The FREE Lesson Plan Every Elementary Music Teacher Should Have!
Jabuti the Tortoise- a Trickster Tale from the Amazon Rainforest
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Jabuti the Tortoise by Gerald McDermott is a fantastic tale from the Amazon Rainforest that I use in my 2nd Grade general music class every year.
Through this post I will walk you through my lesson plan. This will include my google slides, how I get my instruments out, my routines and the fun game for the end!
To start, begin by talking a little bit about Brazil. Show the students where it is on the map and how far away it is from where you live. Show this by hours spent on a plane as a way for students to see that the world is actually closer than we think.
Listen to some traditional Brazilian music. This includes instruments you would tend to find in a Brazilian samba band including; snare drums, Cuíca, Agogo bells, Ganzás or Chocalho (shakers), tamborins, Timbal, Pandeiro, & Repinique.
Before you begin the story, teach this song! Use throughout the story to keep students focused on music!
If you have a SmartBoard allow students to come up and change the colors to the correct pitch.
Then sing through the song using the Curwen Hand Signs.
While reading the song- take the words; twigs, bushes, flowers, trees from the book and have your students assign them to Ta or Titi rhythms. If you have a Smartboard you can have students who need a movement break come up to the board to tap the correct rhythm. Afterwards, finish the story and sing the song one last time.
Time for an instrument game!
For this the students will need boomwhackers.
I came up with an easy way for each student to get a boom whacker quickly and not have the age old, “I don’t want this one!”, “I always get this one!” and so on. I put a color up on the board and ask which solfege from Pitch Hill matches that color. The students raise their hands and the one I pick gets to answer. If they answer correctly they come up to the smart board and get to tap the circle (any chance to tap the smart board is a big deal for my students).
Then they get that color and take it back to their spot.
My rules are
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You get what you get and you don’t get upset
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Do not play until I say or you will put it away
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Be kind with the instrument
Here is a little preview of the game. Help the turtle win the race!
In order to help the turtle win you have to play the boomwhackers in a specific order. We know the order from looking at the turtles shell. If the students play the boomwhackers right, then the turtle moves forward! It’s a lot of fun and the students have a great time.
After the game, I always do some rhythm patterns with the boomwhackers to give students a chance to really play.
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Happy Playing!
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Do a quick review of the solfege from Pitch Hill. You can find out more at https://pitchpublications.com/pitch-hill/