Instrumental - Year 5 Activity Sheet 1

Year 5 students are invited to engage in a series of rhythmic activities outlined on Activity Sheet 1, designed to enhance their musical timing and coordination. The activities should be completed sequentially, ensuring mastery of each step before proceeding to the next. The first task is a group exercise where students sing a phrase and simultaneously clap on the word 'GO'. This initial activity aims to synchronise vocal expression with a simple clapping rhythm.

Building on this, the second activity requires the students to replace clapping with playing claves, a percussion instrument, on the word 'GO'. As the students become more confident with their timing, the third activity adds complexity: half of the group continues playing the claves on 'GO', while the other half plays claves to the rhythms of the other words in the phrase. The fourth step introduces 'thinking voices', where students internally vocalise the phrase while performing the clave rhythms. Finally, the fifth activity combines playing claves on 'GO' with tapping the floor to the rhythm of the remaining words, still using thinking voices. These activities are part of the curriculum for Active Music Year 5 Lesson 2 and are aimed at developing the pupils' rhythmic skills in a fun and interactive way.