Bears Level: Key Stage 1
Music Unit Description
Bear-themed activities that link music creatively with emotions and musical elements.
Elements
- Tempo: Fast or slow speed of the PULSE, or BEAT
- Timbre: The individual quality of a sound.
- Duration: Long or short notes, RHYTHM.
- Structure: The way music is constructed.
Resources
- A Dog Called Bear by Diane & Kristyan Fox: Faber& Faber ISBN 9780571329441
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.
The Bear Went Over the Mountain
The words are easy to remember and the tune is memorable but it's always best to teach a line at a time to be sure that the tune is learned correctly. Once the song is known it's a good one to use for clapping in time and then marching in time.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Here's a chant for practising walking in time. Many children find it difficult to walk in time with words and music but it helps if you learn the chant first, then take it literally one step at a time. Try standing in a line with the children or standing in front of them, all facing the same way.
- Fuzzy Wuzzy wuz a bear
- A bear wuz Fuzzy Wuzzy
- When Fuzzy Wuzzy lost his hair
- He wuzn't fuzzy, wuz he?
Bears Statues (pitch, tempo)
Here's your chance to have fun playing the xylophone! Tell the children you are going to play notes that go with Big Bear, Tiny Bear, Lazy Bear and Busy Bear and ask them for advice about how each bear's notes might sound, aiming to reinforce the principles of:
- short xylophone bar = high sound = Tiny Bear
- long xylophone bar = low sound = Big Bear
- slow sounds = Lazy Bear
- quick, jumpy sounds = Busy Bear
Decide on what sort of statue is needed to show each of the bears then match the playing with the bears. Each time you change from one sort of playing to another, the children have to make a statue of the right bear.
Graphic Scores (structure)
The structure of the first part of The Bear Went Over the Mountain song can be shown in pictures. The Bear went over the mountain is sung three times, then To see what he could see is sung just once, like this:
First the children could invent actions to show what the bear is doing in each line, as they sing the song again. The next step is to make their own graphic scores of the song using cut-out pictures that they have drawn, or by drawing symbols.
The FOUR Bears (timbre, texture, dynamics, pitch)
An integrated music and drama performance piece for an assembly or concert, this is an flexible project that will need several sessions. You can adapt it according to the experience of the children involved.
New Vocabulary:
- Motif, meaning a fragment of music, a tune or a sound that represents someone or something (eg a bear).
- Still Image, a drama convention in which the actors 'freeze', making a photograph-like, still representation of a situation or emotion. (Remind the children about playing Bear Statues - it's a bit like a group statue.)
First, work on the drama element of the performance by putting the children into groups of four to practise their still image for each part of the story. (Have some teddies available to make up numbers if necessary!)
Next, allocate music corner time for every group to have a turn at making up a motif for each bear. Use the pentatonic set of five notes C, D, E, G and A only. (IF possible, remove the other bars from the instrument.) After their turn at making up musical bear motifs, pair that group with an actor group to practise co-ordinating the story, music and still images.
For an actual performance, choose children to tell the story; one group of four 'musicians' with tuned instruments (or sharing a large xylophone); and several 'actor' groups of four children. The story is below and there's also a pdf download at the start of the unit.
The FOUR Bears Story
Once upon a time, there were four friends and they were all bears. Their names were:
- Big Bear - one musician plays Big Bear's motif (low pitch, loud)
- Tiny Bear - one musician plays Tiny Bear's motif (high pitch, quiet)
- Busy Bear - one musician plays Busy Bear's motif (fast and jumpy)
- Lazy Bear - one musician plays Lazy Bear's motif (slow and sleepy)
One day, when the bears were exploring in the forest, they came across a little house. They all looked through the window. At a signal from you, the musicians play very quiet, random sounds on their instrument.
The bears sat down outside to eat their picnic. Lazy Bear was tired so he lay down for a rest. Play Lazy Bear's motif.
After a while, Big Bear crept into in the house and found … a piano. He played a tune while the other bears listened. Play Big Bear's motif.
Next, Tiny Bear went in the house and played a tune on the piano. Play Tiny Bear's motif.
Busy Bear went in the house and danced around excitedly. Play Busy Bear's motif.
Soon the bears were all so tired that they lay down quietly, curled up and went to sleep ... all except for Lazy Bear who suddenly woke up and wondered why the other bears were so tired! Play Lazy Bear's motif.
Peter and the Wolf (motifs)
Not a bear ... but a wolf! One of the best-loved pieces of music that uses motifs is Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. It's a narrated story in which each character is represented by their own little piece of music. There are many recordings of this to choose from - you are spoilt for choice on Spotify, but you might like to try the one narrated by David Bowie. I have to admit to feeling very sorry for the poor wolf; my sympathies lie entirely with him - it's a potential talking point that focuses on caring about all animals. Here's how the story begins:
Lazy Bear (tempo, dynamics, pitch)
First you could tell the children that they are going to listen to music about a bear and that you will be asking them what the music says about the bear: for instance, is this bear happy, lazy, dancing, running? You could ask what they think the bear is doing as the music plays. To begin with, just play the music without showing the video.
