If I Ran the Zoo

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Since March 2nd is the legendary Dr Seuss' birthday, I have created a lesson plan that incorporates reading, singing, and playing instruments with his book, "If I Ran the Zoo."

I definitely cannot take credit for this idea -- I got the idea from Ms. Benson (you can be redirected to her blog by clicking on her name)!  She originally did a melody to the book "There's A Wocket In My Pocket!"

Prep for Success -- Internalizing Pitches and Intervals

We did our standard warm-ups from the last class, with rhythm reading two measures in 4/4 time (using only quarter notes and eighth notes).  We also sang our intervals from last week (Sol, Mi, Do), and introducing "Re" for this exercise.

Once the children were comfortable with the intervals and hand signs, I had them sing, "Do-Mi-Re-Mi" (dotted eight with sixteenth note rhythm) and "Do" (half note) while using their hand signs.  I then added the words "If I Ran the Zoo!"

Big Changes:

I ended up not using this melody at all -- it turned out I made it a little too hard for the kids when they only have one mallet each.  Instead, we practiced singing, "Sol-Fa-Mi-Re-Do" with hand signs on quarter notes, and then added the lyrics "If I Ran the Zoo" to that.  They played the same thing on their instruments.

Performance

I had the children move back to the Orff instruments, and we practice playing the same melody while singing.  I then read the book to them, and after each page I read, they perform the melody on their instruments while singing.

What I Would Change Next Time:

I think that, like the Kindergarten/First Grade post, I would like for each child to have two mallets next year.  I'd also like to make this more challenging, like I wrote about in my Second/Third Grade post, and include a bass line and possibly an ostinato.  

Standards Being Met

Fourth Grade

MU.4.H.3.1, MU.4.F.3.1

Identify connections between music class and other academic areas.

Fifth Grade

MU.5.S.1.4, MU.5.S.3.4
Sing melodies learned by ear.
Play melodies and accompaniments learned by ear.
MU.5.S.3.2
Play melodies and accompaniments.