2nd+Grade+Orff+Arrangement

This is an Orff arrangement of the song March of the Bugs by Nancy Schkurman. I have used it with the second graders and it incorporates singing, playing instruments, and movement. This lesson plan is to be used after you have already taught them the song along with the body percussion (you might even want to teach the song only in the first lesson, add the body percussion to the song in the second lesson, and then this could be your third lesson to make sure they are very familiar with the song). In this lesson you will replace the body percussion with instrument playing(A Section) and you will add the B section which in corporates the movement. The kids love this one!


 * Teacher Name:** Jennifer Bede **Date:** March 6, 2008


 * Subject/Grade:** 2nd Grade General Music


 * Focus Concepts/Skills:** Harmony, Rhythm, Chord Bordun on Orff Instruments


 * National Standards:** Singing, Playing, Listening, Related Arts(Movement/Dance)


 * Learning Objectives:** The students will be able to sing the correct pitches and rhythms of the song March of the Bugs. They will be able to play correct rhythms on unpitched percussion and glocks, and play a simple chord bordun on the Orff instruments. They will also be able to perform one of these skills along with some of their classmates while the rest of the class performs the other skills; experiencing harmony. The students will also be able to perform the appropriate movements for the B section, moving in rhythm to the piece.

1. We will begin by reviewing the song with the body percussion that we learned last time(A section). [|MarchoftheBugspg1.JPG], [|MarchoftheBugspg2.JPG] The bugs climb up (snap snap snap snap) The bugs climb down (snap snap snap snap) All the bugs march through the town (pat pat pat pat, pat pat pat pat) They knock at the windows (clap clap clap) Crawl over the floors (stomp stomp stomp) Now they're creeping through the doors (pat pat pat pat, pat pat pat pat)
 * Sequence of Activites:**
 * Note*** (make sure that the snaping goes in an upward motion so they realize they will be playing upwards on the glocks)

2. Next we will learn the chord bordun on the AX, AM, BX, BM. A chord bordun is where you play two notes at the same time on an Orff instrument. In this case they will be playing D and A on the instruments. They will learn this by patting the rhythm on their legs with the left hand on their left leg(D) and the right hand on their right leg(A). Make sure to emphasize that they want to pat both of their legs at the same time because you want the sound to be at the same time on the instruments. This helps them when moving to the instruments to remember that both hands play together at the same time. They will go "pat pat pat" while the teacher sings the song with the actions so they can hear how their rhythm fits into the song. Once they can pat the rhythm on their legs they will get a chance to play it on the instruments. Have four of your students who kept the best beat go to the instruments and have them find where D and A are and have them play by themselves without the singing while the other students pat along with them. You can tell the other students that they are playing D on their left leg and A on their right leg. Then have the students sing along with you while the instruments play the chord bordun. Have the students do a few rotations on the Orff instruments so they get used to hearing the accompaniment along with their singing.

3. Have the students move into a circle (this makes for easier rotation of the instruments). Introduce the glockenspiel by playing it for them while they sing through the song(D pentatonic). Have them notice that the glock plays when they snap and that you move from the bigger bars to the smaller bars in an upward direction. It might be too difficult to introduce hand over hand playing in the glocks (this is introduced in later grades) but you could model it for them and they could immitate your playing without directly referring to how you played it. To model this you would start with your left hand, then right, cross over with the left, then right, then cross over again with the left. Then give the glocks to 3 or 4 students around the circle and sing through the song once while they play along(chord bordun plays also). Then rotate the instruments including sending new students to the xylophones and metallaphones. Give them another chance to play this part.

4. Next introduce the hand drum part by playing it for them while they sing only and have them notice that the drum plays when they pat. Give the drum to 1 student and play through the song with all the instrument parts playing.

5. Next is the cabasa and woodblock. Introduce these just as you did the glocks and drum. Have them notice the woodblock plays when they clap and the cabasa plays when they stomp. Put these instruments into the rotation and sing through the song a few more times so everyone gets a turn to play at least one instrument. You could continue this part as long as the students were still engaged in the singing and playing. This is where you could introduce the term "harmony" once they have experienced it and can identify what it sounds like and more easily define it.

