Objective: Students will be able to sing the interval so-do. Students will be able to sing and play a cadence ending on do. Instruction Level: when kids are ready for “do” and understanding cadence.
Materials: “The End (Almost)” by Jim Benton ISBN 978-0-545-67536-9, barred instruments with only C and G set up (or s-l-m-d if you students know these notes), document camera, Donut’s Song, Game Cards
Process:
1. Teacher sings “Ring Around the Rosy” but leaves out the cadence. What do the kids notice? (“Fall down” was missing).
2. Sing it again. Someone will fill in the cadence. We like to have an ending to a story or song. It’s just in our nature. Tell the students, “A cadence is a musical ending to a song.”
3. Pass out Beat Blocks with 2-beat bases and “so” and “do” blocks. Repeat Ring Around the Rosy again, but changing the pitch of the ending to end with “fall down” staying on so. Ask students to build the pitch they hear at the ending (remembering that the cadence is the END of the song, so it’s on the final beat). Repeat again with “fall down” on the correct pitches, so-do. Ask students to build what they hear. Repeat with other examples as needed so that students have time to discover that A) a cadence means the end of a phrase, and B) cadences end on do.
4. T reads the book and each time the words “the end” are read, T sings instead using s-d.
5. T reads the book again but this time the kids sing “the end” and get to say Donut’s lines.
6. Move to the set-up barred instruments. Give them time to explore. (There are two bars and they are C and G.) Ask the student’s what they discovered. (There is a high note and a low note.) Repeat the same singing game as in step 3, changing the endings and asking students to repeat on instruments. Finish by asking them to make the instrument say, “the end.” (so-do.... G-C) *if you kids know s-m-l-d on the barred instruments, you can add more bars for the game.
7. Teacher reads the book while students play “the end” on the barred instruments. Ask one child to be Donut in the book. Learn “Donut’s Song.”
8. Play the game. One person stands up and becomes Donut. The class sings the song and Donut sings a solo in m.3. (He acts and sings the improvised movement in m. 3.) Students guess the action. The teacher then decides to sign (s-d) for “the end” in m. 5 or another sign (s-s, or if kids are ready s-l, s-m). If there an unfinished phrase then we turn a pretend page and the Donut gets to add to his story. If the teacher signs (s-d) “the end” then the song continues and everyone sings “Why did you have to say the end.” A new child is chosen to play “donut” and the story, guessing and instrument playing continues.