This is a good song to teach half notes to 2nd graders. Here is a possible lesson plan order:
- Teacher sing - ask students to raise their hands on long notes. Ask: how many were there?
- Figure out there were 4 long notes - name them as half notes.
(Side note: I often do only the first couple of steps during one lesson. Then, I review those steps in the next lesson and do more.)
- Students begin to learn to sing the song and raise their hands on the half notes.
- Add sustained-tone percussion instruments on the half notes. It could be metallophones on D and A. Or it could be triangles or finger cymbals. Before passing out the instruments, pantomime the instruments on the half notes while singing again.
- Teach the quarter note part: "wrote a letter to my friend" - add percussion instruments that don't sustain the tones: something like woodblocks, maracas, guiros, tambourines, hand drums, etc.
(Of course, the students could continue playing on the rest of the quarter notes, but this way, you can motion to the students to put their instruments down - and cue the half note players.)
- Idea: before showing the instruments, ask the students to figure out which instruments have the long tones and which have the short tones. Ask something like, "Which instrument should we play on the half notes? Which instrument should we play on the half notes?"
A Tisket A Tasket - jazz lesson
GAME: It's like "Duck Duck Goose." A student has the basket and walks around behind the other students as everyone sings the song. At the end of the song, the child puts the basket behind a student, then runs around the circle while the other student picks up the basket and chases the first person around the circle and tries to tag the student. The chasing stops when the student who was "it" reaches the hole the 2nd student was just occupying.
Important: whenever I do a circle game in my classroom, students do not run. I have had students walk fast when they play these games. That's all I don't need is a student getting hurt! And, for legal reasons, we should never create a situation in which a student is likely to get hurt. If we play the game outside on the grass, then by all means, have them run. I also lessen the importance of "who wins" by not making a big deal if the person gets tagged before sitting back down. Whether the "chaser" catches the person or not, the "chaser" becomes the new "it" and the game starts over.
