Moving Lesson Plan

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Grade: 4^th Grade Primary Concepts: meter 6/8 time signature movement Objectives: The student will participate in the opening activity by finding the beat and accurately bouncing the ball to correct tempo. The student will sing each verse of Skating Away with accurate pitches and rhythms while performing the dance using the correct steps. Curriculum Link: National Standards #1 Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music #5 Reading and notating music #6 Listening to, analyzing, and describing music Academic Content Standards #2 Creative Expression and Communication, Benchmark A, grade 4 #3 Analyzing and Responding, Benchmark A, grade 4 #4 Valuing Music/Aesthetic Reflection, Benchmark A, grade 4 Prerequisite Knowledge: The students will understand time signatures and will have already been introduced to 6/8. They will also be familiar with The Music Time is Over from previous classes. Materials: rubber balls (enough for entire class) large, empty space in center of room for activities recording of Greensleeves (or another piece in 6/8) CD player music and dance instructions for Skating Away – pg. 185, Come on Everybody, Let’s Sing! by Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming The Music Time is Over – pg. 13, Come on Everybody, Let’s Sing! by Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming Procedure: (10 minutes) Have students take a ball as they enter the room. Ask each student to find his or her own space. Play Greensleeves while the students bounce the ball to the beat of the example. At the end of this activity, review the 6/8 time signature. Play the recording again, this time asking each student to accent beats one and four by bouncing the ball and keeping the small beats in their feet. (8 minutes) Teach the first verse of Skating Away. As the students sing, have them step to beats one and four, alternating feet. When they are able to sing all the correct notes, teach the words to verses two and three. (4 minutes) Have the class form a circle and join hands. Choose a group of six students to dance in the center of the circle. Have these six students join right hands and skip around clockwise while outside circle skips counter-clockwise. Practice these steps while singing the first verse. (4 minutes) Continue this dance while singing the second verse, this time asking the students in the middle to imitate skaters falling through ice. (4 minutes) Sing the third verse of the song, asking each of the six dancers to find a partner from the outside circle and swing him or her around, holding both hands. The outer circle should continue to skip counter-clockwise. The six partners will then become the new group in the center of the circle. Remind the students to try to choose someone who has not has a turn in the center. (5 minutes) Put all three verses together and perform the entire song and dance, repeating three times so that several different students can dance in the middle. (5 minutes) End class by singing The Music Time is Over. Ask the students to stand and use some type of body percussion to show the beat. Explain that this song is also in 6/8, and quickly review the concept of “big beats” and “little beats” by tying this song to the other activities of the class period. Assessment: Informal embedded assessment of the group based on accurate singing and dancing, and informal embedded assessment of individuals during each activity focusing on each student finding the beat.