A Strategy To Teach So Mi

Review:  

"Boys and Girls, let's sing our song 'See Saw' as we pretend to be see saws going up and down." 
"Who can tell me if this song begins with a high or a low note?" A high note

Point:  

"Boys and Girls, watch and listen as I sing 'See Saw'. When I sing the high note in our song, I will put my hands on my shoulders, and when I sing the low note I will put my hands on my waist." 
The teacher sings "See Saw" with body signs for high and low. 

Reinforcement:  

"Everyone, please sing the song and show the high and low notes with body signs." 
"Let's just have the people in the front row." 
"Let's have the people sitting in the back row." 
"Let's have everyone try it again." 
"Please sing 'See Saw' with beautiful singing voices as you stand up straight and tall." 

Review:  

"Who can tell me where we put our hands in the last lesson to show the high notes in a song?" On our shoulders
"Where did we put our hands for the low notes?" On our waist
"Let's sing 'See Saw' showing the high and low notes with those body signs." 

Point:  

"I am going to hum a song you do not know. Please show the high and low notes with these same body signs." 
The teacher hums and the students show the body signs in this unknown melody.  

Reinforcement:  

"Can you do that again if I change the song?" 
The teacher hums a different melody and the students show the high and low sounds with body signs. 
"Can someone suggest a different place where we could show the high note and a different place to show the low note?" We could put the high note on our head and the low note on our knees.
"Let's do that while I hum a different song." 

Teaching Note: The "unknown song" mentioned in this focus activity can be improvised.

Review:  

"Where will we show the high and low sounds today?" E.g. High notes on our shoulders and the low notes on our knees.
"I will hum a song you a song you do not know. Show me the high notes on your shoulders and the low notes on your knees." 
The class completes the exercise. 

Point:  

"I'm going to sing a different song. Show me the high and low notes with your body signs but as you do, please close your eyes." 

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student), I will hum a different song. Please show the high and low notes with your body signs but with your eyes closed." 
"(2nd student), here is a song for you. Please do the same." 
"Let's all try one last time with this new song." 

Teaching Note: The "unknown song" mentioned in this focus activity can be improvised.

Review:  

"Please sing 'Good Night Sleep Tight' with beautiful singing voices." 
"Sing the song showing the high notes on your shoulders and the low notes on your waist." 

Point:  

"Please watch while I sing 'Good Night Sleep Tight' in a different way." 
The teacher sings the song with high and low body signs but substitutes the words "high" and "low" for the text where appropriate. 

Reinforcement:  

"Please sing 'Good Night Sleep Tight' with body signs but sing the words "high" and "low" instead of the words of the song." 
"Let's have the boys do this by themselves." 
"Let's have the girls do this by themselves." 
"Please sing the song with the correct words with beautiful singing voices." 

Review:  

"Show me how beautifully you can sing 'Bye-lo'." 
The students sing the song with the text. 
"Please sing the song again showing body signs for the high and low notes." 
"Please sing one more time with body signs but sing the words 'high' and 'low' instead of the words of the song." 

Point:  

"On the board I have placed a picture with some babies (Bye-lo Baby-o Melodic Contour Chart). Can you tell me something about them?" 
The students realise that the pictures are showing the high and low notes in the song. 
"Please sing the song using the words 'high' and 'low' as I point to the pictures."

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student), please come to the board and point to the pictures as the class sings in the same way." 
"(2nd student), please come and do the same thing." 
"Is there someone who could point to the pictures and sing the song by themselves?" 
"Please sing 'Bye-lo Babyo' with the correct words as beautifully as you can." 

Review:  

"Please sing 'Good Night Sleep Tight'." 
"Please sing the song again but use the words high/low instead of the words of the song as you show me these body signs." 
The Teacher puts the high notes on his/her shoulders and the low notes on his/her waist. 

Point:  

"Please look at the icons on the board. Are they showing the high and low notes in the song? (Icons are in a straight line.) No
"(1st student) please come to the board. As we sing the song using the high and low words, please push these pictures into the correct position." 
The student listens to the class and as they sing, creates the melodic contour with the pictures. 

