Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Elephants in Tutus

Subject Area

English Language Arts
Arts Education

Grade(s)

2, 3

Overview

Students will listen to the story Ballet of the Elephants by Leda Shubert and the music Circus Polka: For a Young Elephant by Igor Stravinsky. They will analyze rhythm patterns, create choreography for animal movements, and choose an instrument to accompany them. They will write a paragraph to describe the animal and its movements. They will perform their animal ballet for the class.  

    English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 2

    ELA21.2.40

    Write a personal or fictional narrative using a logical sequence of events, including details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings and providing a sense of closure.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:ELA21.2.40

    Vocabulary

    • Personal narrative
    • Fictional narrative
    • Logical
    • Sequence of events
    • Details
    • Actions
    • Thoughts
    • Feelings
    • Closure

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • A narrative is a piece of writing that tells a story.
    • A narrative story describes a sequence of events in a logical order (beginning, middle, end).
    • A narrative story describes the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the characters.

    Skills

    Students are able to:
    • Write a personal narrative that recalls a personal experience or write a fictional narrative with a made-up story.
    • Write a narrative with a logical sequence of events and provide details that describe how the character feels, acts, and thinks.
    • Write a narrative that ends with a sense of closure.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • Narrative writing includes predictable elements, like a logical sequence of events and an ending that provides the reader with a sense of closure.
    • Narrative writing can be used to tell about something that happened to them personally or it can tell a story they made up.
    English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 3

    ELA21.3.33

    Write personal or fictional narratives with a logical plot (sequence of events), characters, transitions, and a sense of closure.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:ELA21.3.33

    Vocabulary

    • Personal narrative
    • Fictional narrative
    • Logical plot
    • Sequence of events
    • Characters
    • Transitions
    • Closure

    Knowledge

    Students know:
    • A narrative is a piece of writing that tells a story.
    • A personal narrative tells about an event that was personally experienced by the author, while a fictional narrative tells a made up story.
    • A narrative story describes a sequence of events in a logical order (beginning, middle, end) and provides a sense of closure as an ending.
    • A narrative story describes the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the characters.
    • Narrative transitions indicate when and where the story is occurring.

    Skills

    Students are able to:
    • Write a personal narrative that recalls a personal experience or a fictional narrative with a made-up story.
    • Write a narrative with a logical sequence of events and details that describe how the characters feels, acts, and thinks.
    • Use appropriate transitions in narrative writing.
    • Write a narrative that ends with a sense of closure.

    Understanding

    Students understand that:
    • Narrative writing includes predictable elements, like a logical sequence of events and an ending that provides the reader with a sense of closure.
    • Because narrative writing describes a chronological sequence of events, it includes transitions that indicate the time and place in which the story is occurring.
    • Narrative writing can be used to tell about something that happened to them personally or it can tell a story they made up.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 2 - Music

    AE17.MU.2.2

    Generate musical patterns and ideas within the context of a given tonality and meter.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.2.2

    Vocabulary

    Rhythm
    • Eighth note, eighth rest, half note, half rest, whole note, whole rest
    • Strong/ weak beat — 2/4; 3/4 meter
    • Accelerando/ ritardando
    Melody
    • Pitch Set: Do , Re, Mi, So, La
    • Five-line staff
    • Treble clef
    • Names of lines/ spaces (treble staff)
    Harmony
    • Melodic ostinati
    • Partner songs
    Form
    • AAB, AABA, Rondo
    • Verse/ Refrain
    Expression
    • Orchestral instrument families
    • Piano (p), forte (f)
    • Crescendo/ decrescendo
    • Orchestral Music: programmatic
    • Indigenous music: Native American
    • American music: slave songs, colonial folk songs
    Other
    • Age-appropriate pitch matching (B3-D5)1
    • Mallet/ drumming technique: alternating hands

    Essential Questions

    EU: The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
    EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Perform original melodic patterns in do pentatonic as an introduction to a known song.
    • Perform original rhythmic patterns on body percussion or unpitched percussion, containing eighth note, eighth rest, half note, half rest, whole note, whole rest, as an introduction to a known chant.
    Creating
    • Create a melody on pitched instruments using speech rhythms from a selected poem.
    • Improvise with a partner in question/answer style, using pitched or unpitched percussion instruments.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Notate speech rhythms from a selected poem, using iconic or standard notation.
    • Using music composition software, create an original composition based on a personally selected topic.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Refine compositions based on self-evaluation of a recorded performance.
    • Indicate dynamic markings for original compositions.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 3 - Music

    AE17.MU.3.2

    Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms and melodies) within a given tonality and/or meter.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.3.2

    Vocabulary

    Rhythm
    • Bar lines
    • Measures
    Melody
    • Pitch set: Low So, Low La, High Do
    • Treble clef reading (Mi, Re, Do)
    • Middle C to high G
    • Ledger lines
    Harmony
    • Partner songs
    • Rounds
    • Ostinati
    Form
    • Theme and variations
    • Coda
    • D.S. al coda
    • Repeat sign
    • Fermata
    Expression
    • Phrase/ phrasing
    • Pianissimo (pp), fortissimo (ff)
    Other
    • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
    • Orchestral instruments: 4 families
    • Age-appropriate pitch matching (Bb3 - Eb5)

    Essential Questions

    EU: The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
    EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Play a variety of classroom instruments with proper technique.
    • Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.
    Creating
    • Use pitch and rhythm to improvise vocal, instrumental, and/or movement ideas within a context (such as question and answer phrases or simple accompaniment/ostinato).
    Reading/ Writing
    • Use iconic or standard notation and/or recording technology to sequence and document personal musical ideas.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Demonstrate a final version of personal musical ideas using created vocal, instrumental, or movement pieces through performance.
    • Develop criteria to critique and refine selected musical examples.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Link to Resource

    CR Resource Type

    Lesson/Unit Plan

    Resource Provider

    San Francisco Symphony
    Accessibility
    License
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