Lesson Planning

3-4s – Week 1

Learn:

Materials Needed: Materials needed: chickitas/egg shakers, assorted instruments, sound device

Expand All | Close All

+ Hello and Welcome 3 min

Key: D Kind: routine Tonality: major Meter: duple
Activity: greeting song with bouncing, clapping, tapping
Objective: The children will sing hello to each other, building social connections and community. The children will use movement with consistent beat and accurate spacing to respond to music actively by clapping, tapping, rocking (or a movement of their choice) to the beat of this major, duple song. The children will improvise by creating variations to the greeting.
S&S: Vocal–1, 5, Beat/Rhythm–1, 2, Creating Music–1
Musical activities:

Sing the song inserting each child’s name where indicated. Suggested accompaniment: piano, guitar, ukulele, tambourine or clapping hands

Invite the children to clap, bounce or tap along, encouraging an active response to music. Model and observe spacing and consistent beat. Move about the circle making eye contact and waving to each child as you sing their name.

Return to clapping hands or your instrument when all names have been sung. Greet both children and adults.

Sing an extra verse, and greet other items in the room. Choose a theme, such as weather, and greet various related items (hello to the raindrops, hello to my rain boots, hello to our umbrella too!). Invite the children to share their ideas.
Teacher Notes:
+ Apple Tree 3 min

Key: -- Kind: small movement Tonality: -- Meter: duple
Activity: vocal play - vocal range & directed vocal movement finger play - move in all spaces
Objective: The children will move in high, middle and low spaces using small movement activities. The children will use vocal play to begin feeling the full range of their voice from low to high and respond vocally to upward and downward movement.
S&S: Vocal–2, 3, Creative Movement–1
Musical activities:

Use vocal play to transition to this rhythmic rhyme.

Slowly stretch hands up over head while simultaneously creating an ascending sound using "oo."

Bring hands down creating a vocal descending sound using the same syllable.

Reach arms alternating high above head on first two phrases of the rhyme on the macrobeat (big).

Clasp hands and shake back and forth on the microbeat (little) to mimic shaking a tree.

Move up-reached arms down while wiggling fingers on "Down came the apples."

Rub tummy to the macrobeat on "Mmm, they were good."

Repeat this rhyme several times for the benefits of repetition. Encourage the children to move with you.

Rhythm patterns Tap your lap to the macrobeat and say, "Be my echo" as you begin.

Presentation ideas: music play
Teacher Notes:
+ Kye, Kye, Kule 6 min

Key: Am Kind: prop Tonality: aeolian Meter: duple
Activity: shakers - call and response
Objective: The children will move to macrobeat and microbeat using shaker instruments. The children will participate in a call and response game from Africa, and sing the response in a call and response song.
S&S: Vocal–9, Beat/Rhythm–2, Dramatic Play/Games–3, Music Literature–1, 2
Musical activities:

Play a game of "Call and Response."
• Explain you are the lead singer and the class will respond to your call with the exact same thing, like an echo. Be sure the children understand echo.
• Tell children this is a call and response.
• Do a practice by singing the first phrase, "Kye, kye kule," gesturing for the class to respond. Repeat as necessary.

Turn on and begin clapping.

Place your index finger to your lips to remind the children not to sing on the lead "call" part and gesture out to the class inviting them to sing on the "response."

The instrumental section provides an opportunity for clapping and voice play.

When the vocal returns keep clapping or move to patting your knees.

Distribute shakers. Turn on

Sing the response with the children throughout.

Shake to the microbeat (little) throughout one repetition of the song.

Shake to the macrobeat (big) on the repeat.

Using the same movement, alternate between the microbeat and macrobeat with each new repetition.

Choose a new shaker variation at the start of every microbeat. The children can be a springboard for new variations as well.

Continue a cappella incorporating more variations with the shakers. Replace lyrics with nonsense syllables in subsequent repetitions addressing the limited language of this age group.

Finish with resting tone play.

Collect shakers.

This is a popular game in parts of Africa. Because of the many variations of this song and mixtures of dialects that exist, the original meaning of the words is no longer clear.
Teacher Notes:
+ Old MacDonald 5 min

Key: E Kind: small movement Tonality: major Meter: duple
Activity: small movement - animal conversations
Objective: The children will improvise in a call and response format using farm animal sounds and movements. The children will echo tonal patterns.
S&S: Vocal–4, Creating Music–3, Dramatic Play/Games–3
Musical activities:

Flap your wings and quack like a duck.

Quack a question for the children to answer, encouraging improvisation. Children respond simultaneously, in whatever way they’d like. This is not a direct repeat, but an answer to the question.

Repeat several times. Incorporate other animals if you’d like.

Rock and clap to the beat as you sing the song a cappella or with guitar or piano using the song sheet for chords.

Ask the children to suggest farm animals and movements.

For the last variation, sing “On this farm he had some animals” and allow the children to create a farm by being their favorite animals during the animal sound section.

Tonal patterns Presentation ideas: music play. Notice whether the children are echoing the patterns. As they sing, observe whether they are following the contour of the pattern, singing in tune, or pretending to sing.
Teacher Notes:
+ It's a Jamboree! 4 min

Key: C Kind: large movement Tonality: major Meter: duple
Activity: large movement
Objective: The children will move freely to the beat using suggested large movement ideas such as jumping, wiggling and dancing.
S&S: Beat/Rhythm–2, Creative Movement–2
Musical activities:

Stand up. Turn on

Dance, wiggle, fly, etc., into the lyrics. Use one large movement throughout an entire verse. Variations: large movement. Watch the children during the movements. They will adjust what they are doing to their capabilities. Gather ideas for variations from what you observe.

All sit down at the end of the song.
Teacher Notes:
+ Toybox - JamRound™ 5 min

Key: G Kind: prop Tonality: major Meter: duple
Activity: JamRound™ - improvise with assorted instruments
Objective: The children will carefully select instruments for improvisation from an array of assorted instruments. The children will incorporate elements of beat and rhythm into their improvised accompaniment with increasing sophistication as weeks progress. The children will demonstrate audiation by stopping during the rest and continuing to play when the song ends.
S&S: Instrument Play–1, 4, Creating Music–5
Musical activities:

Distribute instruments and

The children will play freely to the music encouraging improvisation and movement to the beat and rhythms. Observe the children when the music stops to see whether they are continuing to play or stopping.

Collect instruments. Allow the children to continue playing for a few moments after the song ends. Observe their behavior. Are they simply playing with the instruments or has the musicality continued, demonstrating that they are able to keep the music going internally?
Teacher Notes:
+ It’s Time to Say Goodbye 2 min

Key: C Kind: routine Tonality: major Meter: triple
Activity: farewell song; sway left and right or clap your hands
Objective: The children will actively respond to this triple meter song by clapping, tapping, rocking, etc. to the beat. The children will sing a farewell song supporting routines and community.
S&S: Creative Movement–2, Vocal–1, 5, Beat/Rhythm–2
Musical activities:

Sing a cappella while clapping your hands or sing accompanied with piano or guitar.

Sway left and right while singing all of the children’s names where indicated.*

Limited time? Sing goodbye to the boys, girls, teacher(s) and then into “So long, farewell, I enjoyed my time with you.” Finish with the balance of the song.
Teacher Notes:

Next Lesson →