Reinforcement:  

"I will put the icons back into a straight line. (2nd student) please come and create the melodic contour." 
"Who else will try?" 
"Let's sing the song as beautifully as we can with the words." 

Review:  

"Boys and Girls, please sing 'See Saw' with the words." 
"Please sing 'See Saw' with body signs to show the high and low notes in the song." 

Point:  

"Please look at the board. Do these icons show the melodic contour?" (Icons are in a straight line.) No
"(1st student), please come to the board. As we sing 'See Saw' with the words, please listen carefully to the high and low notes and change this pattern to the melodic contour." 
The students will sing with the text and one student constructs the melodic contour. 
"Is (1st student) right? Let's check by singing the song with the words 'high' and 'low'. (1st student) check that your melodic contour is correct." 

Reinforcement:  

"If I put the icons back into a straight line, who will come and construct the melodic contour as we sing?" 
Another student tries. 
"Let's all sing the song with our very best voices." 

Teaching Note: Preparation of the staff begins at this point and continues simultaneously with the so-mi preparation.

Review:  

"Please sing our song 'Starlight' with the words." 
"Sing the song again showing body signs and singing with the words 'high' and 'low'." 

Point:  

""Boys and Girls, musicians have a special way of showing the high note. They use a handsign like this."

"The low note is shown with a handsign like this."

"Listen while I sing our song 'Starlight Starbright' with our new signs for high and low." 
The teacher sings "Starlight Starbright" with the words "high" and "low" showing the new hand signs. 

Reinforcement:  

"Everyone copy what I just did." 
"The people in the middle row, show the rest of the class how it is done." 
"Who can do it by themselves?" One or two children try. 
"Please sing 'Starlight Starbright' with the words in your best singing voices." 

Teaching Note: In subsequent lessons, the students should practise all the known so-mi songs with these new handsigns singing with the words "high" and "low".

Review:  

"I am going to sing a song you do not know. Please show the melodic contour with the new handsigns for high and low." 
The teacher sings an abstract melody and the students follow the melody with the known handsigns. 

Point:  

"If I sing and show the handsign for the high note, I want you to sing the low note and show it's handsign. If I sing and show the handsign for the low note, I want you to sing the high notes and show it's handsign." 

The teacher sings a high note (so) and shows the handsign and the students reply by singing the low note (mi). The teacher will vary pitch a number of times and expect the students to sing either the high or the low note depending on the first note they hear. 

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student), here is one for you to do by yourself." 
"(2nd student), you can try this one." 
"Let's have all the boys try the next one." 
"Let's have all the girls try the next one." 
"Here is one final example for everyone." 

Review:  

"Please sing our song 'Bye-lo Baby-o' with beautiful singing voices." 
"Does this song have our high and low notes?" Yes
"Show me the handsigns we use for the high and low note." The students demonstrate.
"Please sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o' singing the words 'high' and 'low' and show the handsigns." 

Point:  

"Boys and Girls, musicians have a special name for the high and low notes. The high note and it's handsign are called 'so'; the low note and it's handsign are called 'mi'." 
"Listen while I sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o' in a new way." 
The teacher sings the song in solfa while showing the handsigns.  

Reinforcement:  

"Everyone sing with me in these new melody names and show the handsigns." 
"Everyone on this side of the room sing with "so-mi" and show the handsigns." 
"Everyone on the other side of the room sing with "so-mi" and show the handsigns." 
"Everyone sing the song with the words in beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: All other so-mi songs should be practised with these new melody names (solfa) and handsigns.

Review:  

"Please stand up straight and sing the song 'Bye-lo Baby-o' in lovely singing voices." 
"Please clap the rhythm of this song as you sing in rhythm names and I will write the rhythm on the board." 
"Sing the song once more with 'so-mi' names and show the handsigns." 

