MUS 353 Lesson Plan

(Spring 2020)
Dr. Wendy van Gent

Common Lesson Plan Template

• K.MU.Pr.6.1.a With guidance, perform music, alone and with others, with expression.

LEARNING/BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVE(S)

• Students will be able to perform the choreography to the song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
alone and with their peers.

RATIONALE

• Anita Archer is very well known for using explicit instruction. Using explicit instruction with
Kindergarten students is essential in them learning motions such as these ones that go along
with singing. Anita Archer talks about having clear instruction when giving directions so that
all students are fully able to understand the exact expectations that the teacher is giving the
class. Archer also does a lot of modeling for her students both during her explanation and
before allowing the students to do the task on their own.
• Having these clear, precise, and direct directions for students in Kindergarten is a very
effective way of teaching these kids exactly what to do with a teacher’s expectations. Instead
of allowing them options as to what they can do, it is necessary for them to be given one
exact direction that is the same for each individual student. Anita Archer’s explicit instruction
is used throughout all grades, but it is especially useful for the younger students.

MATERIALS

• Computer (to play the song)

• Within the class, there is a student who has visual impairments and has to be placed at the
front of the classroom to help with the impairment. During this specific lesson, this student
will be placed right in front by the teacher to help the student have the chance of seeing the
movements at a closer distance.
• Within the same class, there is a student who has partial hearing impairments. This student
be placed in the middle and towards the front of the class to help make sure that the student
is able to hear the words that go along with the motions. Being placed in this location will
allow for the student to hear the words coming from other classmates all around him/her as
well as still be able to hear me (the teacher) while I am speaking.

IMPLEMENT
LESSON OPENING (hook)

I will begin by saying, “Hello, class! It is so wonderful to see you all. Today, we are going to be
singing a song that you all know, and we are going to add some movements to the song! Are
you ready to sing and dance?”

TEACHING PROCEDURES
I will say to the students, “If you know the song, ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ would you please
put your hands on the top of your head.”

I will continue by saying, “I knew you all would know this song! Let’s sing it together one time!”

As a whole class we will sing the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”.

After singing the song, I will say, “You all did a wonderful job singing that song! You are all going
to be wonderful performers someday. Now, the next thing we are going to do is add some
movements to that song! If you are ready to add movements to that song, please stand up and
stand on your circle.”

The students will all stand up and stand on their designated circle that they were already sitting
on.

Next, I will say, “Boys and girls, it is very important that you listen very carefully and keep your
eyes on me when we do this. I am going to show you one movement, and then when I am done
you are going to do that movement with me three times.”

I will continue by asking the students, “Let’s see who was listening. Are you going to do the
movement with me the first time?”
 The students will respond by saying, “No!” (hopefully).

I will then ask the students, “That is wonderful! Now, how many times are we going to do the
movement together as a class?”

The students will respond by saying, “Two!” (once again, hopefully).

I will continue by taking it step by step with the students going through the motions of the song
followed by them doing the motions with me as stated above.

Once we have gone through the whole set of motions, I will chunk the motions into groups of
two (one motion per line – putting the two lines together). We will go through each chunk of
motions five times before moving onto the next section of motions.

After grouping the motions into sets of two, I will put the whole song together with the
motions. We will do the motions together five times. After those five times, I will begin to let
the students take over and begin to “fade” out of doing the motions myself until they can fully
take over.

Motions with the words:

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - - twinkling with fingers above head in a rainbow motion
How I wonder what you are - - shrugging shoulders side to side

Up above the world so high - - stand on tip toes and put hands above head in a diamond shape
Like a diamond in the sky - - spin around in a circle while holding position from previous step

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - - twinkling with fingers above head in a rainbow motion
How I wonder what you are - - shrugging should side to side

LESSON CLOSING (transition)

I will end the lesson by saying, “You are all stars now! You have all shined today while singing
‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’, and you were able to put some movements to the song too! You
have done an incredible job and are now ready to go shine in front of other people!”