Unit Plan: Do I hear a Melody?

(4th grade)
Unit Outcome: Students will gain an understanding on varied elements of melody
through a variety of songs, games, and listening activities.

Unit Objectives: Students will demonstrate awareness of the following elements of

melody:

 Melody may move up or down, by step or skip or have repeated notes.

 Melody may be grouped into patterns
 Melody may be organized around a tonal center
 Melody may outline or imply harmony

Sessions (45 minute class periods):

1. (The Water is Wide) – Lesson 1
2. (Ants Came Marching) – Singing Game 1 (Patterns)
3. (Lavender’s Blues) – Lesson 2
4. (A Sailor Went to Sea) – Singing Game 2 (Patterns)
5. (Home Sweet Home)– Lesson 3
6. Vive l’amour – Listening Lesson

National Standards in this Unit:

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music

Lessons 1-5: Learning and singing new music of various styles
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music
Lesson 3&6: xylophones and boom whackers
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
Lesson 3: Composing new versions of Lavender’s Blue
5. Reading and notating music
Lesson 3: Reading xylophone music, writing their own versions
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Lesson 6: Listening (analyzing) Lesson
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, & disciplines outside the
arts.
Lesson 5: Cinema (Movies)
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture
Lesson 1: Journey to America
 Considerations for Special Learners:

Lesson 1: The paper cut-out manipulatives may be a challenge for those EI students who
may have a tendency to put things in their mouth or require materials a bit more
“durable” than paper. These could be mounted on cardboard or laminated for that student.

Singing Game 1: Be especially aware of students who may be wheelchair bound or have
difficulty “marching”. Always be sure they are able to participate. The teacher or Adult
helper can push the wheelchair as all of the other students walk, so they won’t feel left
out. Be sure they have a group as groups start to form.

Lesson 2: Be aware of students with difficulty with motor coordination or grasping

objects. Using adapted mallets may help. Also including the student in the first group of
“players” will avoid putting them “on the spot” in have to improvise or compose.

Singing Game 2: If you have a special needs child, allow them to participate, even if you
(the teacher) walk with them. It may be best to put them in the outside circle. A
wheelchair-bound student may be able to sit in the center of the circle and do the motions

Lesson 3: Again be aware of your students’ special needs with regard to manipulatives,
and modify materials accordingly. Also placing the special needs child a bit closer to the
“home” may help. They may even want to partner up with someone else with the same
character, that way it is a group activity with a friend, not an experience in being lost in
the process and on ones own.

Listening Lesson: Allowing a special needs child a boom whacker on “do” means that
they will most of the time be a correct part of the chord. If the child has difficulty with
small objects, give him the low “do” (larger boom whacker), and vice versa.
Lesson 1: The Water is Wide

Level: 4th Grade

Content: Melody may move up and down or by skips and steps

Objective: Children will demonstrate their awareness and understanding of the up and
down and skip vs. Step motion of a melody by:

Learn and sing the melody with the group using proper skips and steps.
Holding up the “skip”/“step” cut-outs or both as contained in the musical phrase
Moving the appropriate cut outs in the appropriate direction with the music

Known: Students have had experience with both up/down melodies and skip/step
melodies. Are attempting to perceive both

Materials: Cut outs of someone skipping (or skip UNO cards for a smaller class), cut
outs of a step of stairs (Steps).

Summary:
 Ask the kids if they have ever taken a boat ride? How long?
 When America was new, many people took boats to get here etc.
 Introduce and sing the song. Teach via wrote song method
o Discussing at some point the skips, steps and up/down
 Passing out (randomly) one of each cutout for student
 Instruct the kids to hold up the “right” one as they listen to teacher
 Try the same with them singing
 Finally, try incorporating the up/down motion as appropriate
Singing Game 1: The Ants Came Marching

 The students review/learn the “Ants Came Marching” song

o Verses 1-5 (Discuss the words that rhyme with 1,2,3,4 & 5)
 Talk about the three parts (repeated patterns in the melody)
o Pattern 1 (mm. 1 & 2 and 5 & 6)
o Pattern 2 (mm. 3 & 4 and 7 & 8)
o Pattern 3 (mm. 9-12)
 Then Students count off 1,2,3, 1,2,3 etc.
o The 1’s sing pattern 1, the 2’s sing pattern 2 and the 3’s sing pattern 3
o And every body sings “And they all go Marching etc.
 The next time, students all get into a single file line and “March across the room
o The song is repeated moving onto verse two, when the kids turn around,
pair up (hold hands), and march two by two across the room (back the
other direction)
o On the third verse the march in groups of three
 This pattern continues for up to 5 or 6 verses
o Groups of 5 and six “ants” marching across the room together
o Whatever your class size (and patience!) will accommodate
Lesson 2: Lavender’s Blue*

Level: 4th Grade

Content: Melody may move by steps or skips

Objective: The students will demonstrate understanding of skips vs. steps in the context
of a melody:
 Playing the melody of Lavender’s blue with the proper skips and steps
 Composing a NEW version of the song using the given patterns
 Both to be accomplished to 90% accuracy

Known: Students have been exposed to the upward and downward motion of melody.
Students have had experience with both skips and steps.

