Music & Social Studies Lesson Plan

Title of Lesson: Thanksgiving Beginnings

Grade level: Grade 2
Time Required: 40-50 minutes
Citations:
Anderson, W. and Lawrence, J. (2014). 9th ed. Integrating Music into the Elementary
Classroom. Five Fat Turkeys, p. 392.
Burrows, A. [Youtube]. (2011). Five fat turkeys [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://youtu.be/w01pkrkMOFw
Handel, G. F. (1736). Part I: Air: Happy, happy, happy pair [Naxos]. Alexanders Feast
[Ode] [CD]. London: Barenreiter Verlag
Matthews, C. (1988). Part III: Flight: Hearing by the Indians [NMC Recordings]. The
Great Journey [CD]. United Kindom: Faber Music.
Prelutsky, J. (1982). The first thanksgiving., Its thanksgiving (p. 12-15). New York, NY:
Greenwillow Books.
I.

II.

III.

Overview of Lesson
Through these Thanksgiving related activities, the children will learn more
about where and why Thanksgiving was first celebrated by the Pilgrims.
Around second grade, children between the ages of 6 & 7 are interested in
songs about special occasions, such as Thanksgiving. Between these ages,
the children are also capable of tempo changes and playing instruments.
Allowing the children to sing a song about turkeys connects to their current
understanding of Thanksgiving, while playing along with a poem about the
Pilgrims first Thanksgiving and moving around to music related to the
Pilgrims experiences, helps to actively expand their understanding of the
meaning behind Thanksgiving.
Objectives
1) The student will recite the words to the song, Five Fat Turkeys, while
demonstrating the corresponding hand motions.
2) The student will imitate the beat assigned by the teacher to play with their
instrument during the reading of the poem, The First Thanksgiving.
3) The student will apply their prior knowledge about the Pilgrims experiences
in America in order to infer what experiences each of the two pieces of music
convey through their movement.
4) The student will compare and contrast the aspects Pilgrims first
Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving celebrated today.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

117.109. Music, Grade 2.

(2.3) Creative expression. The student performs a varied repertoire of

developmentally appropriate music in informal or formal settings. The student is
expected to:
(A) sing tunefully or play classroom instruments, including rhythmic and melodic
patterns, independently
or in groups
(C)move alone or with others to a varied repertoire of music using gross and fine
locomotor and non-locomotor movement.
(2.5) Historical and cultural relevance. The student examines music in relation to
history and cultures.
(A)sing songs and play musical games, including patriotic, folk, and seasonal music.
IV.

Interdisciplinary Connections
Through this lesson, the students will strengthen their Historical knowledge
and expand their perspective of Thanksgiving by learning about the Pilgrims
story. In second grade, the students are expected to learn about national
celebrations including Thanksgiving. As the students participate in these
activities, they will be exposed to the origins of the Thanksgiving celebration
we observe each year which adds a deeper connection and meaning behind
why the holiday remains to be celebrated year after year. By reading poetry
and engaging in discussions, the students are actively engaged in Language
Arts and the application of the English language. They are not only being
exposed to examples and aspects of poetry, such as meter, but also learning
new vocabulary terms. Through discussion, they are able to enhance their
understanding by listening to responses of others and ultimately through
personal application.

113.413. Social Studies, Grade 2.

(1) History. The student understands the historical significance of landmarks and
celebrations in the community, state, and nation. The student is expected to:
(A)explain the significance of various community, state, and national celebrations
such as Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving.
110.13. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 2.
(b) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Reading/Beginning Reading Skills/Print Awareness. Students understand how
English is written and
printed. Students are expected to distinguish features of a
sentence (e.g., capitalization of first word, ending punctuation, commas, quotation
marks).
V.

Music Vocabulary
Rhythm: the organization of musical sounds in time; sub areas include beat,
tempo, and meter.
Tempo: the speed with which the beat recurs in music
Beat: ongoing pulse in music; steady beat (macrobeat: big beat; microbeat:
small beat)
Melody: a succession of musical sounds that are perceived as belonging
together

VI.

Vocabulary
Thanksgiving: A national holiday celebrated in November every year to
remember the harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621. Today we
celebrate Thanksgiving to recall what we are thankful for in our lives.
Pilgrims: the group of people who fled from England to establish a colony in
America where they could practice their religion freely.
Harvest/Crops: the process of gathering the crops, which are the grains,
fruits, and vegetables planted in the ground.
Plymouth Rock: the location the Pilgrims landed in America after sailing on
the Mayflower and settled their colony.

VII.

Preparation/Materials
1) Open space for the students to sit in a circle and move around freely
2) Its Thanksgiving by Jack Prelutsky
3) Drums (one each; half of students)
4) Egg Shakers (two each; half of students)
5) Audio Player
6) Access to the songs: The Great Journey, Part III: Flight: Hearing by the Indians
and Alexanders Feast [Ode], Part I: Air: Happy, happy, happy pair

VIII.

IX.

Motivation/Introduction
The teacher will ask the students to leave their desks and sit in a circle. The
teacher begin by asking the students, what is one thing you are thankful
for? After everyone has shared, the teacher will transition into briefly about
the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. The teacher will explain that the
Pilgrims fled England by sailing to America in the Mayflower where they
landed on Plymouth Rock. Overtime, the Pilgrims settled their own colony and
learned how to grow their own crops for food. The teacher will further state
that when the Pilgrims had their first good harvest, they celebrated with a
feast to represent how thankful they were for the food they grew, now known
as Thanksgiving. The teacher will then state that today they will be singing a
song about the traditional thanksgiving bird, the turkey.
Instruction/Procedures
(A)
Activity 1: Five Fat Turkeys
i. Element of Music: The student will practice altering the Rhythm by
gradually increasing the Tempo of the song, Five Fat Turkeys.
ii.
Directions:
The teacher will use the echo method to teach the students each part of
the song, Five Fat Turkeys (p. 392), along with its corresponding motions.
The teacher will repeat each section of the song a couple of times before
adding on the next part of the song.
a. Words: Five fat turkeys are we.

