Ingrid Gross
Peter and the Wolf Story Lesson Plan
1. Time Needed: 45 minutes
2. Materials Needed: Worksheets/Post Its, YouTube
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7m9i70JDg), Peter and the Wolf book, listening map,
PowerPoint lecture
3. Learning Objective: The students will learn to identify the different themes of Peter and the
Wolf while listening to and describing the story being told through the music.
State Standard: 25.A.4 Analyze and evaluate the effective use of elements,principles and
expressive qualities in a composition/performance in dance,drama, music and visual arts.c.
National Standard: 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
4. Assessment: The students will be able to identify the different themes of Peter and the Wolf
while listening to and describing the story being told through the music.
5. Personal Objective: My goal is to get through all of my instruction while still ensuring
students comprehend the material.
6. Procedure
Review
Last time, we talked about the different instruments and their distinct timbres
o Brass vs. Woodwind vs. Percussion
Anticipatory Set
Have students write their two favorite instruments on a post it, and describe the timbre
o Put them up on the board
Organize post its by instrument and discuss the more popular choices
o What makes these instruments so recognizable?
Lesson and Rationale
Today, we are going to learn about Sergei Prokofiev and the piece he called, Peter and
the Wolf, and how he used the music to tell the story
o Who has ever pictured something in their head while listening to music?
Writing stories isn’t always in the form of a book – it can music, art, etc. Creativity takes
many forms that can be used to convey different messages
Instructional Input
Present PowerPoint covering brief history of Sergei Prokofiev
o Sergei Prokofiev composed Peter and the Wolf in 1936
o Peter and the Wolf was written to introduce children to the individual instruments
in the orchestra
o Peter and the Wolf was commissioned by Natalya Sats
o The original version was about a Young Pioneer (Soviet version of a BoyScout)
righting the wrong of an adult
o In the original ending (not the video) the duck is swallowed by the wolf
o The first performance of this piece was not successful because Sats and her
replacement had no practice
Read together (see worksheet)
o Silently first then discuss as class
There are multiple themes throughout the piece, let’s identify them and their
characteristics. As you identify each character, have each student draw what they think
each would look like.
Peter, represented by the violin
o Carefree, playful
Wolf, represented by the horn
o Sneaky, slow
Bird, represented by the flute
o Fast, high
Grandfather, represented by the bassoon
o Strict, heavy
Cat, represented by the clarinet
o Smooth, steady, pausing to stretch
Duck, represented by the oboe
o Waddling, slow
Hunters, represented by the timpani and trumpet
o Brave, alert, determined
Let’s listen to the piece and use the listening map to figure out the themes.
What do you notice from the listening map before we listen?
What characters are seen throughout the story?
Does the ending seem like it will be happy?
Now we are going to watch a video that depicts the story (play YouTube video)
Checking for Understanding
Grab your Answer cards (display on SMART Board)
What instrument represents the Grandfather?
A. Bassoon B. Xylophone C. Trumpet D. Violin
What instrument represents the gunshots of the hunters?
A. Timpani B. Trombone C. Violin D. French Horn
How many instruments are represented in this story?
A. 3 B. 1 C. 4. D 7
Guided Practice
Get into groups of 4 and write at least a paragraph answering the following questions:
o How does his music tell the story?
o If you hadn’t read the poem first, do you think you would have understood the story?
o If not, what story did you envision?
o What theme was most prominent?
Independent Practice
For additional practice, read the handout on Sergei Prokofiev and answer the questions on
the worksheet over the handout and over Peter and the Wolf
7. Closure
Today, we learned about Peter and the Wolf. There are several themes involved in this piece.
They are the violins carefree and playful theme, the horns’ sneaky and slow theme, the flutes fast
and high theme, the bassoons strict and heavy theme, clarinets smooth and steady theme, the
oboes waddling and slow theme, and the hunters’ brave and determined theme. The story being
told is about Peter and his attempts to hunt a wolf. Tomorrow we will look at another piece that
uses the instruments to tell a story.
