Free Carnival Of The Animals Lesson Plan for 1st Grade Students

Topic: Instrument families and instruments

Objectives & Outcomes:

• Students will be able to name and classify instruments according to their family (e.g. strings, wind, percussion).
• Students will be able to identify the different instruments used in “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint Saens.

Materials

• CD player with “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint Saens
• Handouts with pictures of different instruments

Warm-Up

• Begin the lesson by asking the students if they have ever been to a concert or play before. Ask them if they noticed that the sounds they hear come from different instruments played by the musicians.
• Ask the students to raise their hands if they know what an instrument is.
• Ask the students to raise their hands if they know how many different kinds of instruments there are.
• Write the words “instrument families” and “instruments” on the board. Then, ask the students to raise their hands if they can think of any instruments that belong to their family.
• Continue this process until all the instrument families have been covered.

Direct Instruction

• Introduce the students to the orchestra and the different instrument families.
• Play a short excerpt from “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint Saens, and pause after each instrument is played to allow the students to identify the instrument family and instrument that is being played.
• Ask the students to raise their hands if they can guess which instrument family and instrument is being played.
• Once all the instrument families have been covered, play a full excerpt from the piece and allow the students to listen and identify all the instruments being played.

Guided Practice

• Divide the class into small groups and give each group a set of flashcards with pictures of different orchestra instruments.
• Have the students work together to sort the flashcards into the correct instrument families.
• As a class, go over the correct instrument families and discuss any questions the students may have.

Independent Practice

• Have the students draw a picture of themselves at a carnival and include at least three different instruments from the orchestra in their drawing.
• Have the students write a short paragraph describing their picture and why they chose the three instruments they did.

Closure

• Review the names and functions of the different instrument families in the orchestra.
• Ask the students to share their drawings and paragraphs with the class.

Assessment

• Observe the students during the independent practice activity and give feedback on their understanding of the different instrument families and instruments.
• Collect and review the students' drawings and paragraphs to assess their understanding of the different instrument families and instruments.