At this point it is good for the children to get up and dance around to the music, pretending to move in the way they think the bear might be moving.
Next, the children could watch the video and you could ask whether the notes are high or low pitched (the tune is low) and if the tune is fast or slow (it's slow), then you could tell them the music is called Lazy Bear. The music is played on the piano and you might ask the children to put hands up when they hear it played louder and hands down when it is quieter.
Which Bear is Best? (maths link)
The children do a survey of who likes which kind of bear best, deciding first on the types eg panda, brown bear, polar bear, koala bear. Each child then makes a chart to represent the information.
Story Time! (PSED link)
Another lovely book about stories and friendship:
Bear's Book by Claire Freedman & Alison Friend ISBN: 1783706457 Publisher: Templar Publishing
Graphic Scores (structure)
The structure of the first part of The Bear Went Over the Mountain song can be shown in pictures. The Bear went over the mountain is sung three times, then To see what he could see is sung just once, like this:
First the children could invent actions to show what the bear is doing in each line, as they sing the song again. The next step is to make their own graphic scores of the song using cut-out pictures that they have drawn, or by drawing symbols.
The FOUR Bears Story
Once upon a time, there were four friends and they were all bears. Their names were:
- Big Bear - one musician plays Big Bear's motif (low pitch, loud)
- Tiny Bear - one musician plays Tiny Bear's motif (high pitch, quiet)
- Busy Bear - one musician plays Busy Bear's motif (fast and jumpy)
- Lazy Bear - one musician plays Lazy Bear's motif (slow and sleepy)
One day, when the bears were exploring in the forest, they came across a little house. They all looked through the window. At a signal from you, the musicians play very quiet, random sounds on their instrument.
The bears sat down outside to eat their picnic. Lazy Bear was tired so he lay down for a rest. Play Lazy Bear's motif.
After a while, Big Bear crept into in the house and found … a piano. He played a tune while the other bears listened. Play Big Bear's motif.
Next, Tiny Bear went in the house and played a tune on the piano. Play Tiny Bear's motif.
Busy Bear went in the house and danced around excitedly. Play Busy Bear's motif.
Soon the bears were all so tired that they lay down quietly, curled up and went to sleep ... all except for Lazy Bear who suddenly woke up and wondered why the other bears were so tired! Play Lazy Bear's motif.
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.
The Bear Went Over the Mountain
The words are easy to remember and the tune is memorable but it's always best to teach a line at a time to be sure that the tune is learned correctly. Once the song is known it's a good one to use for clapping in time and then marching in time.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
Here's a chant for practising walking in time. Many children find it difficult to walk in time with words and music but it helps if you learn the chant first, then take it literally one step at a time. Try standing in a line with the children or standing in front of them, all facing the same way.
- Fuzzy Wuzzy wuz a bear
- A bear wuz Fuzzy Wuzzy
- When Fuzzy Wuzzy lost his hair
- He wuzn't fuzzy, wuz he?
Bears Statues (pitch, tempo)
Here's your chance to have fun playing the xylophone! Tell the children you are going to play notes that go with Big Bear, Tiny Bear, Lazy Bear and Busy Bear and ask them for advice about how each bear's notes might sound, aiming to reinforce the principles of:
- short xylophone bar = high sound = Tiny Bear
- long xylophone bar = low sound = Big Bear
- slow sounds = Lazy Bear
- quick, jumpy sounds = Busy Bear
Decide on what sort of statue is needed to show each of the bears then match the playing with the bears. Each time you change from one sort of playing to another, the children have to make a statue of the right bear.
Graphic Scores (structure)
The structure of the first part of The Bear Went Over the Mountain song can be shown in pictures. The Bear went over the mountain is sung three times, then To see what he could see is sung just once, like this:
First the children could invent actions to show what the bear is doing in each line, as they sing the song again. The next step is to make their own graphic scores of the song using cut-out pictures that they have drawn, or by drawing symbols.
The FOUR Bears (timbre, texture, dynamics, pitch)
An integrated music and drama performance piece for an assembly or concert, this is an flexible project that will need several sessions. You can adapt it according to the experience of the children involved.
New Vocabulary:
- Motif, meaning a fragment of music, a tune or a sound that represents someone or something (eg a bear).
- Still Image, a drama convention in which the actors 'freeze', making a photograph-like, still representation of a situation or emotion. (Remind the children about playing Bear Statues - it's a bit like a group statue.)
