4th Grade Daily Lessons

Table of Contents

Unit 1

Lesson 1

Learning targets and success criteria for today:

Materials


Watch this cup passing tutorial video.  When we return to school we will be trying this, so practice it every day!  You will need one plastic cup.  DO NOT use glass!!!  

Lesson 2

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Materials:


Now... Let's begin!



See how far you can get in this My Turn/Your Turn game (Call and Response)!  What level player are you?  You can use a drum if you have one, or just use your knees.  Practice every day.  Good luck...

Level 1: 0:00-1:13 Easy and short rhythms all on the beat

Level 2: 1:13-2:08 These are still easier, but longer

Level 3: 2:08-3:40 Much trickier rhythms

Level 4: 3:40-5:15 Using more rests and playing on upbeats

Level 5: 5:15-7:15 Congratulations! You are a master!  

Here is a really fun song from the country of Ghana. Try to play each part with the song. For shakers, you can use any container with something in it that makes sound (like a can with rice in it). If you don't have a drum use your hands on the floor or knees. You get the idea... I usually play a game with this song, but we'll save that for another time. 


Lesson 3

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Materials:


Now... Let's begin!

This is a really fun and challenging clapping game. It gets more and more challenging as the song goes on, so you may need to practice this several times. I must admit, it took me several times before I got it, but you will probably do better than me. 


Lesson 4

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Materials:


Now... Let's begin!


When I was in New Zealand I met a few Maori people and heard their singing and saw their dances. Here is a Maori children's song that is very popular in New Zealand. See if you can make it to Level 3. Remember... it only counts if you can play the pattern AND sing the song at the same time. You might have to practice this a bunch .  What level can you make it to with no mistakes?  Email me your answer at tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us


This is a traditional Maori song and dance called the Haka.  Watch this video and then think about these questions.  

1. What is the purpose of this song/dance? 

2. Why do they make such ugly faces during the dance? 

3. What would be the closest thing to the Maori here in America?  

In New Zealand they don't play football like we do here in America.  Their favorite sport is rugby and they have the best rugby team in the world- the All Blacks (also my favorite rugby team!).  Before every game, the All Blacks perform the Haka.  Watch this video and think about the same questions above.  

Unit 2

Lesson 1

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Now... Let's begin!  REVIEW!!!


Have you ever seen Line Rider?  It’s a very popular youtube series.  Here is a fun way to listen to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony- one of the most famous pieces of music ever written.  Many people believed that Beethoven wrote this music to express how he felt about continuing to compose music even while he was going deaf.  It’s meant to be a triumphant piece of music.  How does it sound to you?  What part of your life would this sound good as background music to?  Do you recognize any musical symbolism in this?  Email your answers to me at tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us


Lesson 2 

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Now... Let's begin!



Here is a challenging, but fun, game to play that will help you with your pitch recognition.  The game will play one of three pitches: low (the button on the left), middle, or high (the button on the right).  When you hear the pitch a ball will launch toward your buttons.  If it is the low pitch (Do or C), click on the button on the left; if it plays the high pitch (Mi or E), click on the button on the right; the middle pitch (Re or D) is, of course, the button in the middle.  This game is difficult, so it may take you several turns to get the hang of it.  Good luck!  

First go through this short introduction before you play the game… (If the link doesn't work, copy and paste the link into your browser)

https://trainer.thetamusic.com/en/content/html5-lesson

 

Now, you are ready to play..

https://trainer.thetamusic.com/en/content/html5-paddle-pitch

What was you best score?  Email me at tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us


Lesson 3


Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Now... Let's begin!


Now you are ready to play some intermediate rhythms.  This is a rhythm reading challenge that uses some of the more difficult rhythms: the dotted quarter note (Ta-i), the single 8th note (ti), and the 8th rest(sss).  See if you can play every level correctly.  How many levels can you play perfectly?  Let me know:  tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us

Lesson 4

Learning targets and success criteria for today:



Now... Let's begin!

It's time to practice those syncopation rhythms (quarter-8th-quarter note patterns) we have been working on.  This is an easy song to sing and an easy rhythm to play, but to do them both at the same time is challenging! Why does Mama say "No play?"  Email your answer to tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us



This year we will be singing lots of rounds.  This is a 3-part round to the song "Row Your Boat."  Choose either the blue, red, or purple part and see if you can follow your part all the way through.  When you finish, try it again with a different part.  Keep trying until you can sing all three parts.  Which part was easiest?  Which was hardest?  Let me know: tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us

This is a really fun and addicting activity for creating loops.  When you press start an 8-beat loop will begin.  Simply drag and drop the different icons onto the different singers and they will begin looping their parts automatically.  There are tons of variations that you can make.  Click on the menu to make changes, start over, or even record your loop.  This is so easy to use that even my 2-year-old made an excellent sounding loop!  Did you prefer to have all the singers going at once, or did you keep things more simple?  How would you describe the music that you created?  There are three different versions of this game.  Try all 3!  Which version did you like the best?  Email me!  tstevens@jeffco.k12.co.us

https://www.incredibox.com/demo/v1

https://www.incredibox.com/demo/v2

https://www.incredibox.com/demo/v3

Unit 3

Lesson 1

Learning targets and success criteria for this lesson:  


Now... Let's begin!