Point:  

"Please sing the song once more with 'so-mi' names and I will show you a way that we could write this down." 
The teacher writes the letters for "so-mi" beneath the rhythm on the board. "

"Please sing the song with solfa names and show the handsigns as I point to the board." 

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student), please come to the board and point to the song as the class sings." 
"(2nd student), please come and do the same." 
"Everyone sing the song with the words and beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching note: Alternatively, "See Saw" and "Good Night, Sleep Tight" can also be used for Make Conscious activities.

Review:  

"Listen carefully to the song I play on the tone bells. What song does this sound like?" Bye-lo Baby-o
"Let's sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o' with our beautiful singing voices." 
"Please sing the song again with 'so-mi' names." 

Point:  

"Please watch and listen as I play 'Bye-lo Baby-o' on the tone bells (or xylophone) and tell me if 'mi' is higher or lower than 'so'." Lower
"Watch carefully. When I move from 'so' to 'mi', do I move to the closest bell or do I miss any?" You missed one
"Musicians have a special name for the gap between 'so' and 'mi'. We call it a 'skip'." 
"In music, the note 'mi' will always be a skip lower than 'so'." 

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) what can you tell us about 'so' and 'mi'?" They are a skip apart.
"(2nd student) what can you tell us about 'mi'?" It is a skip lower than 'so'.
"Who can tell me something about 'so'?" It is a skip higher than 'mi'.
"Let's sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o' in your best singing voices with 'so' on our shoulders and 'skip' over our chest and put 'mi' on our waist." 

Teaching note: Alternatively, "See Saw" and  "Good Night, Sleep Tight" can also be used for Make Conscious  activities.

Review:  

"Let's sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o' with our beautiful singing voices." 
"Which note is lower, 'so' or 'mi'?" mi
"Is 'mi' a step lower than 'so' or a skip lower'?" A skip lower
"Mi is always a skip lower than so."

Point:  

"I have a music staircase on the board today. Because 'so' is a high note, I am going to put 'so' here…"

"… and I am going to put a question mark on the other two steps."

"If 'mi' is a skip lower than 'so' where will I put 'mi' on our music staircase?" On the lowest step"
"I'm going to put 'mi' here and draw a curved line to show that there is a skip between 'so' and 'mi'."

"Now when we sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o' we can show it on our music staircase. Watch and sing with me."  The teacher points to the music staircase while the students sing.

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) what can you tell us about 'so' and 'mi'?" They are a skip apart.
"(2nd student) what can you tell us about 'mi'?" It is a skip lower than 'so'.
"(3rd student) please tell me something about 'so'? It is a skip higher than 'mi'.
"(4th student) please come and point to our music staircase as we all sing using 'so' and 'mi'." 
"Let's all sing 'Bye-lo' with our best singing voices." 

Teaching note: Alternatively, "See Saw" and  "Good Night, Sleep Tight" can also be used for Make Conscious  activities.

Review:  

"Please sing 'Bye-lo Baby-o" as we rock the baby to sleep." 
"Sing the song again with rhythm names and as you do, I will write the rhythm onto the board." 
"What other part of the music do we know?" The melody names.
"Please sing the song with these names, showing your handsigns and I will write the letters for 'so' and 'mi' under the rhythm." 

Point:  

The teacher draws a staff below the stick notation and places a note in the third space. 

"Who can tell me where 'so' is living today?" In the 3rd space.
"What do we know about 'mi'?" It is a skip below 'so'.
"If I want to place 'mi' on the staff I will have to skip over the line below 'so' and put it into the next space." 
The teacher draws a note into the 2nd space. 

Reinforcement:  

The teacher calls individual students to the board to place the remainder of the notes. 
"Please sing our song with solfa names while I point to the staff." 
A number of students repeat the exercise and then the song is sung again with the words. 

Teaching note: Alernatively, "See Saw" and  "Good Night, Sleep Tight" can also be used for Make Conscious  activities.

1. The students will learn about the staff position of the notes "so" and "mi".

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will discover the staff position of the notes "so" and "mi" when "so" is on a line, by notating the staff position of "See Saw".

