#5 DINOS EVERYWHERE

State Standards and Objectives

• Science Standard 2 Objective 1a: Identify characteristics of living things (i.e., growth, movement, reproduction)
• Standard 3 Objective 1d: Create together a new song. As a class choose the subject, compose the verse. Consider solo/chorus for the structure. Decide what volume, timbres, and tempo to use.

Learning Objectives

•  Students will understand that Libretto is the text of an opera.
• Students will identify and use different aspects of their singing voices.
• Students will create original tunes for their small lines of libretto.
• Students will create small lines of libretto that include the topic of living and non-living things.

Lesson

            We started the lesson by playing “Oh we are going walking, walking, walking. Oh we are going walking all around the room.” The kids walked around the room until we changed the lyrics to “Oh we are going walking back to our chairs.” The kids enjoyed the game and it got them engaged.

            We then reviewed the Living Things Song while doing the actions together. Then I helped the children identify their singing voices. We whispered, spoke, and sang. I had them sing loudly, softly, high, and low. I then taught them how to have good singing posture and we discussed how our bodies are instruments and how they work. The class practiced singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with both good and bad singing posture.

            Then we went to the carpet and discussed ideas for their opera. For their story, the children wanted a group of college students to get to an island of Dinosaurs, so today we discussed how they would get to the island. After some discussion, the children voted on a plane crash. Today was much better than last week because almost everyone participated, and there was a good feeling of unity.

            Finally, I taught them that Libretto is the text or script of an opera, and the children wrote one line of libretto for their opera:

“There were Dinos everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. There were Dinos everywhere, tall and small.”

The children decided to sing it to the tune of “Once there was a Snowman.” We recorded them singing it together and then went back to our seats. To end the lesson, I told all of the children to pull out their Brain Vomit notebooks and write one idea for a song they had.

            Overall, I think the lesson went really well. Most of the children were engaged and they worked really well together in collaborating their ideas. One thing that I think helped the discussion be better was that I made an effort during the beginning activities to call on the quieter students to help with small things. That seemed to help them feel involved from the very start. If I did it again, I would play the recording back to them so that they could hear their song.  

           

Funny Moment

“Oh I have an idea!” Santi exclaimed, frantically waving his hand in the air. “What if a ship of pirates come and they help fight off the Zombies?”

Davis kindly looked at him and said, “but you know, we already have a lot of characters. Maybe that would be too many.”

“Ya you are right, “Santi said nodding his head. “Just kidding Miss Beard! We shouldn’t have pirates.”

Opera Ideas

• Sentence 1: A group of college students studying biology are going on a school trip, when their plane crashes on an island inhabited by Dinosaurs.
•  College students studying biology
• They are in a plane crash
• They land on an island inhabited by Dinosaurs
• oA student sits on what they think is a rock, but it is actually a Dinosaur!
• Island’s name is Billy Bob Joe
• Three dogs or baby Dinosaurs are their friends who help them.
• They are in the Jurassic Period.
•  Astroids