Suggested Objectives Complete lesson plan Term 2 Week 4 The following objectives are suggestions that should be achievable to enable steady progression across the term, however they should be reviewed before each lesson and modified according to the ability of the class. To begin using musical words to describe music (pulse, beat, rhythm, pitch) To understand the difference between pulse (or beat) and rhythm To show good posture, rested and seated position on the instrument To begin improvising rhythms on the instrument Overview: Part 1: arriving Activity 1: coming in to the lesson Part 2: playing games Activity 2: pulse/rhythm/pitch games Part 3: singing and playing Activity 3: new song/composition Stop! Activity 4: playing instruments Activity 5: song In the groove Part 4: at the end Activity 6: summarise what the children have learnt Activity 7: put the instruments away General This week the class begins to learn Stop! a song/rap about bullying. In this piece, the children have the opportunity to make up their own words. Their words will be incorporated into the song. The majority of the writing will take place in class time, not the music lesson, but you will tweak the children s writing if necessary. Check with the class teacher whether there is a history of bullying in the class; if there is, the topic will need to be handled with extra care. NB Strongly encourage the children and class teacher to create their own words. If, however, the task is really beyond them, use any combination of the words in these teaching notes.
Part 1: arriving Activity 1: coming in to the lesson ON Switch on track Dance wiv me performed by Dizzee Rascal. 1.1 The children arrive, assemble their instrument (if appropriate) and join the circle, without talking. They pick up the pulse and the lesson begins. 1.2 Play with the pulse Find the pulse with your feet Clap hands with the beat on the on- or off-beat Ask children for some new body percussion ideas; everyone else copies. Can anyone breakdance? Will anyone go into the centre of the circle and show us some hip-hop moves? Be very firm about respectful behaviour here. It s very important to be respectful when someone is singing/dancing/playing on their own. Why? Encourage some discussion about being brave enough to stick your neck on the line, about laughing with as opposed to laughing at, about feelings/emotions etc. Revise the meaning of solo (Italian for alone ) and ensemble (French for together). Statues! to end each idea. 1.3 The children sit down. 1.4 Listen carefully for a moment to the music. Does anyone recognise it? Here s some information about the performers: Dizzee Rascal is a British Rapper, born in London in 1985; now a songwriter and producer; his style of music is called Grime; number one hits include Dance Wiv Me, Bonkers and Holiday. 1.5 Let s talk about the music. Do you like it? Why? Why not? Invite the children to ask questions of you and of each other. Select questions from: How would you describe the dynamics (volume)? instrumentation (instruments/voices)? pitch (high/low; female/male)? rhythm (smooth/jazzy/complicated/simple etc)? style (jazz/rock/pop/classical etc)? tempo (speed)? and new this term: texture (thick or thin; many voices/instruments or just a few)? timbre (quality of the sound is it vocal or instrumental)? What sort of movements would go with the music? Can you see pictures/colours/shapes when you listen to the music? Does it remind you of anything? Here are three questions specific to this piece of music: Can you sing the repeated bass line also called an ostinato? (if this is difficult, listen at 2 minutes 45 seconds) Is there any singing in this piece of music or just rapping? (just rapping) What instruments are used here? (no instruments only electronic sounds)
OFF Switch off track Dance wiv me. 1.6 Does anyone have a favorite piece of music that you listen to at home? Would you like to bring it to school for us to listen to? (Remind children to ask for permission from home.) If you bring it, we ll listen to it at the end of the lesson next week. 1.7 Revise the children s musical vocabulary. Which musical words can you remember? 1.8 Praise the children for something they have done well. 1.9 The children stand up. Part 2: playing games Activity 2: pulse/rhythm/pitch games Switch on track Stop! games track Have you heard this piece of music before? (No it s a piece of music written especially for this music lesson, based on Stop! the composition the children will begin to create today.) 2.1 Pulse games Revise the meaning of pulse. Let s find the pulse with our feet. Copy me! Hand/knee crossovers (diagonal hand to knee) Play My hands, your hands in pairs (threesomes are also fine): clap your own hands together x 2 ( my hands ) clap your partner s hands x 2 ( your hands ) Extend the pattern like this: clap your own hands together x 2 ( my hands ) your right hand claps your partner s right hand x 2 ( right hands ) clap your own hands together x 2 ( my hands ) your left hand claps your partner s left hand x 2 ( left hands ) clap your own hands together x 2 ( my hands ) clap your partner s hands x 2 ( your hands ) Close each idea with Statues!