This is from one of my favorite episodes of the Muppet Show and stars Harry Belafonte.  Harry Belafonte was a very important leader in the African-American community as well as a phenomenal musician.  Do you notice how this song has two different singing parts and then they combine them together?  What percussion instruments do you recognize?  

One of our 4th grade rhythms is the triplet.  The triplet looks like three 8th notes with a "3" above them .  The triplet is one beat long, even though you play 3 notes.  When we say the triplet we say: "trip-le-ti."  Use this video to improve playing and saying triplets.  Only go to Level 3 in this video- the later levels use rhythms we haven't gotten to yet.  

Here is a video of one of my favorite guitar players- Charlie Hunter.  He is amazing!  Some things to think about while you are watching…

1.       How many strings does he have on his guitar?  How many does a regular guitar have?

2.       Are all of the strings the same color?  

3.       Why does Charlie make so many strange faces while he is playing?  

4.       Does he use a pick or his fingers with his right hand?  Why?  

5.       What genre (type) of music is this?  

6.       Do you like this?  Why or why not?  

Look for the answers to these questions in the next lesson.  

Lesson 2

Learning targets and success criteria for this lesson:  

Now... Let's begin!

First, here are my answers to yesterday's lesson on Charlie Hunter:

1.  Charlie uses a special 8-string guitar.  A regular guitar has 6 strings. Charlie's guitar has 3 strings from a bass guitar and 5 strings from a regular guitar.  If you watch closely when he plays, he is actually playing the bass guitar and the regular guitar... AT THE SAME TIME!!! (I told you he was amazing)

2.  No, the strings are not the same color.  The black strings are the bass guitar strings and the rest are from a regular guitar.  

3.  A lot of times when a musician is playing, we are being transported to a completely different mental state and we become completely unaware of what our physical body is doing.  For example, sometimes when I play I accidentally drool because my body just forgets to swallow.  Or maybe he just makes those faces because what he is doing is SO difficult!  

4.  He always plays with his fingers.  Using his fingers allows him to hit multiple strings at different times.  He is also using his thumb to play the bass parts.  

5.  This type of music is called Jazz Fusion, which means that it is Jazz but also fuses in other genres of music.  

6.  I love this song.  I like that it is only him basically playing two instruments at the same time.  

Lesson 3

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Now... Let's begin!

This is a really fun song to sing called "Agents of Change."  Once there was a really smart man who said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."  What do you think he meant by that?  What is something that you would really like to change in the world? 


This is a dance called the Cha Cha Slide.  It's super fun and is great exercise.  Can you follow all the steps?  Remember, the more we practice this, the better we will get at it.  

Lesson 4

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Now... Let's begin!

We are trying to improve at singing in rounds.  Here is another great practice to a song called "Hey Ho, Nobody Home."  This is a 3-part round so practice singing all 3 parts.  If you have a piano or keyboard you can play along too- just follow the notes that they show you.  

Unit 4

Lesson 1

Learning targets and success criteria for today:


Now... Let's begin!


This game will help you recognize notes on the staff using a treble clef and a bass clef.  Below is a quick review of the notes on each clef and what key they are on the piano.  Remember if the note is sharped (#) it is the black key above that note.  If a note is flatted (b) it is played on the black key below the note.  

Treble Clef

Bass Clef

Can you make it all the way to Level 10?  

https://www.primarygames.com/arcade/music/musicalnotes/

Lesson 2

Learning targets and success criteria for this lesson:


Now... Let's begin!

This is a really challenging solfege exercise that will test your solfege skills.  This is a call and response, so you will hear each section first and then you will sing it back.  The tempo to the song is a little fast so it may take you a bunch of practice runs before you get it.  

Have you ever heard of a dance called the Cupid Shuffle?  I hadn’t, until I found this video and learned it myself.  It was really easy to learn and it was also a lot of fun.  Once you learn how to do it, try doing it with a few of your favorite songs.  What kind of music works well with this dance?  What kind of music doesn’t work as well?  Now go get moving!  

One of my favorite things to do when I am in a different country is to listen to music from the culture that I am visiting.  When I was in Indonesia I got a chance to hear a lot of different types of music.  One concert I went to was called Kecak.  The concert tells the folk story of a monkey and a prince battling an evil king.  Here is one of the videos that I took of the concert.  Does this music sound strange to you?  Do you hear any instruments other than voice in this?  Do you notice how the tempo (speed of the music) keeps changing?  How do you think everyone changes tempo at the exact same time?  

I also went to a Gamelon concert while I was in Indonesia.  It was amazing!!!  The gamelon is a group of instruments that are similar to our xylophones and are played with wooden hammers.  The instruments range in size from tiny (smaller than a glockenspiel) to huge gongs.  Dancers come out and perform alongside the gamelon players.  Here is a video I took of the concert.  

Also while I was in Indonesia I actually met a gamelon master (he’s the guy who leads the gamelon orchestra) and he gave me a private lesson.  Here is a video of the gamelon master and me playing a song that he taught me.  Do you notice how my hands are doing two different things?  What does my left hand do?  What about the right?