Materials: Students xylophones and mallets (about 6 or 8)

Summary:
 Ask the children about what a “crown” is . . .who where’s a crown etc.?”
 This is a song about a King who wants Lavender to be his queen
o But now she is blue (sad) and green (not feeling well)
 Learn song, via wrote song method (1st two verses only)
o Talk about the different parts of the melody
 Up/Down parts
 Skip step parts
 Choose 6 pairs of student to sit by xylophones
o While the rest of the students sing
o Sing two times so that both get a chance to play the melody
 Choose six new pairs
o This time, the “players” can change the melody
 They must use skips including do, mi. and sol.
 They must use four “quick step” in the same direction
 They MAY even mix up the order
o The player “plays the new song”
 The class figures out how the song would sound with words
 The class sings the new song
o Try two or three “new” versions

* For this lesson the Melody would be slightly altered to begin G, B, D

Lesson 3: Home Sweet Home

Level: 4th Grade

Content: Melody may be organized around a tonal center

Objective: The students will demonstrate their awareness of a “tonal center” by:

Known: The students will be familiar with musical “phrases.” Students will be familiar
with basic precepts of melody (step/skip, up/down etc.).

Materials: Several cardboard/paper cutouts of characters from the Wizard of Oz

Representations of Homes**
Summary:
 Introduce the song by asking/talking about the wizard of Oz
o Who has seen it . . .
o What was the girls name
o What did Dorothy want?
o And where was home for Dorothy?
 Music and songs have a “home” too. We call it the “Home tone”
o It is usually where the song starts (but not always)
o It is usually where the song ends (only rarely does it not end on the home
tone)
 There is a song about “Home”, but more like the home you live in with family.
o Have the kids listen to the song
o Does is start on the same not it ends on?
o Does that note happen in other places?
o Do any phrases NOT end on the “home tone”
o Can you sing the “home tone” for me?
 Now the kids each get one of 5 characters from the Movie the Wizard of Oz
o Have the kids start in rows in the middle of the class
o As the song plays, they may wander about the room with/as their character
o At the end of each phrase
 If the phrase does not end on the home tone, they can be anywhere
in the room
 If the phrase ends on a home tone, they have to be in (at or near)
SOMEONE’s home, even if it is not theirs
 When the song ends on the Final home tone the character must be
back at THEIR OWN home**.

* The “homes” for this lesson can be: drawn on a whiteboard, projected on a wall with a
projector, or 3D standing models. Whatever is a clear (fun) representation of the
characters’ homes.
** Farm House (Dorothy AND Toto), Cornfield (Scarecrow), Apple Orchard/Tree (Tin
Man), Forrest (Lion)
Listening Lesson: Viva l’amoure

Level: 4th Grade

Content: Melody may outline or imply harmony

Objective: Students with demonstrate their awareness and understanding of implied

harmony by:

Known: Students will be familiar with the basic I, IV and V chords, and will be able to
distinguish changes in the “chords” (just that such changes occur)

Materials: Recording of Viva L’amoure (by G Krunnfusz (TTB))

Boom whackers for the I, IV and V Chord
(for the key in which the song is sung)

Summary:
 What’s a melody (The main part or tune of a song)
 What’s harmony (when more then one note happens at the same time
 What kind of instruments can play more then one note
o Guitar
o Organ
o Piano
o Accordion!
 People in a group can also make chords by singing more then one note at the same
time
 Listen to this song and see if you can hear any “chords” (Almost the whole song!)
o Write words of the Chorus on the White/Black Board
 Review about I, IV, and V Chords
 Analyze Chorus by playing in phrase by phrase and having them choose the best
sounding chord.
o Write these chords over the words (ala lead sheet) on the White board
o Use colors (marker) corresponding to the boom whackers if possible
 Distribute boom whackers
o Have the kids stand in three (clearly separated) groups
 (Splitting the “do’s” in the I and IV chords)
 Practice the three chords without the recording
 Then play the recording again and cue the people in the groups of the “chosen”
chords to play when appropriate
 It may be ok to have let the kids make a mistake in their analysis (if none of them
caught it before) to see if the can aurally catch the fact that something is not quite
right.