Grade Level
First & Second
Overview
This lesson is designed to complement the Oakland East Bay Symphony Young people’s Concerts performance of Peter and the Wolf, and can be used both prior to and after the performance. The activities in the lesson support students’ literacy growth and encourage the development of critical thinking skills. Students will become acquainted with the Peter and the Wolf Symphony through movement, drawing, listening, and reading activities. They will also write a class book, create an audiotape, and write and perform a puppet show.
Subjects
Language Arts/The Arts
Materials
Printed Peter and the Wolf sequencing story strips
Printed Peter and the Wolf illustration
Audio recording of Sergie Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf if possible, but not necessary
Tape recorder
Drawing paper
Book paper
Drawing/coloring utensils
Objectives
Students will be able to do the following:
1. Create movements to music that reflect focused listening.
2. Write a story using complete, coherent sentences.
3. Design and perform a class play speaking clearly and at an appropriate pace.
4.Retell the Peter and the Wolf story, including characters, setting, and plot.
Steps
The purpose of these pre-concert activities is to acquaint students with the story and the music of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf before they attend the performance.
Moving to music is an effective method for developing, as well as demonstrating, an understanding of music. In this activity students will move to the sounds of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf symphony.
1. Borrow a copy of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf from your local library. You may also access the Peter and the Wolf audio on the following Web site. http://library.thinkquest.org/17321/data/esmusic.html
2. Divide the students into three stations.
3. The groups will take turns doing the following:
· Moving to the music of Peter and the Wolf
· Watching their classmates move to the music (Tell the students to notice three things about the students who are moving to the music.)
· Free drawing while they listen to the music of Peter and the Wolf.
4. Play Peter and the Wolf, alternating the students along the three stations.
5. After everyone has had a chance to participate in the three activities, discuss the following items with the class:
· What did you think about the music from the Peter and the Wolf symphony?
· What did you notice about your classmates when they were moving?
· How did you feel when you were moving to the music?
· How did you feel when you were drawing while the music was playing?
Teacher Note: Allow students to develop their own approach to movement. Watch for students’ movements to get bigger as the music gets louder, to be timed to the rhythm of the music, to rise and fall as the melody goes up or down, and get faster or slower based on the tempo of the music. Acknowledge students whose movements do match the music and observe the other students begin to follow suite.
Activity Two
The purpose of this activity is for students to become acquainted with the story of Peter and the Wolf. Students will read or listen to the story of Peter and the Wolf and complete a self-correcting sequencing activity sheet to place the events in the correct order.
Teacher Preparation: Make copies of the “Peter and the Wolf story sequencing strips” and the “Peter and the Wolf illustration.” If possible, make a double sided printing of the “Peter and the Wolf story sequencing strips” and the “Peter and the Wolf illustration.” If you can’t make a double-sided printing of the two, glue the two pages back-to-back making certain both pages are right side up before gluing together.
1. Read the story of Peter and the Wolf to your class. An online version of the story can be found at http://library.thinkquest.org/17321/data/estext.html.
2. Pass out the story strip handout to your class.
3. Allow students time to color the picture.
4. Ask students to turn over the page and make individual strips by cutting on the dotted lines.
5. Have students mix up the strips and place them print side up on the desk in front of them.
6. Ask students to read the strips and place them in the order in which they occurred in the story.
7. After the students have finished placing the strips in order, ask them to turn the strips over. If students have placed the strips in the correct order, the picture will be complete. If the picture is jumbled, ask students to try again.
In this activity students will capture the sights and sounds of their symphony orchestra experience by writing and illustrating a class “I Saw” book and creating an audio “I Heard” tape.
1. Tell students that they are going to create an “I Saw” book based on their trip to the Peter and the Wolf symphony. Explain to the class that each student is going to write and illustrate his or her own page and the pages will then be bound together to create a class book.
2. Remind students that in this book they are going to be writing about what they saw at the symphony orchestra, not about what they heard.
3. Ask students to write a short paragraph about what they saw at the symphony.
Teacher’s Note: If you are working with beginning first graders, you might choose to record students’ responses on a paper for them to copy onto their page.
4. As a class, decide on a title and a dedication for the book.
5. Explain to students that because they are “publishing” this book, the text needs to be free from errors.
Teacher Note: These Web sites offer information on the writing process.
http://www.angelfire.com/wi/writingprocess/
http://serv1.ncte.org/teach//Mathias13085.html
6. Conference individually with each student and address the following items:
7. Ask for volunteers to make the front and back covers, as well as the title and dedication pages.
8. After all of the pages have been completed, bind the book and share with the class.
1. Ask students to spend a few minutes reflecting on the different sounds they heard at the Peter and the Wolf symphony.
2. Tell students that they are going to interview each other and create a “This is what I heard at the Symphony Orchestra” news show audiotape.
