Minibeasts Level: Early Grades
Music Unit Description
This unit is about mini beasts and features following a simple graphic score.
Elements
- Pitch: High pitched and low pitched sounds.
- Tempo: Fast or slow speed of the PULSE, or BEAT
- Dynamics: Louder or quieter sounds.
Resources
- The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman & Jack Tickle ISBN 9382016007
- Toy fluffy bee or home-made bee puppet
The Very Greedy Bee
First you could read the book and then everyone could watch the video and join in with the Biz Biz Busy Bee song.
The Wiggle Chant
Do you all like wiggly worms? Here's a wiggle chant, with actions, for wriggly children!
- I wiggle my fingers
- I wiggle my toes
- I wiggle my shoulders
- I wiggle my nose
- And when there are no more
- Wiggles in me
- Then I'll be still
- As still as can be
Snail, Snail
First you could take the children outside to look for snails. Perhaps you will be lucky enough so to see the trail left by a snail or slug. I like to introduce this song by taking in an empty snail shell in a box. The children are always intrigued.
Hint: I learned (the hard way!) that it's essential to wash the snail shell first, otherwise it stinks.
This is a sing-song voice song and it's great fun to do.
Everyone join hands in a big circle. You don't need to teach this in advance – just do it, as long as you sing the words clearly! As you all sing the song, slowly lead the children in a spiral, curling inwards so that you form the pattern of a snail shell. At the finish, you will be in the middle of the snail and you can sing the song again as, keeping hold of hands, you walk slowly outwards again.
- Snail, snail
- Snail, snail
- Making such a long, long trail
Five Little Speckled Frogs
A fun, counting song that is quite easy to learn and sing unaccompanied, with actions.
- Five little speckled frogs
- Sat on a speckled log
- Eating some most delicious bugs - Yum Yum!
- One jumped into the pool
- Where it was nice and cool
- Now there are four green speckled frogs! Glub glub!
- __
- And so on, until there is just one green speckled frog
Two Little Dicky Birds
A traditional rhyme, with actions. You could either sing it or chant it.
- Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall
- One named Peter, one named Paul
- Fly away Peter, fly away Paul
- Come back Peter, come back Paul
Humming Bee (pitch)
Use a toy, furry bee or bee puppet for this game. The children sit on the carpet while you hold the bee and make it fly in a straight line, from your right to left as you face the children. Everyone hums on a steady pitch note (not going higher or lower).
Next make the bee fly up – everyone hum higher (in pitch, not volume), and then down – everyone hum lower in pitch.
Hum the bee path (pitch, timbre & graphic scores)
You'll need to have a large picture ready of the bee going on a journey (you could use the pdf download for this). Explain the story first, pointing to the line, making the sounds yourself and inviting the children to join in. As the line goes up, the hum goes higher in pitch. When the bee sees the honey everyone says 'Yum Yum'. The hum goes lower then it rains and everyone makes a rain sound by drumming with fingers on chairs or on the floor. The bee sets off again, and the pitch goes higher. At the end the bee enters the hive and falls asleep 'Zzzzzz'. It's good to repeat with the children, as they become more confident with making the sounds.
Ladybird
This is a good rhyme for the children to chant rhythmically as they practise clapping in time, playing a drum in time, or walking in time. Remember that many children need to be shown how to walk in time, so let them copy you. They need lots of practice!
- Ladybird, ladybird fly away home
- Your house is on fire, your children are gone!
- All except one and her name is Anne
- And she hid under the frying pan!
Mouse and Cat (pulse, tempo, dynamics)
A Little Mouse
A fun way to teach this is to say the rhyme first using a puppet mouse, and surprise the children with the loud last line. When they know the rhyme, the children move gently into a space and curl in a ball, chanting the words rhythmically and quietly until the loud, last line, when they jump up!
- A little mouse hid in a hole
- Hid softly in a little hole
- When all was quiet, as quiet could be
- OUT POPPED HE!
A Naughty Cat
- A naughty cat ran round the house
- He hoped to find a little mouse
- But when the mouse came out to peep
- The tired cat was fast asleep!
The children stalk around, being the bold cat, saying the words rhythmically then get gradually slower and quieter towards the end when the cat curls up and falls asleep.
The change in the mouse verse is sudden but the change in the cat verse is gradual. Talk through what the children are doing to give them the vocabulary to talk about louder, quieter, faster, slower.
Mouse and Cat on instruments (structure, pitch, tempo)
Divide the children into two groups. One group is the mouse, the other the cat. Everyone chooses an instrument from the Mouse section or the Cat selection that you have put out earlier.