Review:  

"Please sing 'See Saw' as we swing our arms up and down like a see saw." 
"Sing the song again with rhythm names and as you do, I will write the rhythm onto the board." 
"What other part of the music do we know?" The melody names.
"Please sing the song with these names, showing your handsigns and I will write the letters for 'so' and 'mi' under the rhythm." 

Point:  

The teacher draws a staff below the stick notation and places a note on the fourth line.

"Who can tell me where 'so' is living today?" On the fourth line.
"What do we know about 'mi'?" It's a skip below 'so'.
"If I want to place 'mi' on the staff I will have to skip over the space below 'so' and put it onto the next line." 
The teacher draws a note onto the 3rd line. 

Reinforcement:  

The teacher calls individual students to the board to place the remainder of the notes. 
"Please sing our song with melody names while I point to the staff." 
A number of students repeat the exercise and then the song is sung with the words. 

Teaching Note: Repeat this lesson using different songs and with "so" on different spaces and lines.

2. The students will practise "so" and "mi" with known and unknown repertoire with:

1. handsigns
2. stick notation
3. staff notation

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise the "so" and "mi" handsigns in the song "See Saw".

Review:  

"Please sing 'See Saw' with the words." 
"Sing the song again with our body signs and singing our melody names 'so' and 'mi'."
"(1st student) what is our handsign for 'so'?" Student one demonstrates

 
"(2nd student) what is our handsign for 'mi'?" Student two demonstrates

Point:  

"Sing 'See Saw' again using our handsigns and melody names."    

Reinforcement:  

"Let's all use just our right hand as we sing again with melody names and handsigns." 
"Let's all use just our left hands as we sing again with melody names and handsigns." 
"Let's sing the words of the song while still using our handsigns." 
"Please sing 'See Saw' with the words in your best singing voices." 

Teaching Note: Practise 'so' and 'mi' with known and unknown repertoire with handsigns.

2. The students will practise "so" and "mi" with known and unknown repertoire with:

1. handsigns
2. stick notation
3. staff notation

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise "so" and "mi" with stick notation in the song "starlight".

Review:  

"Let's all sing the song 'Starlight'."  The teacher writes up beat circles on the board as the students sing. 
"Let's sing the high and low notes with our melody names 'so' and 'mi'." 
"This time, clap in time with the words while saying our 'ta's' and 'ti-ti's'." 
"(1st student) please come out the front and write our first line of 'ta's' and 'ti-ti's' in our beat circles." 
"(2nd student) please come out the front and write our second line of 'ta's' and 'ti-ti's' in our beat circles."  

Point:  

"(3rd student) do we start with a high or low note?" High note
"Who can tell me what I will write below the 'ta' to show it is a high note?" "s"
"(4th student) what will I write under our next note?" "m"
"(5th student) come and finish writing the first line of our song like this as we sing the song again with our melody names 'so' and 'mi'." 
"(6th student) come and write the second line of our song like this as we sing the song again." 

Reinforcement:  

"Let's all sing the song with our melody names while we check what is written on the board." "
"Is the music on the board correct?" If 'yes' continue to next step If 'no' have students who wrote the mistakes figure out where they are and fix them up."
"(7th student) come and point to each note as we sing it with our melody names." 
"Let's all sing with our melody names again while (8th student) points to our notes." 
"Let's all sing our song with the words with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: Practise 'so' and 'mi' with known and unknown repertoire with stick notation.

2. The students will practise "so" and "mi" with known and unknown repertoire with:

1. handsigns
2. stick notation
3. staff notation

(c) Behavioural Objective: The students will revise the staff position of "so" and "mi" by notating the staff position of "One Two Tie My Shoe" with "so" in the second space.

Review:  

"Let's all sing 'One, Two, Tie My Shoe' with the actions." 
"Sing the song again with the rhythm names and as you do, I will write the rhythm on the board." 
"What other parts of the music do we know?" The melody names
"Please sing the song with these names, showing your handsigns and I will write the letters for 'so' and 'mi' under the rhythm." 