3.Ask the class to think of two or three interview questions about what they heard at the Peter and the Wolf performance.
4.Find time during the day for students to take turns interviewing each other and being interviewed on the audiotape.
Teacher Note: You may choose to include some music from the symphony on the tape.
5. Ask for volunteers to create an introduction for the tape.
6. After all of the students have recorded their responses, play the tape for the class.
7. Students may take turns bringing the tape home to share with their families.
Activity Three
In this activity students will write a script for the Peter and the Wolf story and stage a puppet show.
1. Use the story of Peter and the Wolf as a springboard to create the dialogue that will be used in a class puppet show.
2. Read the story of Peter and the Wolf to the class. http://library.thinkquest.org/17321/data/estext.html
3. Stop after each section of the story and ask students to change the text into dialogue.
Example: In the beginning the students may say, “I’m Peter and I’m going to my grandfather’s house.”
4. After the class has finished writing the dialogue, record the finished play and make a copy for each student.
5. Decide what kind of puppets will be used for the puppet show. (e.g., existing classroom puppets, silhouette puppets, stuffed animals or student-made puppets).
6. Stage the puppet show, making sure all students have a chance to be a puppeteer.
7. You may choose to perform the show for another class.
Teacher Note: This show could also be performed using instruments in place of, or to enhance, the dialogue. Class instruments or homemade instruments could be used. This site contains directions for making homemade instruments. http://www.menc.org/guides/IHWE/ihwes1.html#instruments
Explore how real wolves live. Find out what real wolves look like, what they eat and where they live.
This PBS site provides information on wolves. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wolves/
Music
Send students to this site to create their own music.
Create individual portfolios of students’ work.
Observe students in the following areas:
· Growth in cognitive skills
· Interactions that occur during group work
· Growth in social skills
· Growth in attitudes toward learning
Conference with each student on these topics:
· His or her goals
· Strategies for learning
· Solutions to problems
What did I learn from this project?
What do I still want to learn about this topic?
What part of my work on this project gives me a sense of achievement?
What would I do differently next time?
In what ways was I able to work with others on this project?
What did I like most about this project?
http://www.cde.ca.gov/standards/
First Grade
Language Arts
2.0 Reading
Comprehension
Structural Features of Informational Materials
2.1 Identify text that uses sequence or other logical order.
1.0 Writing
Strategies
Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a
central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose.
Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting,
drafting, revising, editing successive versions).
Organization
and Focus
1.1 Select a focus when writing.
1.2 Use descriptive words when writing.
1.0 Written and
Oral English Language Conventions
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions
appropriate to this grade level.
Sentence
Structure
1.1 Write and speak in complete, coherent sentences.
2.0 Speaking
Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Using the speaking strategies of grade one outlined in Listening and Speaking
Standard 1.0, students:
2.1 Recite poems, rhymes, songs, and stories.
Music
Derive
Meaning
4.1 Create movements to music that reflect focused listening.
Second Grade
Writing
1.0 Writing Strategies
Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a
central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose.
Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting,
drafting, revising, editing successive versions).
Evaluation
and Revision
1.4 Revise original drafts to improve sequence and provide more descriptive
detail.
2.0
Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events,
and experiences. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American
English and the drafting, research, and organizational strategies outlined in Writing
Standard 1.0.
Using
the writing strategies of grade two outlined in Writing Standard 1.0, students:
2.1 Write brief narratives based on their experiences:
a. Move through a logical sequence of events.
b. Describe the setting, characters, objects, and events in detail.
Written and Oral English Language Conventions
The standards for written and oral English language conventions have been
placed between those for writing and for listening and speaking because these
conventions are essential to both sets of skills.
1.0
Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions
appropriate to this grade level.
Sentence structure
Grammar
Punctuation
Capitalization
Spelling
Listening
and Speaking
1.0 Listening and Speaking Strategies
Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication
1.6 Speak clearly and at an appropriate pace for the type of communication
(e.g., informal discussion, report to class).
1.7 Recount experiences in a logical sequence.
1.8 Retell stories, including characters, setting, and plot.
Music
Derive
Meaning
4.2 Create developmentally appropriate movements to express pitch, tempo, form,
and dynamics in music.