ti"

"How many beats was ta-ti?"

1

"One beat! But how many sounds is ta-ti again?"

2

Instructor moves 1 dot into a heart.

"What would this be? Ta or ta-ti?"

Ta

"Why?"

Because it's one dot and ta has only one sound/syllable

Instructor drags 2 dots into a heart.

"So what would this be?"

Ta-ti

"Why?"

Because it has 2 dots and ta-ti makes 2 sounds/syllables 

Instructor drags dots to hearts. Students read rhythms instructor writes. Repeat 2x

Blank Slide

The instructor will stop sharing the screen here.

Body Piano

*instructor will stop sharing screen*

Preparing La

*for instructor viewing only*

"Stand up, 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 each measure

See next slide for continuation of this activity

Tonal echoes continued

*for instructor viewing only*

Instructor uses body piano and sings each measure one-by-one using solfege and body piano

Students echo

"Time for our challenge! Remember, I am going to sing 'bum.' You sing sol and mi."

Instructor uses body piano and sings each measure using the neutral syllable 'bum.'

Students echo using solfege.

Introduction to Hand Signs

"Now I am going to show you our secret musician hand signs!"

The instructor shows the hand sign for sol using both hands.

"Can you make this hand sign with both hands for me?"

Students show the hand sign. Remind students to use both hands if they use only one.

"This one is called sol. Echo me."

Instructor sings "sol, sol, sol..." on G

Students echo.

The instructor shows the hand sign for "mi" using both hands. Make sure hand sign for mi is slightly lower than hand sign for sol.

"Now make this hand sign."

Students make hand sign for mi using both hands. 

"What do you think this one is going to be called?"

Mi

Instructor sings, "mi, mi, mi..."

on E

Students echo.

"Now let's practice using our hand signs."

The instructor chooses 3 examples from the previous slide to use as examples, as students echo. 

Sol and Mi Visual Preparation

"Now let's use sol and mi to see if we can read some music. Is sol a high sound or a low sound?"

High

"So where should I put sol? At the top or the bottom?"

Top

"And mi is a high sound or low sound?"

Low

"So where will mi go?"

Bottom

Instructor moves sol and mi to their places.

"Now I am going to use move these dots around to make a song for you to sing."

Instructor moves dots to make pattern (smsm may be easiest to start)

Remind students to read from left to right. Instructor points at each note as students sing.

Instructor writes another pattern. Students sing.

High/Low Exploration

*song for instructor viewing only will be on next slide*

"Now let's see if we can play some of these. Find sol and mi on your xylophones. What colors are they?"

Dark green and yellow

"Ok. I am going to give you 15 seconds to practice on your own. Remember to sing and play with your fingers!"

Students take a few seconds to practice singing and playing with their fingers the previous pattern instructor wrote on the previous slide.

Students sing and play.

"That was the song 'Sledding Fun.' I want you to sing the song and raise your hand when you hear the part you just played."

The instructor gives the starting pitch. Students sing and raise their hands on measures 3-4 of "Sledding Fun."

"Now let's go to the beginning of the song."

Instructor sings the first 2 measures.

"Did that sound the same or different from what you just played?"

Different

"What was different?"

Students' replies should discuss how the sound was higher towards the end.

"So if we started on mi, can you sing and play the first 4 notes for me using sol and mi?"

Instructor gives starting pitch. Students sing "mi sol sol mi."

"Hmm..so the next part starts on sol, but what happens after?"

The pitch is higher.

"What color bar should we play to make a sound that is higher than sol?"

Purple (la)

Instructor plays 2nd measure.

"Was that right?"

Yes

Instructor gives students a few seconds to figure out how to sing and play first 2 measures.

Instructor gives starting pitch. Students sing and play first 2 measures.

"Let's see if we can put everything together now. I want you to sing the first half of the song. Stop on the word 'chill.'"

Instructor gives starting pitch. Students sing and play.

Leave second line for next lesson. 

Sledding Fun

*for instructor view only*

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