Bears Level: Key Stage 1 - Introductory

A Dog Called Bear (PSED link)

A lovely introduction to this topic is the book: A Dog Called Bear by Diane & Kristyan Fox, who kindly give us their blessing to include the video.

A Dog Called Bear Music (texture, dynamics, tempo)

The children will have worked out, we hope, that the dog really was a bear! The children need to identify the emotional themes of the story. Let's say the children identify the themes as:

• Feeling happy
• Feeling sad
• Feeling angry
• Feeling loving

Ask the children whether they think the music in the video describes being happy, angry or sad (limiting the choices often produces the best work). Explain that they are going to make music that shows how Lucy and Bear are feeling!

First put out a few instruments on the floor. The children sit in a circle around the instruments and you play: Have you brought your singing voice? focusing on happy voice, sad voice and angry voice. Then ask a three, individual children to choose an instrument to play in a happy, sad and angry way.

Next, in small groups, the children experiment with playing instruments together (so the texture will be thicker) - group 1: happy, group 2: sad group 3: angry. If you do this with the whole class, you'll need an extra adult in the room and plenty of space to spread out the groups. Alternatively, you can have one group at a time visiting the music corner while the other children get on with different work.

Once the children have practised playing, you can read the story while the children make the music. You'll need to indicate to each group when to play at the appropriate time in the story.