2.2 Rhythm games Let s find the pulse again with our feet. Always keep the pulse going. Revise the meaning of rhythm. Clap a rhythm over the pulse. What am I doing? Clapping a rhythm. Play I ve got the drum. You hold a tambour (hand drum). In the circle, everyone keeps the pulse going with the feet. Everyone claps 1 2 3 4 then just marks the pulse with feet for one bar (1 2 3 4). In that bar, you improvise a rhythm on the drum. Without a break in between, alternate bars where everyone claps 1 2 3 4 and where you improvise. Explain to the children that they will have a turn to improvise on the drum. If you can t think of a rhythm of your own to play, then play the rhythm of I ve got the drum (taa ta-te taa sh). Pass the drum around the circle. Give everyone a turn at improvising. If the class is large, use two or three tambours (spaced about ten children apart). To end, play Now be a statue. 2.3 Pitch games Let s find the pulse again with our feet. Always keep the pulse going. Revise the meaning of pitch. Warm up voices (elastic bands; saa/see/sii/sow/suu etc). Choose one child s name and sing it to all the notes in an ascending then descending minor scale. Repeat using different names. Sing up the scale (to a name) and continue until you re as high as you can go; sing down the scale until you re as low as you can go. Sing: Now be a statue! 2.4 The children sit down. 2.5 Switch off track Stop! games track Part 3: singing and playing
Activity 3: composition Stop! 3.1 Define improvisation and composition. What is the difference between improvisation and composition? (Improvisation comes straight out of our head/fingers; we hear it but then it disappears; our improvisation will never be the same twice. When we compose we write down the music so it lasts for ever and we can go back to it and play it again another day.) 3.2 Revise some vocabulary In Hey, you! we sang the song, but what did we do before singing the tune? (we rapped the words) Which word describes speaking rhythmically? (rap) Which word describes making up music and writing it down so we can play it again another day? (composing) In our next song we re going to do some rapping and some singing and, over the next few weeks, some composing. 3.3 Listen to track Stop! sung chorus sung by Kim and Ben. Listen to and learn the sung chorus in Stop! Listen to the whole track once, following the words on the screen, then join in. Stop bullying! x 4 3.4 Listen to and learn the rapped chorus in Stop! Listen to track Stop! rapped chorus rapped by Tony. Listen to the whole track once, following the words on the screen, then join in. Stop! It s no good to be a bully! Stop! I hope you understand fully! Stop! So let s be friends, Friends until the end. x 2 3.5 Discuss and define the content of Stop! What s this piece about? (Bullying). 3.6 Listen to track Stop! complete sample version performed by Kim, Ben and Tony Explain the shape/form/structure of the piece Point out to the children that they will compose their own rapped verses for sections D1, D2, and D3. and follow the form of the piece.