Point:  

The teacher draws a staff below the stick notation and places a note in the second space. 

"Who can tell me where so is living today?" In the second space
"What do we know about 'mi'?" It is a skip below 'so'.
"If I want to place 'mi' on the staff, I will have to skip over the line below 'so' and put it into the next space." The teacher draws a note into the 1st space.

Reinforcement:  

The teacher calls individual students to the board to place the remainder of the notes. 
"Please sing our song with melody names while I point to the staff." 
A number of students repeat the exercise. 
"Let's all sing the song again with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: Practise 'so' and 'mi' with known and unknown repertoire with staff notation.

3. The students will discover that 'so' and 'mi' are copycats.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will discover the rule: If "so" is in a space, "mi" is always in the space below it; if "so" is on a line, "mi" is always the line below it by noticing that 'so' and 'mi' are copycats in the song "Clap Your Hands".

Review:  

"Let's all sing 'Clap Your Hands' which is written up on the board on our staff. "

"Where does 'so' live today?" On the fourth line
"Where does 'mi' live today?" On the third line
"'So' and 'mi' are both living on lines." 
"What if I move 'so' to the fourth space, where is 'mi' going to live?" In the third space.
Teacher moves the counters on the board or re-writes them to put 'so' and 'mi' in spaces. 

Point:  

"Boys and girls, 'so' and 'mi' are 'copycats'. When 'so' is in a space, 'mi' will always be in the space below it. When 'so' is on a line, 'mi' will always be on the line below it."    

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) where is 'so' going to live next?" e.g. In the second space.
"(2nd student) come and put 'so' in the second space and move all the other notes to copy." 
"Let's all sing 'Clap Your Hands' with our melody names with 'so' in the second space." 
"(3rd student) please come and find a new home for 'so'." e.g. On the fifth line
"(4th student) please come and move all our other notes to copy 'so'." 
"Let's sing 'Clap Your Hands' with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: If possible use magnetic counters on a staff drawn up on the board for this activity rather than writing the notes because the note placement changes many times through the lesson segment.
You might like to just use the first half of the song for this activity to save some time.

4. The students will practise echo singing to reinforce the sound of "so" and "mi".

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise echo singing and signing "so" and "mi" by copying what the teacher does.

Review:  

"(1st student) what is the name and handsign of our high note?" 'so' and student demonstrates handsign.
"(2nd student) what is the name and handsign of our low note?" 'mi' and student demonstrates handsign.

Point:  

"Sing after me and copy my handsigns".  
The teacher sings and shows the handsigns:  

The students echo sing and show the handsigns:   

Reinforcement:  

The teacher repeats this exercise with several more 4 beat so-mi patterns for the children to echo. 
Examples:  

4. The students will practise echo singing to reinforce the sound of "so" and "me".

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will practice echo singing "so" and "mi" by copying what the teacher does but they will start 2 beats after the teacher and the teacher will handsign their part.

Review:  

"(1st student) what is the name and handsign of our high note?" 'so' and student demonstrates handsign.
"(2nd student) what is the name and handsign of our low note?" 'mi' and student demonstrates handsign."
"Please copy what I do:" The teacher sings and shows the handsigns: 

Students echo sing and do the handsigns. 

Point:  

"This time, I am going to start singing and when I start showing handsigns, you can start singing what my hands are showing you." 
Teacher sings:

 Teacher handsigns, Students sing:  

Reinforcement:  

The teacher repeats this exercise with several more 4 beat "so-mi" patterns for the children to echo starting 2 beats after the teacher. The teacher will handsign the students' part. 

4. The students will practise echo singing to reinforce the sound of "so" and "mi".

(c) Behavioural Objective: The teacher will sing a musical pattern using "so" and "mi" but singing neutral syllables. The students will sing back in solfa what the teacher has sung.

Review:  

"Please sing after me."
The teacher sings and signs a number of four-beat "so-mi" patterns and the children echo. 

