September Week 1 Lesson: 3rd Grade

Note For How I Organize My Lessons

Before I share my lessons for September Week 1, I wanted to share with you generally how I structure my lesson planning. I have 7 skills that I like to make sure are included in my lessons: Sing, Play, Move, Listen, Create, Read/Write, and Respond/Analyze. My goal is to include at least 4 of these skills in every lesson.

When I was in the classroom, my schedule was one class twice a week. My classes ran anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes. So, when I create a weekly lesson, I am using that foundation in mind: each class twice a week. I typically repeat lessons for both classes but may extend an activity in the 2nd lesson. You may see some of that here. Ultimately, you know your classroom and students the best, so I always suggest using my lessons as a guide. The way it is listed here is also not necessarily the order in which I do the activities.

Okayyy, let’s get into the plans for September Week 1.

Focus Goals

I can read and perform rhythms with ta, ta-di, half note, and rest.
I can show the difference between beat and rhythm.
I can feel and move to music in groups of 4 beats (meter in 4).
I can create and perform my own rhythm patterns in 4/4 time.

Welcome & Warm-Up

Greet the class with a hello song.

I have a full year hello song schedule that you can download here.

Get the full year hello/welcome song calendar

Beat vs. Rhythm Body Percussion

Have class keep a steady beat. Go around the room and have students recite simple sentences (rhythms) over the steady beat. You can model, for example, “I like music class today”. Give students time to think about the sentence they want to say/clap.

Discuss difference: Beat = steady heartbeat, Rhythm = the way the words go.

Extension/Day 2: Have students dictate the rhythm for their sentence. (The example I gave above, “I like music class today” is tadi tadi tadi ta (or titi titi titi ta).