1st Grade Rhythm/Melody Lessons 7-13

Each lesson is 30 minutes long.

Sing School Song & Character Counts
Hickory Dickory Dock (more nursery rhymes)
- Review high / low, up / down
- Students take turns play xylophones – show picture of xylophone – which is up?
- Show pictures of glockenspiel with arrows – to prepare them for the assessment – ask students which direction means “up” (the arrow to the right or the arrow to the left?)
Charlie Over the Ocean (more circle games)
- Sing and show motion of melody (up and down) with hands (I sing leader part, they echo)
- Show PowerPoint.

Sing School Song & Character Counts
Written Assessment – Melody: Up and Down Quiz
Charlie Over the Ocean – sing again w/PPT.
- First, I lead.
- Then, I invite each riser group to lead with me (another riser does the echo). They watch me and follow my “conducting.”
- Then, each riser group lead without me.

Sing School Song & Character Counts
Explain Glockenspiel Coloring Sheet (see below). Students color while I work with a few people to re-assess. (There is also a benefit to having the students do this during Lesson 7 before the assessment.)
Move & Freeze Activity: Beat vs. No Beat (more movement songs)
- Students turn on “bubbles.”
- I play music on keyboard with no beat (using a sound with long, sustained tones) – they move in long, slow, sustained movements
- I play march-sounding music with beats on keyboard, they stop and pat knees.
Charlie Over Ocean – practice song, then sit on circle and play game. (I keep track who has been “it” for each game. Each day we play, I choose about 5 students to be “it,” choosing different students each day.)
Hop Old Squirrel – circle game

Character Counts
Beat vs. No Beat
- Name things that have beats or no beats
- Show heart and x cards on board
- Listen to recordings of songs with beat and songs with no beat – which picture would I circle?
- Play a recording of Yankee Doodle while students march in bubbles (more steady beat songs)
Hop Old Squirrel – circle game

Character Counts
Practice Beat vs. No Beat –
- Listen to recordings of songs with beat and songs with no beat – which picture would I circle?
Yankee Doodle
- I sing while we all nod the beat
- Pass out rhythm sticks. When I point to the different risers groups, they play.
Play Yankee Doodle recording
- All stand scattered in the room. While listening, I do a steady beat of arm or leg motions for 16 beats, they mirror. I change my pattern every 16 beats.
Ask 4 students (or however long the recording is) to come up front. They show the class a repeated motion that demonstrates steady beat. Turn on recording. I point to the first kid while that student demonstrates his/her own motion while the rest of the class mirrors. For the next 16 beats, I point to the next student. Continue similarly until the recording is over. Choose 4 more students.
Hop Old Squirrel – circle game