6. Now they are ready to the learn the movement for the A section. Have the students who are playing the instruments move to the side while the other students spread out within the room and be seated. Have one student come be your partner to demonstrate the movement while the other students sing along and instruments play their part. Phrase 1: partners face each other, touch palms and move them upward together on "the bugs climb up" Phrase 2: touch palms and move them downward together on "the bugs climb down" Phrase 3: pat-a-cake with your partner Phrase 4: march in place four steps Phrase 5: clap right hands with your partner on woodblock pattern Phrase 6: clap left hands with your partner on cabase pattern Phrase 7: pat-a-cake with your partner Phrase 8: march to your own space in the room using 4 marching steps (end up with new partner when not doing B section)

7. Practice A section dance together with the instruments and have the students rotate on the instruments in to learn the dance also.

8. If you still have more time then you could add the B section, otherwise just introduce it in the next lesson and then add it to the A section. For the B section you will play the instruments while they do the movement. Begin by playing the timpani and have them crawl like bugs around the room. Then play the temple blocks and have them shrug their shoulders. Practice switching between the timpani and temple blocks sounds while they do the movement. Then introduce the ratchet and have them jump for this sound. Then switch between the 3 different sounds while they do the movement. Next play the B section rhythm while they move to it. You could have students who are able to keep the beat play the B section instruments, otherwise you continue to play it. Have them dance like bugs when they move from instrument to instrument or section to section. Perform the entire song in ABAB form, and don't forget to review the term "harmony".

4 - meaning they played/sang/moved correctly 3 - meaning there were a few rhythm or pitch problems or clicking mallets, playing too hard, etc. 2 - meaning they couldn't stay on beat and played/sang mostly wrong notes 1 - meaning they were unable to perform the skill
 * Assessment:** There are many areas I would assess the students on in this lesson. They would be assessed on their instrument playing including the chord bordun, the unpitched percussion, the glocks, and the temple blocks and timpani. This could include their mallet technique/hand technique, correct pitch, and correct rhythm. They would also assessed on their singing and ability to sing the correct pitches while the instruments are playing along with them. These skills would be assessed on a scale of 1 to 4;

They would be assessed on how well they listened to which instrument was playing in the B section and if they did the correct movement. They would also be assessed on whether they can define the term harmony either by determining where they hear it in the music or by the definition I give them.

//Drew Neneman's Assessment!

Wow Jenn, what a fantastic and detailed lesson.

I had no trouble following the process and completely understood the relevance. Which is a tremendous feat given the detail of your lesson.

First, you did mention this, but I would definately stress that this lesson implies that the song was learned in a previous class perioud. The lesson itself may even more than one class period to really perfect. However, you did touch on this fact, I would just drive it home a little more in case someone is in a hurry before teaching it, or is overly ambitious with their planning.

Secondly, I would consider stating your objectives more as bullet points. They may be a little bit redundant to the plan that follows. ex: -The students will sing on pitch. -The students will play the Orph instruments accurately....etc. I also noted that your objectives don't mention the movement. It might not be a bad idea to incorporate movement into the objectives of your lesson.

Third, I would definately define bordun. I know what it means. But I also know that since we recieve virtually no Orph training at the University, I had to ask Julie when she mentioned it before class. I think alot of students, particuarly those who are teaching elementary ed as a second choice, may need a prompt to truly understand what that means.

Fourth, I know it seems daunting, but try and describe any hand over hand motion in the bordun, or even any blocked chord striking in the bordun playing. Even when you play the glockenspiel, some non elementary people, and some secondary choral teachers, might get quickly lost. Perhaps approach this in the form of an appendix to the lesson, so as not to blur the beautiful flow your sequential description has.

I particularly enjoyed how you rated you students during assessment. The 1-4 system is one of my favorites for general music education. I would find a way when planning your lesson, to create a hybrid between the description of the scoring system, and a more bullet point oriented assessment rubric. The paragraph form makes implementing the lesson for the first time, somewhat awkward for a teacher who didn't actually write the paragraph.

I think proper singing is so important for kids. I think it can and should be taught from day one. I know that pedagogy isn't the point of this lesson, and there are those who disagree with me. But perhaps after the chanting portion of this lesson is learned, on a 3rd day, or a fourth day when the activity can be revisited with little instruction you could add some minor 3rd patterns and have the students sing during the game in addition to the chant and play. Too often students make it all the way to middle school barely able to match pitch vocally because they haven't used their voice much. This is definately not the problem at Morely. Those kids sing all the time and it's fabulous. But not all the teachers reading this lesson will have a program as blessed as Julie's.

I think this lesson turned out fantastically. The sequence itself was impressive beyond words.//