LESSON THREE

Student Teacher Name: Elizabeth Axler

Corresponding Teacher: Ms. Kelsey Hurst
Lesson Topic and Grade: Pitch Exploration and Performance with Voice, Scarves, and
Xylophones, Kindergarten
Date:
*= curriculum
This is the third lesson in my STP project, so this is the third lesson in the sequence of the first
lesson that you saw.

PA Academic Standards (Benchmarks/Indicators) or National Standards of Music addressed

National:
9.1 Production, Performance and Exhibition of Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts

NAFMEc:
MU:Re7.2.Ka With guidance, demonstrate how a specific music concept (such as beat or
melodic direction) is used in music.
MU:Pr4.2.Ka With guidance, explore and demonstrate awareness of music contrasts (such as
high/low, loud/soft, same/different) in a variety of music selected for performance.
MU:Re7.2.Ka With guidance, demonstrate how a specific music concept (such as beat or
melodic direction) is used in music

New:
Performance
MU:Pr4.2.Ka With guidance, explore and demonstrate awareness of music contrasts (such as
high/low, loud/soft, same/different) in a variety of music selected for performance.
MU:Pr5.1.Ka With guidance, apply personal, teacher, and peer feedback to refine
performances.
MU:Pr6.1.Ka With guidance, perform music with expression.
MU:Cr3.2.Ka With guidance, demonstrate a final version of personal musical ideas to peers.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will move and react to the song “peep squirrel” while moving around the room
appropriately.
Students will explore their low voice and high voice using vocal exploration with leaves in the
wind.
Students will be able to use solo voices to echo back “Wise Old Owl”.
Students will be able to sing the song “Autumn Leaves” with their head voice.
Students will use Xylophones, scarves, and voices to perform “ Autumn Leaves” and the
moving leaves poem appropiately.
--
If time
Students will be able to move and copy movements appropriately to the Snowman Song
Students will be able to repeat back teacher’s rhythms after chanting “stomp your feet to the
Reindeer beat”.

Materials:

Ukulele
“Peep Squirrel” youtube song and/or sheet music
Vocal Exploration Powerpoint Presentation
“Autumn Leaves” music
Smartboard
Xylophone(s)
Scarves
An open space to move around

-----
Wise Old Owl Song:
Assessment Tools:

(Use list of students to keep track of who participates in solos and who does not)

Assessment Rubric:
Opening/ Introduction Activity:

Peep Squirrel:
After Students walk into the room and go to their dots (while the teacher is playing I chord on
ukulele), the teacher will immediately start singing the song, “Peep Squirrel”, and ask students
to march in their spot.

“Peep Squirrel dum-da-diddle-da dum da-diddle-da (Students March)

Walk Squirrel (Students Walk around the room)
Crawl Squirrel (Students crawl around the room)
T; “this time, walk back to your dot as I sing”:
Peep Squirrel”
--------------------------------
Transition: Imagine the squirrel has climbed up a tree “zooooooo” (slide up), and this tree is
still full of autumn leaves.

*VOCAL EXPLORATION with ST leaders:

T will demonstrate moving their voice in the direction of where the leaf is blowing in the wind.
T, “sing with me”, ST and T sing in the direction of the leaf
This time, students will lead the vocal exploration and draw their own leaf blowing direction.
ST will follow the ST leader in their chosen movement.
*make sure ST understand that in order to blow high, you must start low and vise versa.
(this time will be an opportunity for student choice)

Learning Opportunities/ Procedure:

Transition: T: “whoo whoo” *points to students to echo back* ST: “whoo whoo” x2
Hedwig is awake now! Everyone say “hello hedwig!”

*Echo Song- Wise Old Owl

First, T will sing the song with the entire group

Next, (curriculum), students will sing iin solos to the song “Wise Old Owl”
For this teacher will keep track of who sings by keeping a dot on the seating chart
(assessment)

T will do the song with solos echoing back to them with the owl as a ‘microphone’ indicator of
who is singing. The T can explain to the other students that they can sing the melody in their
heads while the students sing solos.

Transition: “Hedwig, did you enjoy hearing students voices?” (hedwig nods yes). Everyone
‘whoowhoo’ hedwig goodbye.

Review the song “Autumn Leaves”

St will sing with teacher, tapping steady beat. (refresh students memory of Autumn Leaves)
T: “tap and sing with me”
--
Autumn Leaves Performance with Xylophones:
Autumn Leaves: Performance: (ABA)

PRACTICE POEM:

STUDENTS ARE IN THE CROWD (scarfs/ hands)

The Leaves Blew High (hands move high)
The Leaves Blew Low (hands move low)
The Leaves Blew Everywhere (hands move everywhere)
And Floated to the Ground (leaves FLOAT to the ground- NOT FALLING- dangerous)
X2
Second time:
This time, pay attention to the screen when you do the poem with your voices. T: can use
xylophone along with slides to demonstrate the voice slides with xylophone.