Point:  

"This time I'm not going to sing 'so' and 'mi' for the high and low notes. Listen carefully and sing after me." 
Teacher sings the following pattern to "loo", children echo on "loo": 

"Sing after me again, but this time, put the high notes on your shoulders, and the low notes on your knees." 
Teacher sings on the neutral syllable keeping hands still, children echo and put the high notes on their shoulders and the low notes on their knees. 
"Listen while I sing our pattern once more - this time sing back 'so' for our high notes and 'mi' for our low notes." 

Reinforcement:  

"Sing this new pattern after me." 
Teacher and students all sing a 4 beat so-mi pattern on a neutral syllable like "loo". 
"This time sing our new pattern after me, but this time sing 'so' for the high notes and 'mi' for the low notes." 
Repeat the above exercise several times using different melodic patterns until the students are confident with the process. 

4. The students will practise echo singing to reinforce the sound of "so" and "mi".

(d) Behavioural Objective: The teacher will sing a musical pattern using "so" and "mi" but singing neutral syllables. The students will play what the teacher has sung on xylophone or another suitable instrument.

Review:  

"Please sing after me." 
The teacher sings and signs a number of four-beat 'so-mi' patterns and the children echo. 
"This time I am going to sing but I'm not going to sing 'so' and 'mi'. You have to figure out what I am singing and sing back the 'so's' and the 'mi's'." 

Point:  

"Listen to me sing another pattern." 
"Listen while I play something on our xylophone." 
"Did I play the same pattern I sang?" Yes
"Who would like to play what I sing?" 
Teacher sings a 4 beat so-mi pattern and (1st student) comes and plays what the teacher sang. 

Reinforcement:  

"(2nd student) come and play what I sing." 
Teacher sings a 4 beat "so-mi" pattern and the student plays what the teacher sang. 
Repeat with 1 or 2 more students while the other students pretend to play the high and low notes on their imaginary xylophones. 
"Everyone please sing after me." 
The teacher sings a 4 beat "so-mi" pattern with the "so's" and "mi's" to finish the activity.  

Teaching Note: If using a glockenspiel or xylophone, you might like to take off any notes the students will not need, only leaving them 'so' and 'mi' at the pitch you have decided to use for the exercises.

4. The students will practise echo singing to reinforce the sound of "so" and "mi".

(e) Behavioural Objective: The students will sing in solfa a four beat phrase containing "so-mi" shown by handsigns only. The students will be given a starting pitch.

Review:  

"Sing after me." 
The teacher sings 3 or more 4 beat phrases and the class echo. 
"This time sing after me with handsigns." 
The teacher sings 3 or more 4 beat phrases showing the handsigns and the class echo and do handsigns. 

Point:  

"This time, sing what I sign with my hands… I'm not going to sing!"  
Teacher slowly signs a phrase containing a combination of "so" and "mi". The class sings while the teacher signs.   

Reinforcement:  

"This time the boys can sing what I sign. Boys here is a new starting note." 
Teacher slowly signs a phrase containing a combination of "so" and "mi". The boys sing while the teacher signs. 
"This time the girls can sing what I sign. Girls here is a new starting note." 
Teacher slowly signs a phrase containing a combination of "so" and "mi". The girls sing while the teacher signs. 
"Let's all sing together with our beautiful voices what I sign." 
Teacher slowly signs a phrase containing a combination of "so" and "mi". The teacher sings with the students. 

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will sing back four beat phrases using "so" and "mi" shown on flash cards in stick notation.

Review:  

"I have a rhythm written on the board - please clap it with me." 

"(1st student) what letter would I write to show that the first note is a high note?" An 's'.
"(2nd student) what letter would I write to show that the second note is a low note?" An 'm'"
Teacher writes up:  

"Let's all sing what is written on the board and show our handsigns." 

Point:  

"I have lots of melodies like this on these cards. Let's sing some of them." 
Teacher starts students singing and they sing through the flash cards without stopping.   