A capable child (or group of children) from the Mouse group says the words of A Little Mouse expressively, one line at a time. At the end of each line, the Mouse group instrumentalists imitate the speed and loudness of OUT POPPED HE!
Next the Naughty Cat group can do the same with their poem. You now have two little performance pieces and each group gets the chance to listen to the other group. It's a good opportunity for you to ask the listening group to do Three Stars and a Wish - say three things they liked about the performance and make one, positive suggestion for improvement. The performers might then have another try.
'Think the words'!
A variation on this activity is for the children to 'think the words' as they play the sounds without speaking. Sound recordings are easy to do on a mobile phone and there's no problem with excluding children who are not to be filmed on video. Here's a recording of our Naughty Cat group. The cat is represented by the xylophone and the mouse by a shaker and Indian bells. I like the way the 'cat' did fast, high-pitch sounds for running round the house, then slower sounds for going to sleep. One of my 'wishes' in Three Stars and a Wish was for the sleeping cat sounds to get lower and lower in pitch, which is what happened in this second recording.
The Flight of the Bumble Bee (tempo)
This is The Flight of the Bumble Bee by the composer, Rimsky-Korsakov. The solo violin part is played by a young musician, Likia Yukupova. It's the tale of Tsar Saltan, which you can read by downloading the pdf. Ask the children if this music has a fast tempo or a slow tempo. They will begin to understand the word, 'tempo' from the context.
The children could imagine they are bees and run around quickly into a space, not touching each other. At the end they have to disappear into the hive – when the music ends, all go to a place you have chosen to be the hive, crouch down and be silent.
Hunt the Minibeast
Here is a fun activity, especially if you are not keen on bringing real minibeasts into the room! This is what you need:
- Cornflour
- Food Coloring
- Set of plastic Mini Beasts
- Water Tray
- Aprons
Heres' what to do:
- Mix up an appropriate amount of cornflour to fill the water tray and add the food coloring.
- Line the bottom of the water tray with an assortment of plastic mini beasts and cover with the cornflour mixture.
- Let the children use their hands to dig through the cornflour to find the mini beasts.
- Ensure that the children are wearing aprons to avoid their clothes getting wet and dirty.
The children could imagine they are bees and run around quickly into a space, not touching each other. At the end they have to disappear into the hive – when the music ends, all go to a place you have chosen to be the hive, crouch down and be silent.
The Very Greedy Bee
First you could read the book and then everyone could watch the video and join in with the Biz Biz Busy Bee song.
The Wiggle Chant
Do you all like wiggly worms? Here's a wiggle chant, with actions, for wriggly children!
- I wiggle my fingers
- I wiggle my toes
- I wiggle my shoulders
- I wiggle my nose
- And when there are no more
- Wiggles in me
- Then I'll be still
- As still as can be
Snail, Snail
First you could take the children outside to look for snails. Perhaps you will be lucky enough so to see the trail left by a snail or slug. I like to introduce this song by taking in an empty snail shell in a box. The children are always intrigued.
Hint: I learned (the hard way!) that it's essential to wash the snail shell first, otherwise it stinks.
This is a sing-song voice song and it's great fun to do.
Everyone join hands in a big circle. You don't need to teach this in advance – just do it, as long as you sing the words clearly! As you all sing the song, slowly lead the children in a spiral, curling inwards so that you form the pattern of a snail shell. At the finish, you will be in the middle of the snail and you can sing the song again as, keeping hold of hands, you walk slowly outwards again.
- Snail, snail
- Snail, snail
- Making such a long, long trail
Five Little Speckled Frogs
A fun, counting song that is quite easy to learn and sing unaccompanied, with actions.
- Five little speckled frogs
- Sat on a speckled log
- Eating some most delicious bugs - Yum Yum!
- One jumped into the pool
- Where it was nice and cool
- Now there are four green speckled frogs! Glub glub!
- __
- And so on, until there is just one green speckled frog
Two Little Dicky Birds
A traditional rhyme, with actions. You could either sing it or chant it.
- Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall
- One named Peter, one named Paul
- Fly away Peter, fly away Paul
- Come back Peter, come back Paul
Humming Bee (pitch)
Use a toy, furry bee or bee puppet for this game. The children sit on the carpet while you hold the bee and make it fly in a straight line, from your right to left as you face the children. Everyone hums on a steady pitch note (not going higher or lower).
