Class___3rd grade________________ Lesson#____3_____

These activities are set up to fulfill the full lesson time as well as lead into another lesson expanding upon
these three base activities on composition/song writing and musical consciousness.
Key

Tone Set

Materials

Musical Engagement
Include what questions
you will ask (and some
possible responses and
how you will respond to
those questions)

Goals

(2 min) Class walk in:

Sing Dinah while walking
the students in to prepare
the tone set for the
following activity.

D=Do

Do-Sol
(Factors
With
Student
Influence)

(10-15 min)
Sing this way
Activity based off the Sing
after me Sesame street
segment. Using basic
melodies that weve gone
over in class such as Good
morning, peas porridge
hot, and Dinah; we will
be mixing the melodic
patterns in these songs.
Begin by having the class
sit in a group setting, facing
the front of the class.
Explain that well be
mixing the songs that we
know to create all new
melodies, then sing an
example first without lyrics:
No one in the house but;
Peas porridge hot; No one
in the house but me I
know, and then sing again
this time with lyrics. Add
on to that idea by singing
the example: No one in the
house but peas porridge hot,
no one in the house but peas
porridge cold, no one in the
house but peas porridge in
the pot, nine days old. As
the lyrics weave into each
other smoothly, it should
instill the idea of the
activity. After running

Assessment
(formative)

Introduce the idea

of making your
own melodies
from known work,
advancing into
purely original
melodies.
Coincides with
improvisation as
well as
independent
reliance.

Pay mind to
how the class
reacts to
melodic
improvisation
rather than
just rhythmic
as done
before. Are
they less
confident with
melodies than
rhythms?
When the
lesson is
revisited,
make mental
note of student
progression.
(Later lesson
will revisit
this idea and
expand greatly
through a
group activity)

through that, ask a student

who seems confident to
come up to the class and
sing their own melodic
pattern. Whether or not it
uses only melodies the class
knows is irrelevant, but
make sure its simple and
short enough for the class to
echo back. If the melody is
too long or complicated for
the class (Should you
think), ask the class to echo
it in parts or simplify it, but
this seems unlikely for a
younger student grouping,
keep it in the back of your
mind. Rotate students three
or four times, this lesson
can be revisited later as well
for the students who
werent confident enough or
too short on time to go
today.

D=Do

Do-Do
(Influence)

Poem book
The
Canary
Whiteboard
/markers

From words to music (1520min)

This lesson involves critical
thought and expansion on
the previous activity as
well. Well be putting a
class-made melody to a
poem. The melody will be
made by the teacher with
basic input and tweaking
from the students. Using the
first stanza of the poem
The Canary by Elizabeth
Turner. Tell the class the
poem: Mary had a little
bird, With feathers bright
and yellow, Slender legs
upon my word, He was a
pretty fellow!
(Rule: Always begin and
end on Do) Now say to the
class theyll be making this
stanza into a song. Ask
First, is this a happy or sad
song? the majority if not
all should say happy, if
theres a student who says
its sad, ask why they think
that and take their answer
into consideration. Now tell

Introduce the
second half of
song writing;
putting melodies
to words that do
not originally have
a musical contour.
This gets the
students thinking
about complete
song writing using
very simple and
direct steps
involving the
previous concept
of melodic
contour.

The
assessment is
unique in the
sense that
theres no
specific way
to assess the
students, this
is purely to
introduce a
previously
complex idea
of melodic
writing.
However, the
advanced
students could
show
conscious
musical
decisions
when
inputting
directions for
the melody
beyond the

the class theyll be

achieving this composition
by selecting melodic
direction (Up or down),
much like the contour of
melodies covered in earlier
classes. The lesson from
here is largely dependent on
the selection of the class,
ask for directions from
several students until the
product is realized. This
should be one pitch per
beat. In Titi and Tah the
rhythm is as follows: Titi
Titi Titi Tah; Tah Titi Titi
Titi; Titi Titi Titi Tah; Titi
titiri Tah(Fel) Tah(low).
Again, be sure to start and
end on the pitch D. After
picking a direction for each
pitch, sing the poem with
the directional input in
Major twice and then ask
the class to join in with you.
The lesson can then be
expanded to have students
write their own directions
independent of the class and
then singing that as well.

Say
Cheese
Video

This activity is much more

mechanical in its approach
due to the vast
interpretations possible.
Well be guiding the class
in figuring out lyrics for this
video in the form of a chant.
First off, show the 2001
animation Say Cheese to
the class and tell them to
keep in mind what they see
in the video.
Then ask them for a
plethora of things they saw.
After about 2 minutes of
sharing, say were going to
write a chant for this entire
video by saying what we
see going on in the video.
Now play the video again
pausing at key spots and
asking the class what they
see. Write the key words

basic level.
That would be
the one
specific
assessment for
this activity.

This activity
continues the
process of
assisted
creativity. The
activity
exemplifies the
process of using
descriptive
language to write a
chant (and later on
lyrics to a melody)
in a simple way of

Focused on
class
participation
rather than
assessment.
Can show
what the
average
attention to
detail is in the
class as well
as descriptive
language
skills.

down on the board and then

move on to the next key
point, writing the key
description again, then fill
in the gap between the two
points. This means nouns
such as rat and the verb
for that noun, being rat
crawling across the rug.
Example for the beginning
is: Out comes a rat,
crawling cross the rug.
Then ask about the next
scene again, the key points
should be the rat seeing the
cheese and wanting to eat it.
Bring up the hearts in his
eyes and imply its more
akin to love, then complete
the next line in our chant
with: The rat sees cheese
and falls in love. This
process should go on for the
video, continuing to keep
the process of describing
the rat and action occurring.
The final product should be
as follows (For this lesson
try not to deviate too much
from this form with student
input)
Here comes a rat, crawling
cross the rug. The rat sees
cheese and falls in love.
Holy cheese, how it
pleases me.
Oh no says the rat, now
Im too fat.
The rat cant take a single
step.
So the rat hops home, but
cant fit the hole. Now
comes a cat, ready to eat the
rat. But that cat is a kitten
and cuddles the rat. Phew
the rat squees, no more
cheese.

starting with an
outline of nouns
and verbs, in this
context they are
the rat and its
actions, with a
solitary line
describing the cat
and its intentions.
The base activity
is more akin to a
language arts
process, but leads
into a pure musical
activity.