Grade Two

Let's Explore Steps and Skips

Discussion: Introduce steps and skips. Play a game to practice the difference. 

Explore: Steps and skips between different solfege pitches, what steps/skips make chords?

William Plays the Tambourine

Day 1: Introduce song, review tambourine sounds.

Day 2: Introduce song, and play improvisation game using tambourine

Peaches on Boomwhackers

Day 1: A little play along video to review and practice boomwhacker etiquette

Solfege

Day 1: Introduce Solfege and hand signs, connect boomwhacker pitches to solfege pitches. Play game: without talking, work as a team to form a line that plays the major scale in order from Do - Do'.

Day 2: Review Solfege and Hand Signs. Review which Boomwhacker is each solfege pitch. Try to beat last class' record for our quick major scale line.

3/4 Time

Day 1: After keeping a steady beat in previous song, discuss how many of our songs have 4 beats (per bar). Did we know there's songs with 3 beats? It's called 3/4 time. Practice counting in 3/4 time, then learn to Waltz

Carnival of the Animals - Royal March  by Camille Saint-Saëns

Day 1: Close eyes, and listen to song. What is this song about? Reveal that it's  meant to sound like the king of the animals.  Who's that? Students silently listen to song, and move around the classroom like their chosen royal animal, creating a "classroom safari".

Carnival of the Animals - Elephants by Camille Saint-Saëns

Day 1: Close eyes, and listen to song. What is this song about? Reveal that it's  meant to sound like elephants. Students silently listen to song, and move around the classroom like elephants, creating a "classroom safari".

The Bubble Gum Machine

Day 1: Introduce song and have students keep a steady beat. 

Day 2: Review song, and add the B Section - rhyming words. Students take turns rhyming words with bubble gum machine words (ex: bat and cat, sit and bit, more and floor)

Day 3: Review song and rhymes, add in the ball to play the circle game.

Day 4: Complete circle game turns, assessing steady beat.

Frog in the Meadow

Day 1: Introduce song

Day 2: Review song. Play circle game while using dynamics to sing

Day 3: Finish turns

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Day 1: Introduce song and actions, sing piano/forte, fast/slow

Day 2: Perform song and actions ABA form ( A = out loud, B = in our heads)

Carnival of the Animals - Aquarium by Camille Saint-Saëns

Day 1: Discussion on how we can use music to describe things, without using words. Close eyes, and listen to song. What is this song about? Reveal that it's  meant to show an aquarium. Students silently listen to song, and move around the classroom like a sea creature of their choice, creating a "classroom aquarium".

5 Little Froggies

Day 1: Introduce poem. Copy finger actions.

Day 2: Review poem and finger actions, create our own froggie finger puppets.

Veggie Song

Day 1: Introduce song. What are our favourite vegetables that we can grow in a garden? Practice singing our favourite veggies using a (sol-mi) pattern.

Day 2: Review song, create our own rhythm compositions using vegetable cards.

Day 3: Perform song and favourite vegetables, assess pitch matching (sol-mi)

Boom De Ah Da - Earth Day

Day 1: Watch video. Discuss our favorite things about Earth, and what we can do to protect our environment. Learn song by creating movements for each phrase.

Day 2: Review song and actions. Perform ABA form, where A = Out loud with actions and B = in our heads with actions (audiation).

DYI Egg Shakers

Day 1: Work together to build egg shaker instruments using beads and plastic eggs. Practice playing piano and forte, then play an egg hunting game with a hider, a finder, and some forte/piano help from the class. 

The Bunny Hokey Pokey Body Break with Shakers

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Swimmy

Day 1: Read Story and learn song.

Day 2: Add song to story, move the fish to show melodic contour.

Day 3: Review Song, transfer fish to staff. Play on instruments.

2, 4, 6, 8

Day 1: Introduce poem and pats/claps  

Day 2:  Label pats = beat, and claps = rhythm, put the beat in our feet and march around the class                             

Day 3: Transfer to instruments (Drums and rhythm sticks)        

Day 4: Draw the form of the poem (phrases, beats, rhythms) and complete booklet

*Assessment = Booklet  

Candy Shop

Day 1: Introduce song and practice echo singing our favorite candies. 

Day 2: Review song, and add echoing circle game. 

Day 3: play game. Students assessed on matching pitch during their echo solos. 

Lost Boy

Day 1: Listen to song, mirror movements with a partner.

Day 2: Composer Connections: 2 Truths and a Lie

Day 3: Draw what you hear.