(B)

i. Motion: have one hand wide open and the other hand in a
fist with the thumb out, place the fist against the palm of
the open hand
b. Words: We slept all night in a tree.
i. Motion: slept- place your palms together then place
them under your head to rest on
ii. Motion: tree- extend your arms above your head and
make them look like tree branches
c. Words: When the cook came around,
i. Motion: put hands together in a fist and pretend to stir a
big pot
d. Words: we couldnt be found,
i. Motion: shake head side to side as if saying, no
e. Words: So thats why were here, you see.
i. Motion: place slightly bend arms out to the side with palms
up as if shrugging, I dont know
After the teacher finishes teaching the song, the teacher and the students
will sing the song all together a couple of times through, while swaying to
the macrobeat of the song and using hand motions. Once the students are
comfortable with the original beat of the song, the teacher will gradually
increase the tempo of the song each time it is sung from the beginning
and even begin counting down until there is one lone turkey.

Activity 2: Its Thanksgiving, The First Thanksgiving poem

i.
Element of Music: The student will strengthen their familiarity of Rhythm
by playing the Beats (macrobeat and microbeat) with instruments along
with the poem.
ii.
Directions:
The teacher will transition into reading the poem by having the students
continue to sing or hum the Five Fat Turkeys as the teacher is passing out
a drum to half of the students and a pair of egg shakers to the other half
of the students. As the teacher finishes passing out the instruments, the
teacher will fade out the song and begin assigning beats for the students
to play with their instruments.
The teacher will tap a macrobeat on her legs for the students with the
drums to play along with her. Once the drums have a steady beat, the
teacher will ask the drums to stop playing and shake the microbeat for the
students with the egg shakers to practice.
The teacher will read the poem and tap either the macrobeat or
microbeat, depending on the part of the poem, to allow the students to
hear when their instruments will be played. After modeling for the
students, the teacher will ask the students to join in the next time by
playing their beat as the poem is read. Once the poem is read a couple of
times through with the instruments, the teacher could challenge the
students to play their instruments together throughout the poem while
keeping their individual beats.

a. The First Thanksgiving

When the Pilgrims
first gathered together to share
with their Indian friends
in the mild autumn air,
they lifted their voices
in jubilant praise
for the bread on the table,
the berries and maize,
for field and for forest,
for turkey and deer,
for the bountiful crops
they were blessed with that year.
They were thankful for these
as they feasted away,
and as they were thankful,
were thankful today.
(C)
Activity 3: Part III: Flight: Hearing by the Indians & Part I: Air:
Happy, happy, happy pair
i. Element of Music: The student will listen to both pieces of music and
recognize the aspects of their contrasting Melody.
ii.
Directions:
As the teacher finishes picking up the instruments, the students will stand
for the next listening activity. The teacher will play the first song (Part III:
Flight: Hearing by the Indians) and ask the students to freely move around
the room to the music, thinking about what part of the journey the
Pilgrims might be experiencing.
After playing the first song for about 1 minute, the teacher will transition
into the next song (Part I: Air: Happy, happy, happy pair) giving the
students the same directions as before, but noting that this song may
express a different tone within the melody.
After playing the second song for about 1 minute, the teacher will ask the
students to share what parts of the journey they thought both pieces of
music resembled, such as sailing in the ocean, harvesting crops,
celebrating their food, etc.
X.

Closure
After discussing their responses to the listening activity, the teacher will close
by asking the students to share if learning about the Pilgrims experiences with
the first Thanksgiving changed their understanding of Thanksgiving. The
teacher may also ask the students to compare and contrast the reasons the
Pilgrims celebrated Thanksgiving compared to why we celebrate Thanksgiving
today.

XI.

Assessment
Objective #1: The student will recite the words to the song, Five Fat Turkeys,
while demonstrating the corresponding hand motions.
5
10
15
20
Did not participate by
singing the song with hand
motions

Use some hand motions

while singing the song

Fully participated in the

activity; used all hand
motions while singing the
song

Objective #2: The student will imitate the beat assigned by the teacher to play
with their instrument during the reading of the poem, The First Thanksgiving.
5
10
15
20
Used incorrect instrument
technique and did not keep
the correct beat

Sometimes played their

instrument with correct
technique and keep the
beat

Played the instrument with

correct technique and
clearly kept the correct
beat

Objective #3: The student will apply their prior knowledge about the Pilgrims
experiences in America in order to infer what event each of the two pieces of
music convey through their movement.
10
15
20
25
Chose not to move around
the room or did not seem
engaged in post-discussion

Sometimes moved around

the room and may or may
not have contributed to the
discussion

Seemed engaged in the

entire activity by actively
moving around the room
and willing to share in
discussion

Objective #4: The student will compare and contrast the aspects Pilgrims first
Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving celebrated today.
5
15
25
35
May have identified

Identified some correct

All identified comparisons

incorrect comparisons or
chose not to participate

comparisons, but was

willing to participate

were correct and willingly

participated