Teaching a story through

music

Brown Bear, Brown

Bear, What Do You See?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Grade Level: 2
[Time 30-45 minutes
Lesson Design: Nancy
Fairchild

Overview

Materials

Through the incorporation of musical instruments, students will

Martin, Bill Jr/ Carle, Eric

enhance their listening skills to a childrens story book.

(1983) Brown Bear, Brown Bear,

What Do You See?. Henry Holt

Objectives
1. Students will improve reading comprehension through
music improvisation
2. Students will explore musical sounds
3. Students will develop singing skills
4. Students will develop a sense of rhythm

Activities/Procedure

and Company. Grade 2 Book A.

ISBN 0-8050-1744-5
Greg and Steve: Playin Favorites
CD
Boomwhackers, Zoo Pets Plates

Other Resources

1. Sing story to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle

2. Discuss elements of the story (who, what, where, when,

Brown Bear- Drum

how) Emotions, sounds, feelings

3. Using repetitive techniques, teach the melody using Greg

Red Bird- red boomwhacker

and Steve recording. (Twinkle, Twinkle)

4. Divide each animal into the corresponding colored

Yellow Duck- yellow

boomwhacker

boomwacker
5. Assign each person a paper plate
6. Rehearse each part separately. Ask each animal to share

Blue Horse- blue boomwhacker

with their neighbor what animal is on their plate

7. Check for comprehension (Who, what, where, when how)

boomwhacker

Green Frog- green

Purple Cat- purple

Common Core Standards-Reading

boomwhacker

1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where,

when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of
key details in a text.
5. Know and use various text features (e.g.,captions, bold
print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic
menus, icons) to locate keyfacts or information in a text
efficiently.

White Dog- wood blocks

10. By the end of year, read and comprehend informational

texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical
texts, in the grades 23 text complexity band proficiently,
with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Children- tap lap

Extensions/Teaching Tips
Make sure each student has an instrument. Rehearse each part
before adding to the story. Try re-reading the story with students
trading instruments/plates. Have the children teach each other

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Black Sheep- chimes

Goldfish- shaker
Teacher- claves

when and how to play the instrument/sing their animal part.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?