T: “now imagine you have a xylophone in front of you. In order to go low, you need to start
“high”!”
*make sure ST understand that in order to blow high, you must start low and vise versa.
*teacher can use a xylophone to demonstrate as well with students and visual on screen

Xylophones
The Leaves Blew High (Xylophone glissando high)
The Leaves Blew Low (Xylophone glissando low)
The Leaves Blew Everywhere (Xylophone can slide everywhere)
And Fell to the Ground (A single “bonk” on the Xylophone
While 1st group of students are playing on the xylophones, other group of students use the
scarfs to act like leaves (students move arms high/low, and then hit their lap so that the leaf is
falling

T will lead through these two options, either using an imaginary xylophone, or the imaginary
scarves as a practice round.

Setting up performance:

T: “We are going to give an Autumn Leaves performance! We are going to have two groups,
the first group is our scarves and voices, the second group is our xylophone instruments”

Next, T will split up students into two groups. First group will be at xylophones, other group will
be in the crowd w/ scarfs
---

While 1st group of students are playing on the xylophones, other group of students use the
scarfs to act like leaves
*with this, I would have a visual on the screen similar to the flashcards they got last class of
the leaves direction.

Transition: T: group one, please walk over to your xylophones and go into rest position. Go
ahead and gently play on your orph instrument
Practicing performance:
T: Run through the bouncing up/ down/ everyone/ one single bounce with “leaf!” with the
xylophones.
**Assign a student in the audience to hand out the scarves to “trees” in the crowd. Ask
students in the crowd to turn their scarf into a snowball as they are waiting to practice.

T: Next, run through the sliding voices with the scarves.

Performance:
T will make sure that all students are participating in the performance with orff instruments
and scarves.

ST will perform in ABA form (sing Autumn Leaves, Poem with xylophones, sing Autumn
Leaves)
-------------

If performance is finished early, supplementary activities:

Transition: We sang about our autumn leaves. Now everyone close your eyes. Imagine a tree
where all the leaves have fallen off of it. It is cold, you start to shiver. It is winter!
----------------------------------------
Options for activities to do after “Autumn Leaves”
Movement Activity: “Dance Mr. Snowman Dance”
https://youtu.be/9aGh95USVtQ
Students will move with the T to the song “Dance Mr. Snowman Dance.
OR
Students will use Rhythm sticks and follow the teacher in echo rhythms/ rhythms.
----------------
Movement/ Rhythm: “Stomp Your Feet to the Reindeer Beat”
T will teach the spoken ostinato: “Stomp Your Feet to the Reindeer Beat”, echoed.
ST and T speak this ostinato two times.
Then, the T “reindeer” will use a hand drum to echo rhythms for the other “reindeer” to stomp
back to.
The T will continue to echo rhythms that can get harder in difficulty depending on level of
class.
--------------------------
Simple Song: “I can’t wait to go outside!”
T will sing/perform the simple song to ST as an echo song with appropriate movements

“I can’t wait, I can’t wait to go outside!

I can’t wait, I can’t wait to go outside!
I zip my coat “zip!”
Wear my hat “click!”
Grab my Gloves “one two!”
And all of that “clap clap clap!”
I can’t wait, I can’t wait to go outside!
I can’t wait, I can’t wait to go outside!”
------------------------------------
Specific Assessments:
Students will be assessed on the performance with the rubric created.
For wise old owl, students names will be noted on the seating chart if they participated or not
that I can mark down on the master sheet later.

Closing Activity:

Teachers will call students who are ready to line up (composing their bodies the right way).

In line, I will do “repeat after me” rhythms with the students to grab their attention and keep
the music going.

Specific DIfferentiation Strategies:

Greeting: I will allow a few students to share how they are feeling with the class at the
beginning so that I can help them feel welcome/ not thinking about something that is on their
mind for the whole class.

Peep Squirrel: I want a musical way to get students moving right away, so I give students
freedom to walk around the room if needed.

Voice Exploration:
I added motions of students tracing the leave path in the air with their finger so that they do
not just use their voice.
(Student choice)

Wise Old Owl:

I added motions to this activity so that students will not just be sitting and singing (and so they
can learn the song easier)

Autumn Leaves Poem: allow students to move with arms/ motions

Orff Instruments:
ST who are not using orff instruments will be using their hands to keep the beat.

Autumn Leaves Performance:

Students who are not performing in the xylophones will be acting like leafs who can move
around exc.

---------
Supplementary assignments:
“Dance Mr. Snowman”: Students will be able to move around the room safely

“Stomp your feet the reindeer beat”: Students will be able to move around the room safely

“I can’t wait to go outside”: motions will help keep students engaged.

---------------------

For students with Disabilities, I will try to encourage them to stay in their spot, but if not, give
them jobs to help teacher exc. I always try to include movement in the activities.

Assessment:

Assessment:
T will have rubric to see how each student is comprehending leaf xylophone concepts.

Teacher will observe:

Students move and react to the song “peep squirrel” while moving around the room
appropriately.
Students explore their low voice and high voice using vocal exploration with leaves in the
wind.
Students use solo voices to echo back “Wise Old Owl”.
Students sing the song “Autumn Leaves” with their head voice.
Students use Xylophones, scarves, and voices to perform “ Autumn Leaves” and the moving
leaves poem appropiately.
--
If time
Students move and copy movements appropriately to the Snowman Song
Students repeat back teacher’s rhythms after chanting “stomp your feet to the Reindeer beat”.