s i c

Mu ress
AGE
5-6

n d s
Exp
x p l o r i n g s o u
o c u s : E
Musical f n g l i sh
l i n k : E
Subject

Unit: Ourselves
In this unit, the children explore ways of
using their voices expressively. They develop
skills of singing while performing actions,
and create an expressive story.

Click here to view the plans:

Medium term plan

1st lesson plan

2nd lesson plan

3rd lesson plan

Music Express Age 5-6 © 2014 A&C Black (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc)

Glossary 1 www.musicexpress.co.uk
 Musics
AGE
5-6

Expres
Unit: Ourselves Musical focus: Exploring sounds
Subject link: English

medium term Plan

L ess on

1 lesson Learning Teaching Activities Learning SUPPORT

• Creating and responding Chase the sound Encourage less confident

to vocal sounds children to explore making
Play a game for exploring the pitch of a vocal sound vocal sounds using a variety

Start with singing

of finger puppets during the
Chase the sound game.
Explore vocal sounds and add them to a song

Playing at the park

Add high, low and sliding vocal sounds to a song

L ess on

2 lesson Learning Teaching Activities Learning SUPPORT

• Creating and responding Say it...

to vocal sounds Perform a poem that demonstrates different ways of using the voice

Glad to be me
• Exploring how to change
sounds
Learn a happy song and add whole body actions

Glad to be me performance
Choreograph an action song performance

L ess on

3 lesson Learning Teaching Activities Learning SUPPORT

Show me one click

Music Express Age 5-6 © 2014 A&C Black (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc)

• Creating and placing

vocal and body Perform a body percussion song
percussion sounds
• Exploring descriptive A surprise meeting
sounds Add expressive vocal sounds and body percussion to a story

A surprise ending
Explore the expressive effect of a different ending to a story

Glossary 2 www.musicexpress.co.uk
 Musics
AGE
5-6

Expres
L ess on
Unit: Ourselves Musical focus: Exploring sounds
Subject link: English

1 Lesson Plan

Lesson learning What you will

need
• Creating and responding to vocal sounds

Teaching Activities

Chase the sound Vocabulary

Play a game for exploring the pitch of a vocal sound • Pitch
• D ynamics
Children:
–– explore making different pitches and sounds with their voices as they respond
to a hand action;
–– understand pitch through the use of voice and movement.

Start with singing

Explore vocal sounds and add them to a song
Children:
–– look at pictures to stimulate ideas for exploring vocal sounds;
–– differentiate between different lengths and volumes (dynamics) of vocal sounds;
–– sing a song which includes a variety of vocal sounds.

Playing at the park

Add high, low and sliding vocal sounds to a song
EXTENDED
Children: LEARNING
Music Express Age 5-6 © 2014 A&C Black (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc)

–– use a variety of pitches to create vocal sounds that represent pictures of

Create a sound collage of a
playground activities; park. Different groups use their
–– sing a song, adding their own vocal sounds to the end of each verse. voices to make the sounds of
different pieces of equipment.

Support: Encourage less confident children to explore making vocal sounds using a varie-
ty of finger puppets during the ‘Chase the sound’ game.

Glossary 3 www.musicexpress.co.uk
 Musics
AGE
5-6

Expres
L ess on
Unit: Ourselves Musical focus: Exploring sounds
Subject link: English

2 Lesson Plan

Lesson learning What you will

need
• Creating and responding to vocal sounds
• Exploring how to change sounds

Teaching Activities

Say it... Vocabulary

Perform a poem that demonstrates different ways of using the voice • Pitch
• Tempo
Children:
• D ynamics
–– learn a poem as they explore a range of expressive voices;
–– use a variety of dimensions (pitch, tempo and dynamics) as they perform a
poem expressively.

Glad to be me
Learn a happy song and add whole body actions
Children:
–– learn a song and think about how to sing and perform the lyrics expressively;
–– make up actions that match the vocabulary of the song lyrics.

Glad to be me performance
Choreograph an action song performance
Children:
EXTENDED
–– perform a choreographed song with actions;
LEARNING
Music Express Age 5-6 © 2014 A&C Black (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc)

–– perform the song in groups, joining in one group at a time to build a

Listen to some compositions
performance. that use extended vocal
techniques, eg Cathy
Berberian (1925 – 1985)
created a piece called
Stripsody that only uses sounds
found in comics, eg ‘splat’,
‘vroom’ and ‘brr’.

Glossary 4 www.musicexpress.co.uk
 Musics
AGE
5-6

Expres
L ess on
Unit: Ourselves Musical focus: Exploring sounds
Subject link: English

3 Lesson Plan

Lesson learning What you will

need
• Creating and placing vocal and body percussion sounds
• A selection of hand-held
percussion instruments
• Exploring descriptive sounds

Teaching Activities

Show me one click Vocabulary

Perform a body percussion song • Pitch
• D ynamics
Children:
• Tempo
–– learn a song and perform body percussion sounds that increase in number
with each verse.

A surprise meeting
Add expressive vocal sounds and body percussion to a story
Children:
–– explore a variety of vocal and body percussion sounds to accompany a story;
–– follow a storyboard score as they explore making their expressive sounds;
–– change the tempo and dynamics of sounds to make them more expressive.

A surprise ending
Explore the expressive effect of a different ending to a story
Children:
EXTENDED
–– suggest different endings for a story;
LEARNING
Music Express Age 5-6 © 2014 A&C Black (an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc)

–– explore sounds that can be used to accompany the suggested endings;

Create your own story with
–– perform the different endings with accompanying expressive sounds. vocal and body percussion
accompaniment.

Glossary 5 www.musicexpress.co.uk