Reinforcement:  

"Let's sing the melodies on these cards again, but this time I'm not going to sing with you!" 
"Front row, here is one for you to sing remember to use your handsigns!" 
"Second row, here is one for you to sing." 
"Who would like to sing one by themselves?" 
"Let's all sing this last one together with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: If preferred this activity can be done with "so-mi" flash cards with no rhythm
Flash cards can be used for individual assessment during class time.

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will sing back four beat phrases using so-mi shown on  flash cards on the staff.

Review:  

"I have a rhythm written on the board - please clap it with me."

"What is the name of the five lines under our rhythm?" Staff
"(1st student) where is 'so' going to live today?" On the third line
"(2nd student) where will 'mi' be living if 'so' is on the third line?" On the second line"
Teacher writes up:  

"Let's all sing what is written on the board and show our handsigns." 

Point:  

"I have lots of melodies like this on these cards. Let's sing some of them." Teacher starts students singing and they sing through the flash cards without stopping.   

Reinforcement:  

"Let's sing the melodies on these cards again, but this time I'm not going to sing with you!" 
"Front row, here is one for you to sing remember to use your handsigns!" 
"Second row, here is one for you to sing." 
"Who would like to sing one by themselves?" 
"Let's all sing this last one together with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: There are 3 sets of so-mi flash cards to support this activity, one is with "so" in the 4th space, one is with "so" on the 3rd line and one has "so" starting on a variety of lines and spaces.
Flash cards can be used for individual assessment during class time.

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(c) Behavioural Objective: The students will put the "Jump High Stick Notation Flash Cards" in the correct order.

Review:  

"Let's all sing 'Jump High' together." 
"Let's sing again with our melody names and handsigns."  

Point:  

"I have 'Jump High' written on these cards, but they are in the wrong order." 
Teacher lines shuffled cards up on the board. 
"(1st student) come and show me the first card I will need." 
Teacher continues to pick students to come and select the next flashcard until they are all in order. 
"Let's sing our song in solfa and check that we have the correct order." 

Reinforcement:  

"I'm going to shuffle these cards - who would like to put them into the correct order again?" 
"Let's sing our song in solfa and check that the cards are in the correct order." 
Have 2 or 3 students put the song in order and have the class sing the song in solfa after each one to check. 
"Let's all sing 'Jump High' with our beautiful singing voices." 

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(d) Behavioural Objective: The students will sing combinations of so-mi flash cards in stick notation put up on the board forming melodies of increasing length, starting with 4 beats and increasing to 8, 12 or 16 beats.

Review:  

"Let's sing what is on these flash cards." 
"(1st student) please sing the next card." 
"(2nd student) please sing the next card." 

Point:  

"I'm going to put 2 cards together on the board - let's sing them." 
"This time, I am going to turn the first card over to see if we can remember it." 
Students sing the first card from memory and read the other one. 
"This time, I am going to turn the second card over to see if we can remember the whole melody." 
Students sing both cards from memory. 

Reinforcement:  

"I'm going to choose 2 new cards." 
Repeat the process above until the melody is from memory. 
"(3rd student) please choose 2 new cards for us. 
Repeat the process above until the melody is from memory. 
"I'm going to turn these two cards over again - let's sing them one last time with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: Repeat this activity combining 3 or 4 cards together to form 12 or 16 beat melodies for the students to memorise. 
This activity can also be done with staff flash cards.

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(e) Behavioural Objective: The students will discover aurally which melodic flash card the teacher sings when the teacher sings on a neutral syllable.

Review:  

"Let's sing what is on these flash cards." 
The teacher shows so-mi staff flash cards. 
"(1st student) please sing the next card." 
"(2nd student) please sing the next card."   

Point:  

"I'm going to put lots of these cards on the board. Who can tell me which card I sing?" 
The teacher sings one of the cards on a neutral syllable (e.g. loo) and chooses a student to come and pick the card the melody was sung from. 
"Let's all sing the melody on this card."   