Next make the bee fly up – everyone hum higher (in pitch, not volume), and then down – everyone hum lower in pitch.
Hum the bee path (pitch, timbre & graphic scores)
You'll need to have a large picture ready of the bee going on a journey (you could use the pdf download for this). Explain the story first, pointing to the line, making the sounds yourself and inviting the children to join in. As the line goes up, the hum goes higher in pitch. When the bee sees the honey everyone says 'Yum Yum'. The hum goes lower then it rains and everyone makes a rain sound by drumming with fingers on chairs or on the floor. The bee sets off again, and the pitch goes higher. At the end the bee enters the hive and falls asleep 'Zzzzzz'. It's good to repeat with the children, as they become more confident with making the sounds.
Ladybird
This is a good rhyme for the children to chant rhythmically as they practise clapping in time, playing a drum in time, or walking in time. Remember that many children need to be shown how to walk in time, so let them copy you. They need lots of practice!
- Ladybird, ladybird fly away home
- Your house is on fire, your children are gone!
- All except one and her name is Anne
- And she hid under the frying pan!
Mouse and Cat (pulse, tempo, dynamics)
A Little Mouse
A fun way to teach this is to say the rhyme first using a puppet mouse, and surprise the children with the loud last line. When they know the rhyme, the children move gently into a space and curl in a ball, chanting the words rhythmically and quietly until the loud, last line, when they jump up!
- A little mouse hid in a hole
- Hid softly in a little hole
- When all was quiet, as quiet could be
- OUT POPPED HE!
A Naughty Cat
- A naughty cat ran round the house
- He hoped to find a little mouse
- But when the mouse came out to peep
- The tired cat was fast asleep!
The children stalk around, being the bold cat, saying the words rhythmically then get gradually slower and quieter towards the end when the cat curls up and falls asleep.
The change in the mouse verse is sudden but the change in the cat verse is gradual. Talk through what the children are doing to give them the vocabulary to talk about louder, quieter, faster, slower.
Mouse and Cat on instruments (structure, pitch, tempo)
Divide the children into two groups. One group is the mouse, the other the cat. Everyone chooses an instrument from the Mouse section or the Cat selection that you have put out earlier.
A capable child (or group of children) from the Mouse group says the words of A Little Mouse expressively, one line at a time. At the end of each line, the Mouse group instrumentalists imitate the speed and loudness of OUT POPPED HE!
Next the Naughty Cat group can do the same with their poem. You now have two little performance pieces and each group gets the chance to listen to the other group. It's a good opportunity for you to ask the listening group to do Three Stars and a Wish - say three things they liked about the performance and make one, positive suggestion for improvement. The performers might then have another try.
'Think the words'!
A variation on this activity is for the children to 'think the words' as they play the sounds without speaking. Sound recordings are easy to do on a mobile phone and there's no problem with excluding children who are not to be filmed on video. Here's a recording of our Naughty Cat group. The cat is represented by the xylophone and the mouse by a shaker and Indian bells. I like the way the 'cat' did fast, high-pitch sounds for running round the house, then slower sounds for going to sleep. One of my 'wishes' in Three Stars and a Wish was for the sleeping cat sounds to get lower and lower in pitch, which is what happened in this second recording.
The Flight of the Bumble Bee (tempo)
This is The Flight of the Bumble Bee by the composer, Rimsky-Korsakov. The solo violin part is played by a young musician, Likia Yukupova. It's the tale of Tsar Saltan, which you can read by downloading the pdf. Ask the children if this music has a fast tempo or a slow tempo. They will begin to understand the word, 'tempo' from the context.
The children could imagine they are bees and run around quickly into a space, not touching each other. At the end they have to disappear into the hive – when the music ends, all go to a place you have chosen to be the hive, crouch down and be silent.
Hunt the Minibeast
Here is a fun activity, especially if you are not keen on bringing real minibeasts into the room! This is what you need:
- Cornflour
- Food Coloring
- Set of plastic Mini Beasts
- Water Tray
- Aprons
Heres' what to do:
- Mix up an appropriate amount of cornflour to fill the water tray and add the food coloring.
- Line the bottom of the water tray with an assortment of plastic mini beasts and cover with the cornflour mixture.
- Let the children use their hands to dig through the cornflour to find the mini beasts.
- Ensure that the children are wearing aprons to avoid their clothes getting wet and dirty.
The children could imagine they are bees and run around quickly into a space, not touching each other. At the end they have to disappear into the hive – when the music ends, all go to a place you have chosen to be the hive, crouch down and be silent.