Intro A sung chorus B rapped chorus C instrumental section D1 group 1 rapped composition A sung chorus B rapped chorus C instrumental section D2 group 2 rapped composition A sung chorus B rapped chorus C instrumental section and/or optional dance lasting until end of section D3 D3 group 3 rapped composition A + B sung chorus and rapped chorus together Ending 3.7 Ask the children to consider the subject of bullying Ask the children and the class teacher to do some work on the subject of bullying during the week: hold a discussion about bullying and being bullied; ask the children about their experience of bullying; talk about the anti-bullying policy in the school. Hold a brainstorming session to list words/phrases/ideas on the subject. Ask the class teacher and children to begin to sort these ideas into lines/4-line verses before next week s lesson. Explain that in next week s music lesson, you will do some more work on their ideas. Play track Stop! section D to the class and explain that this will be the backing track to their raps. Here are some examples further to those recorded by Tony of the kind of work the children might produce; eight lines are needed (4 lines x 2 or 8 lines x 1 are both fine). 4 lines x 2: Why pick on the minority? We re all part of society. We re all the same colour under the skin So work together and then we ll win. (4 lines x 2) 8 lines x 1: Black and white, we re all the same; Don t treat racism like a game. Fat or thin, small or tall, All for one and one for all. If you re bullying, look inside, Let your conscience be your guide. Why d you need to persecute others? Treat everyone like you treat your brothers.
Activity 4: playing instruments 4.1 Switch on track In the groove for your instruments Press the loop button if you want it to play continuously. 4.2 Walk in time to the music to collect your instruments and come back to the circle. Stand in the Rest Position. Absolutely no sounds! Who s the best statue? Correct any technical problems in the Rest Position. 4.3 Revise technical elements involved in playing the instruments. 4.4 Perform your warm-up routine over the track, including the notes the children will play in the song later in the lesson. 4.5 Hold the instruments in Rest Position. 4.6 Switch off track In the groove for your instruments. Activity 5: playing instruments In the groove 5.1 Use track In the groove for you to sing 1 verse to sing I am in the groove. Revise singing In the groove Last week we learnt a new song. Who can remember how it goes? What s the style of the song? (12-bar blues). 5.2 Use track In the groove for you to sing 1 verse. Choose a child s name and all sing eg Shan is in the groove x 6. This track is set to repeat. Press 1 on your computer keyboard to turn this off or simply the space bar to stop. Then choose six different names and, using the same track, all sing eg Danny is in the groove, Esime is in the groove, Rohini is in the groove, Bram is in the groove, Leo is in the groove, Jeni is in the groove. 5.3 Use track In the groove for your instruments. Children improvise on their instruments. Everyone is going to improvise! Each improvisation lasts for 2 x I am in the groove : child 1 bars 1-4; child 2 bars 5-8; child 3 bars 9-12. Go round the circle, giving everyone a chance to improvise. You will have to indicate to each child when their moment starts (don t point; use a musical gesture instead eg issue the invitation with an upturned hand)! After each group of three children you will hear the introduction; use that space to ensure the next three children are ready for their turn. Invite the children to use all the notes they know this will vary according to ability. Remind them that it s fine to use only two notes; good sound production is more important than a complicated technical performance.
NB You can use this song (in which children improvise on their instruments) to consolidate and to teach new notes for extension work. Teach one or two notes at a time, and encourage children either to stick to the notes they already know and are comfortable with, or to extend themselves using the new notes. Look at the parts the children will be playing in the next new song (Stop!) and ensure that the necessary notes will have been learnt by then. 5.4 Create an arrangement of In the groove eg 1. All sing I am in the groove 2. a third of the class improvises (12 bars each) 3. a third of the class improvises (12 bars each) 4. a third of the class improvises (12 bars each) 5. All sing Danny is in the groove (choose six names) 6. All sing I am in the groove 5.5 Use track In the groove your arrangement to drag and drop the song sections into the your arrangement area and build your arrangement. You can put the different sections of the song, either to sing or to play your instruments to in any order. Perform your arrangement of the song. 5.6 The children move to Seated Rest Position. Part 4: at the end Activity 6: summarise what the children have learnt 6.1 Put up your hand if you d like to tell me about something you have enjoyed or learnt in the lesson today. Activity 7: put the instruments away ON See you next time 7.1 Encourage the children to join in with the singing while they put their instruments away. After you have seen that each instrument has been put away properly, ask the children to line up at the door. 7.2 End the lesson with praise for something the children have done well.