Acka Backa

Day 1: Introduce Song

Day 2: Review Song and discuss melodic contour. Use Jamboard to put the music notes in the right order/sequence to write the song.

Day 3: Review Song and play Acka Backa shoe game with a small group.

Irish Washerwoman

It's St Patrick's Day! Quick discussion on  what the Irish Washerwoman is, and then class circle dance which includes students jumping in the middle with their own action, then the class copying that movement. Everyone got a turn.

The Irish Washerwoman

Song to accompany our circle dance.

It's Mi, Re, Do

Day 1: Introduce songs with hand signs, and make connections between solfege and our classroom posters/elevator song

Day 2: Review song. Explore how the hand signs show high/low, how else can we show it on our bodies? (Ex: Do = touch feet, Re = touch belly, Mi = touch head)

Day 3: Review high, medium, and low pitches. Explore where else we can show Do, Re, Mi on our bodies.

Ms Mary Mack

Day 1: Introduce poem with steady beat. Review steady beat.

Day 2: Review poem, teach body percussion. Try with a partner.

Day 3: Add additional body percussion. Try with a partner. Can we change our tempo to go faster or slower?

Rain on the Green Grass

Day 1: Learn Song

Day 2: Review song, add instruments

Day 3: Review song, creative movement exercise "Let's go for a walk"

Day 4: Review song, explore and draw song phrases, beats, double bar line, and solfege. 

Mince Pie Fly

Day 1: Practice marching to a steady beat on the drum. Introduce poem.

Day 2: Review poem and marching, "catch a fly" (clap) on the rests. Label the rests.

Day 3: Review Poem and Rests, play game.

Jack be Nimble

Day 1: Introduce poem with finger movements, watch Jack be Nimble video.

Day 2: Review poem and finger movements, jump over the candlestick game with Keel Row song. 

Day 3: Review poem and finger movements, jump over candle stick with a partner. Add rhythm sticks.

Keel Row 

Used for Jack be Nimble.

Inuit Throat Singing

We learned a little about Inuit culture, and learned how to throat sing. Most classes had enough time to pair up and practice throat singing together. 

Oliver Twist

1. Introduce song and actions.

2. Review song and actions, introduce audiation (singing in our heads).

3. Perform song ABA form (A= out loud, B= in our heads), discover form by assigning shapes/letters to each different section. 

Elevator Song

Day 1: Introduce song with actions and draw/create our class elevator with 8 floors.

Day 2: Review song and actions, make the connection between what our bodies are doing and what our voices are doing (both starting down low, then rising as the song progresses).

Valentines Day Rhythm Game

Day 1: Quick review of rhythms, introduce game and play as a class.

Day 2: Make own own musical fortune tellers

Valentines Day Rhythm Game Printable PDF

Special Thank you to Ms Syndi and Just Orffin' Around for this wonderful resource

Roses are Red

Day 1: Introduce song via echo. Add body percussion.

Day 2: Review song, transfer body percussion to instruments.

Day 3: Review song with body percussion, add a B section of reading/playing sol-mi hand bell patterns.

Farmer John

Day 1: Introduce song and bird cards. Rhythm connections.

Day 2: Review song and add body perc. actions to bird cards. Practice playing game with Ms. Tara choosing the cards.

Day 3: Review song and body perc. Play game where one student picks a card, the class performs the body percussion, and then another student guesses the bird. 

4 Voices - Alphabet Song

Day 1:  Discuss each of the four voices, what do they mean? Sing/speak/whisper/shout the alphabet song depending on which voice we point to.

Day 2: Review, and play alphabet game with students pointing to the chart. 

Doggy Doggy

Day 1:  Introduce song, review piano/forte concepts. Play game while using piano/forte sounds to help "the doggy" find its bone. 

Day 2: Play game again, practicing piano/forte, to ensure everyone has a turn. 

Alligator Poem

Day 1: Introduce poem, explore high and low voices, pat steady beat.

Day 2:  Review poem and steady beat. Use body percussion chart to choose movements for steady beat. Refine to Pat, Pat, Clap, Clap.

Day 3: Review poem and body percussion chart. Change Pat, Pat, Clap, Clap to Pat, Pat, Touch, Touch, and try with a partner. 

Little Snowflakes

Day 1: Introduce song, explore connections between our body movements and voices (when our voices are high, our body movements are high, when our voices are low our body movements are low), how can we use scarves to show what our voices do?

Day 2: Review song and scarf movements (high/low). Add game.

Day 3: Play game.

The Snowy Day

Day 1: Read story with The Snow is Dancing by Claude Debussy playing in the back ground.

