Lesson 1: Becoming a Musical Explorer
| Aim: What can Musical Explorers do? Summary: Students identify themselves as explorers of the Lowcountry’s music. Materials: Musical Explorers CD or online audio Standards: GA: MK-2GM.1, MK-2GM.6, MK-2GM.8, MK-2GM.9, MK-2GM.10 SC: MGK-2.1, MGK-2.4, MGK-2.5, MGK-2.6 Vocabulary: explorer, community |
Introduce the “Musical Explorers Song”
- Introduce Melody on SG1.
- Where is our school on this map?
- As we explore our region, what kinds of music do you think we might find?
- Introduce students to the Musical Explorers program by singing the “Musical Explorers Song,” Track 1, SG2.
- Learn the “Musical Explorers Song” sign language, SG3.
Explore Musical Communities
- This year, students will explore musical communities.
- What is a community?
- What kinds of communities are you a part of?
- With your students, brainstorm the musical things that people do together (i.e., singing together, dancing together, listening to music together). Where do they see those things happening in their communities?
- Create a postcard with your students (SG4), highlighting what’s special about their community. Encourage your students to think of the musical things that people in their communities do together.
Music All Around Us
- Using SG5, ask your students about the sounds in their communities. This can be done as a classroom exercise or on a “sound discovery walk” on the playground or in the school.
- An explorer is someone who uses his or her senses to learn something. What senses will we use to learn about the sounds in our communities?
- Ask students to look around the classroom. What objects do they see that could become musical instruments? For example, a cardboard box can be strung with rubber bands of different sizes to create a stringed instrument; a set of drinking glasses filled with different amounts of water can be struck with a spoon or a chopstick to create an instrument; and two pot lids can crash together like cymbals. Using SG6, encourage your students to discover other objects that can yield interesting sounds.
Musical Word Wall
Add the words explorer and community to the Musical Word Wall.
PDF Downloads
SG1 ↓ Download File
SG2 ↓ Download File
SG3 ↓ Download File
SG4 ↓ Download File
SG5 ↓ Download File
SG6 ↓ Download File
Musical Explorers Audio Tracks