Ethan Fielding

Elementary School (2nd Grade General Music)

MUS_CLAS 149: Social Foundations of Music Education

Section 1: Materials, Vocabulary, and Prior Knowledge

Materials
Chalkboard with chalk
Room to sit in a circle

Vocabulary
Pulse- An unaccented, steady measure of time. (Students will know in terms of clapping and
stomping; general senses of keeping time)

Beat- A consistent, even set of pulses. (Students are not expected to be able to differentiate
pulse and beat yet)

Form- The overarching way of structuring a piece of music.

Song Form- A form that comprises of the sections AABA, in that order.

Prior Knowledge
-Students will have been introduced to the basic concept of pulse and beat
-Students will know how to read and understand some English.
-Students will know some basic numbering system and the equals (=) sign.

Section 2: Essential Questions and Standards

Essential Questions
How can “Wish I was a Chicken” teach both about song form and about how to differentiate an
“A” section from a “B” section?

Standards
MU:Cr1.1.2a: Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and musical ideas for a specific purpose.
MU:Pr4.2.2b: When analyzing selected music, read and perform rhythmic and melodic patterns
using iconic or standard notation.
MU:Re7.2.2a: Describe how specific music concepts are used to support a specific purpose in
music.
MU:Cn10.0.2a: Demonstrate how interests, knowledge, and skills relate to personal choices
and intent when creating, performing, and responding to music.

Section 3: Learning Outcomes

1. Students will perform prompted melody in unison, expressing pitch-matching and aural
recognition.
2. Students will create patterns to accompany the melody, expressing rhythmic
understanding.
3. Students will connect ordered numbers and alphabet to form, expressing aural and
visual recognition of patterns.
4. Students will respond to prompted section-by-section learning, ingraining two-bar
phrases into their heads.
Section 4: Procedure

The teacher will begin by establishing the key of E flat on the piano. The teacher will then
encourage the students to sit on the floor. Then, the teacher will sing this tune four times:

Before this procedure continues any further, the form of this piece (for teacher reference only) is
song form, or AABA. Each section gets exactly 2 bars.

On the third time, the teacher will add in this following element: Floor pats with both hands on
the beat for each A section, and claps on the beat for the B section.

Once the teacher has completed the four times through, they will break the song up into four
two-bar segments. The teacher will sing the first two bars, then encourage the students to
repeat using the same rhythmic gestures for each smaller section.

When the students are comfortable with the A and B sections, the entire class will perform the
whole piece, start to finish. Then, the teacher will stand and write on the board:

“Wish I was a chicken

Wish I was a chicken
Turkey’s fate is on a plate
Wish I was a chicken”

The teacher will point to the first line and pat on the floor while singing. Then, they will write the
number 1 before the line. Next, the teacher will point at the second line and pat again, and after
some mock thinking by the teacher, they will write the same number 1 before that line.

The teacher will skip now to the last line, and repeat the same process. The same number 1
should be before that line as well. Finally, the teacher will clap along with the one remaining un-
numbered line, then write a number 2 next to it. Once the teacher does this, the teacher will
split the class into two groups, and each will work on a quarter-note rhythm for section 1 and 2,
respectively. Group 1 will perform all the lines that say 1, and group 2 will perform the line that
says 2. Then they will switch, having group 2 performing the lines that say 1 and group 1
performing the line 2.
Then, the teacher will write up on the board this:
1=A
2=B

And then this:

AABA = Song form.

Section 5: Assessment and Extensions

Assessment
1. Teacher will evaluate students’ performance of prompted melody, listening for pitch-
matching and aural recognition.
2. Teacher will evaluate students’ general rhythmic fluency by their group creation of
patterns to accompany the melody.
3. Teacher will evaluate students’ cross-disciplinary thinking by connecting ordered
numbers and alphabet to form.
4. Teacher will assess students’ responses to prompted section-by-section learning,
checking understanding of two-bar phrases.

Extension of Lesson
This lesson can be extended by standing up and moving around during the A vs. B sections,
each different section walking in a different direction.

Works Cited
Sczulczewski, Richard. (My elementary school band director)

I affirm that I will uphold the highest principles of honesty and integrity in all my endeavors at
Gettysburg College and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect within and beyond the
classroom.

Ethan Fielding