Day 2: Revisit story and song, then play 2 Truths and a Lie game to learn more about the composer Claude Debussy.

Sing You Home

Day 1: Discuss Remembrance Day. What is it? Discover 5 remembrance day words: Peace, Love, Friendship, Compassion, and Kindness. Students split into one group per word, and create an action to represent the word. Share with the class. 

Day 2: Watch youtube video of "Sing you Home". What happened in the video?  Review words. Pick one instrument to represent each word. Create an intro to "Sing you Home" video using these instruments and words. 

There was an Old Lady of Skin and Bones

Day 1: Teach the "ouu" part by echoing. This is then referred to as the "part of the wind". Sing entire story to students. Ask for volunteers to be the light flickers, ghost, and old lady. Play the game, reenacting the story. 

We're Going on a Goon Hunt

Day 1: Introduce Story

Day 2: Finish Story

We Are Scary Skeletons

Day 1: Introduce song, move like scary skeletons, freaky Frankensteins, ghoulish ghosts, etc. 

In the Hall of the Mountain King

Day 1: Learn story of the Hall of the Mountain King. Students close their eyes, and use their imaginations as we listen to the song for the first time. Students each receive a coloring sheet, and draw what they hear as we listen to the song 2 more times. Class gallery walk to look at each other's art. 

Day 2: Introduce song with lyrics. Play composer 2 truths and a lie.

Listening Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nMUr8Rt2AI 

Mrs White

Day 1: Introduce poem by listening to the story with eyes closed. Discuss what we imagined. Practice vocal exploration by making ghost sounds that explore the very highest and very lowest parts of our voices. Perform AB form where A = saying the poem, and B = making ghost noises. Add movement to B section so the student move like ghosts while making ghost sounds.

Day 2: Review poem. Introduce scarf movement: following our scarves with our voices by singing high/low depending on if the scarf is high/low. Perform ABABA where A = Poem and B =  Scarf movement/vocal exploration. 

Pumpkin Stew

Day 1: Introduce song via echo, add pats keeping a steady beat, perform AB form where A = patting steady beat and singing out loud, and B = patting steady beat and singing in our heads.

Day 2: Review song, tap steady beat on our laps, then on our heads, then students decide where to put the steady beat on our bodies. Introduce partner game.

Day 3: Play game in AB form where A = Sing the song and B = clap a rhythm from the rhythm cards.

Trick or Treat

Day 1: Introduce Poem by rote. Perform poem AB style while keeping a steady beat on our laps (A= Saying the poem out loud, B= Saying the poem in our heads).

Day 2: Review poem. Review steady beat and rhythm, then put the steady beat on our laps and put the rhythm in our hands. Split class in half, and give half the class drums and half the class woodblocks. Play AB form where A = steady beat on drums with poem and B + rhythm on woodblocks with poem. Switch instruments and play again.

Turkey in the Pan

Day 1: Discuss Thanksgiving meals and favorite thanksgiving foods.  Introduce poem, and begin turns putting imaginary food items in the pan. Class claps back the rhythm of the food in the pan. 

Day 2: Review poem, and resume turns. 

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Day 1: Introduce Poem by echoing. Perform in AB form (A= the poem, B= students imagine their hands are turkeys and do a short "turkey dance" on the drum. The class claps back the turkey dance rhythms.)

Day 2: Review poem and finish turns. 

One, Two, Three

Day 1: Introduce song by echo, introduce movement cards and move around the class like the insects on the cards.

Day 2: Review song, add body percussion. Transfer to instrument circle.

Day 3: Group work: create our own arrangement of the song using instruments and cards. 

Grizzly Bear

Day 1:  Introduce song, discuss forte (loud) and piano (soft). Practice singing forte and piano.                                                                    

Day 2: Review song and piano/forte. Introduce game.

Day 3: Sing and play game to strengthen our piano/forte skills and ensure everyone has a turn as bear.

Starlight 

Day 1:  Read Story and Introduce Song                                                                        

Day 2: Read Story and Introduce movement during "and she danced across the sky"                                                                                          

Day 3: Read story and take turns playing glockenspiel while feathers fall during "and she danced across the sky"

Your Name is a Song

Day 1: Read Story

Day 2: Review the message of the story, talk about names. Share a xylophone with a friend, and create our own name songs. Share song with the class.

Jump In, Jump Out

A great game for learning more about our classmates!

Day 1: Introduce poem and game

Day 2: Play game while class chants poem and teacher plays drum

Day 3: Continue game to ensure everybody gets a turn