First, work on the drama element of the performance by putting the children into groups of four to practise their still image for each part of the story. (Have some teddies available to make up numbers if necessary!)
Next, allocate music corner time for every group to have a turn at making up a motif for each bear. Use the pentatonic set of five notes C, D, E, G and A only. (IF possible, remove the other bars from the instrument.) After their turn at making up musical bear motifs, pair that group with an actor group to practise co-ordinating the story, music and still images.
For an actual performance, choose children to tell the story; one group of four 'musicians' with tuned instruments (or sharing a large xylophone); and several 'actor' groups of four children. The story is below and there's also a pdf download at the start of the unit.
The FOUR Bears Story
Once upon a time, there were four friends and they were all bears. Their names were:
- Big Bear - one musician plays Big Bear's motif (low pitch, loud)
- Tiny Bear - one musician plays Tiny Bear's motif (high pitch, quiet)
- Busy Bear - one musician plays Busy Bear's motif (fast and jumpy)
- Lazy Bear - one musician plays Lazy Bear's motif (slow and sleepy)
One day, when the bears were exploring in the forest, they came across a little house. They all looked through the window. At a signal from you, the musicians play very quiet, random sounds on their instrument.
The bears sat down outside to eat their picnic. Lazy Bear was tired so he lay down for a rest. Play Lazy Bear's motif.
After a while, Big Bear crept into in the house and found … a piano. He played a tune while the other bears listened. Play Big Bear's motif.
Next, Tiny Bear went in the house and played a tune on the piano. Play Tiny Bear's motif.
Busy Bear went in the house and danced around excitedly. Play Busy Bear's motif.
Soon the bears were all so tired that they lay down quietly, curled up and went to sleep ... all except for Lazy Bear who suddenly woke up and wondered why the other bears were so tired! Play Lazy Bear's motif.
Peter and the Wolf (motifs)
Not a bear ... but a wolf! One of the best-loved pieces of music that uses motifs is Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. It's a narrated story in which each character is represented by their own little piece of music. There are many recordings of this to choose from - you are spoilt for choice on Spotify, but you might like to try the one narrated by David Bowie. I have to admit to feeling very sorry for the poor wolf; my sympathies lie entirely with him - it's a potential talking point that focuses on caring about all animals. Here's how the story begins:
Lazy Bear (tempo, dynamics, pitch)
First you could tell the children that they are going to listen to music about a bear and that you will be asking them what the music says about the bear: for instance, is this bear happy, lazy, dancing, running? You could ask what they think the bear is doing as the music plays. To begin with, just play the music without showing the video.
At this point it is good for the children to get up and dance around to the music, pretending to move in the way they think the bear might be moving.
Next, the children could watch the video and you could ask whether the notes are high or low pitched (the tune is low) and if the tune is fast or slow (it's slow), then you could tell them the music is called Lazy Bear. The music is played on the piano and you might ask the children to put hands up when they hear it played louder and hands down when it is quieter.
Which Bear is Best? (maths link)
The children do a survey of who likes which kind of bear best, deciding first on the types eg panda, brown bear, polar bear, koala bear. Each child then makes a chart to represent the information.
Story Time! (PSED link)
Another lovely book about stories and friendship:
Bear's Book by Claire Freedman & Alison Friend ISBN: 1783706457 Publisher: Templar Publishing
Graphic Scores (structure)
The structure of the first part of The Bear Went Over the Mountain song can be shown in pictures. The Bear went over the mountain is sung three times, then To see what he could see is sung just once, like this:
First the children could invent actions to show what the bear is doing in each line, as they sing the song again. The next step is to make their own graphic scores of the song using cut-out pictures that they have drawn, or by drawing symbols.
The FOUR Bears Story
Once upon a time, there were four friends and they were all bears. Their names were:
- Big Bear - one musician plays Big Bear's motif (low pitch, loud)
- Tiny Bear - one musician plays Tiny Bear's motif (high pitch, quiet)
- Busy Bear - one musician plays Busy Bear's motif (fast and jumpy)
- Lazy Bear - one musician plays Lazy Bear's motif (slow and sleepy)
One day, when the bears were exploring in the forest, they came across a little house. They all looked through the window. At a signal from you, the musicians play very quiet, random sounds on their instrument.
The bears sat down outside to eat their picnic. Lazy Bear was tired so he lay down for a rest. Play Lazy Bear's motif.
After a while, Big Bear crept into in the house and found … a piano. He played a tune while the other bears listened. Play Big Bear's motif.
Next, Tiny Bear went in the house and played a tune on the piano. Play Tiny Bear's motif.
Busy Bear went in the house and danced around excitedly. Play Busy Bear's motif.
Soon the bears were all so tired that they lay down quietly, curled up and went to sleep ... all except for Lazy Bear who suddenly woke up and wondered why the other bears were so tired! Play Lazy Bear's motif.
