First Grade Lesson Plan

Overview 

Students will learn how to sing and play each instrument in this Orff arrangement of “Snow.”

Rationale 

This is an important experience for learners because it exposes them different kinds of instruments,
building on their musical understanding. This arrangement has a melody line, bordun (open 5th), melodic
ostinato, rhythmic ostinato, and color part. After the learners are familiar with the song and everyone has
gotten a turn on each instrument we will spend time reflecting on what they thought--if they did or didn’t
like something and why. This will help learners understand how each individual has a different opinion on
music, exposing them to ideas that contrast from their own.

I Can Statements (learning goals) 

● I can play the glockenspiel while holding the mallets correctly

● I can pay the bass xylophone while holding the mallets correctly
● I can play an electric piano on an iPad
● I can sing and clap at the same time
● I can listen to my classmates respectfully

Materials 

● Glockenspiel(s)
● Bass Xylophone(s)
● iPad (more than one, if possible)
● Printed scores

Detailed Process 

Time
Required
2 minutes 1. Greet students by asking them at the door what is the first musical thing they think
of when they hear the word “snow.” Students make their way to their circle seats.
3 minutes 2. Breathing warm-up lead by teacher:
a. 4 beats breathing in, 4 beats hold, 4 beats breathing out
b. 8 beats breathing in, 4 beats hold, 8 beats breathing out
c. 8 beats breathing in, 4 beats hold, 16 beats breathing out
5 minutes 3. Review the treble and bass clefs through mnemonics (Elephants Get Big Dirty
5-7 minutes Feet, FACE; Good Birds Do Fly Always, All Cows Eat Grass) and visual
representation of the staffs. Teacher will point to a line or space and the students
will verbally answer what note it is.
4. “Listen and repeat after me;” Teacher sings first 4-measures of the melody with
5 minutes clapping in “Snow,” having the students listen two times and then repeat with the
teacher two times. The teacher then sings the last 4-measures with clapping, again
having the students listen twice before joining in twice. The teacher then sings the
 whole 8-measure melody once by themselves, then have students join (repeating
as many times as necessary until students are comfortable with it).
5. Transition: Each student will then find a partner (high-fiving a friend, then a different
2 minutes one, then another) and go to an instrument (set out in a separate part of the
classroom, if possible); there will purposefully be ½ as many instruments out as
there are students in the class.
6. By working with their partners, students will have 10 minutes to try and figure out
10 minutes what they must play on the instrument that they are at (music will be at each
instrument prior). The teacher will be floating around seeing who needs assistance,
making sure that every pair of students has figured out their parts before moving
on.
7. Students will play their instruments part, going section by section. Teacher asks the
5-7 minutes students to gather around each section as they play so that the other students can
visualize and start to learn for when they get to that instrument. After playing one
time through students will explain what notes they play and how long (quarter note
or half note), then play it one more time through before moving to the next section.
Each instrument will do this.
8. Students will go back to their starting instrument with their partner. The teacher will
3 minutes then have the pair decide who is 1 and who is 2. Whoever decided on being 2 will
stay at the instrument, and whoever is 1 will sit in between the instrument they are
at and the one to the right of them. (“If you are a 2 then stay at your instrument, if
you are a 1 then sit on the right side of them.”
9. The students who are 2’s will then play their part on the instrument while 1’s sing
10 minutes and clap the song (with help from the teacher) two times through. Students will then
ALL move one person to the right (2 is now sitting in between two instruments, 1 is
now at the instrument to the right of their starting instrument). This transition will be
repeated until every student has the chance to play every instrument (students will
end up going around the circle once completely).
10. Students will return to the circle from the beginning of class. With the teacher
5 minutes facilitating, students will be asked one or more questions: “What did you notice
(until end of when you were playing? Was there an instrument that was harder or easier for
class) you? What did it sound like to have instruments playing while there was singing and
clapping?” By having a few students respond to these questions, the other students
in the room will learn, through the teachers response, how to listen and contribute
to contrasting musical understandings of an activity. The teacher can facilitate this
by saying something along the lines of “It’s interesting how you didn’t like the sound
of the glockenspiel and really liked the electric piano, my favorite sound was the
glockenspiel because it sounds like magic. What does the electric piano sound like
to you?”
11. Ending breathing activity:
a. 4 beats in, 4 beats hold, 4 beats out
b. 8 beats in, 4 beats hold, 8 beats out
c. 8 beats in, 4 beats hold, 16 beats out

Assessments 
 ● Assessment by checklist:
○ __ - Student was singing and clapping when it was their time
○ __ - Student was playing their instrument when it was their time
○ __ - Student was holding the mallets properly (sideways ice cream cone)
○ __ - Student followed teachers tempo when playing/singing

Extensions: 

How can we add to this experience or make it longer?

● For students who learned their instruments part quickly they can be challenged to create a new
rhythm using the same notes.
● Students can work as a class and create another melody to add to this song, using the same
melodic structure