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the exercise above 2-3 times. 
"Who would like to sing one of the cards for the class to guess?" 
A student is chosen to pick one card to sing. The class guess which card. 
"While I pack up our cards, please sing each one I hold up in your beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: This activity can be done with stick notation and staff notation cards.

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(f) Behavioural Objective: The students will be shown a four beat so-mi flash card to use as a melodic ostinato for the song "Starlight".

Review:  

"Let's all sing "Starlight". 
"This time copy what I am doing." 
The teacher puts the first beat on his/her shoulders and the second beat on his/her knees and keeps alternating between through the song. The class copies. 

Point:  

"Let's clap the rhythm on this flashcard." 
Students clap:

"Let's sing the song and clap the rhythm." 
"Let's sing the melody notes on this flash card."  

"This time you sing the melody notes on this card over and over again while I sing our song." 

Reinforcement:  

"This time you sing the song, while I sing what is on our card." 
"This half of the class sing the song and this half of the class sing what is on our card." 
"Boys please sing the song and girls sing what is on our card." 
"Let's sing the song altogether in our beautiful singing voices." 

5. The students will use flash cards to practise the pitch of "so" and "mi".

(g) Behavioural Objective: The students will individually improvise a 4 beat so-mi pattern that is the 'answer' to a 4 beat so-mi 'question' shown on a flashcard in stick notation.

Review:  

"Let's sing this card." 
Teacher shows a 4 beat so-mi flashcard in stick notation. 
"(1st student) please sing this one." 
"(2nd student) here is one for you."   

Point:  

"I'm going to sing one and then do something else." 
Teacher sings a 4 beat so-mi flashcard and then improvises another 4 beats using 'so' and 'mi'. 
"Did I start by singing what was on the card?" Yes
"Was that the only thing I sang, or did I sing something else as well?" You sang something else as well.
"I sang what was on the card and then I made up my own so-mi melody that was just as long." 

Reinforcement:  

"Sing this card with with me and then listen to the melody I make up." 
The class and teacher sing another flashcard and the teacher improvises another 4 beats using 'so' and 'mi'. 
"Who would like to have a go making up their own melody?" 
"(3rd student) we will sing what is on this card first, and you can make up your own melody when we have finished." 
"(4th student) we will sing what is on this card first, and you can make up your own melody when we have finished." 
"Let's all sing this last card altogether with our beautiful singing voices." 

6. The students will sight-read "so-mi" patterns on the staff starting on different notes.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise reading known and unknown so-mi patterns from the staff starting on different notes.

Review:  

"What do we call these 5 lines and 4 spaces?" The staff
"Please sing what is written on the board." 
The teacher uses magnetic counters to put a so-mi pattern on the board.    

Point:  

"There is something different about this counter, this one is our 'flying note'. Our flying note can be either a 'so' or a 'mi'. When he moves, all our other 'so' and 'mi' counters copy." 
"Today our 'flying note' is going to go…. On the fourth line and he is a 'so'." 
The teacher moves all the other counters into a new pattern. 
"Let's sing our new melody. Here is our new starting note." 

Reinforcement:  

"Now our 'flying note' is going to go…. In the second space and he is now a 'mi'." 
The teacher moves all the other counters into a new pattern. 
"Let's sing our new melody. Here is our new starting note." 
Repeat this process a few times. 
Have individual children come and choose where the 'flying note' lands and make a new melody. 
"Let's sing this last one altogether with our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Notes: 

Make sure some patterns start with mi-so as students practise the so-mi pattern a lot more in the repertoire we sing. 

If you don't use a clef at the beginning of the staff, you can sing the notes at any pitch suitable for young voices. It will help the children understand that the higher or lower a note is on the staff affects it's pitch if you change pitches for each new melody.

To simplify this activity, just use 4 even notes for each melody rather than using a rhythm of any kind.

7. The students will combine aural and visual skills to discover which flash card the teacher sings.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will discover aurally which staff flashcard from the board the teacher sings.

Review:  

"Let's sing some of these so-mi cards." 
Students are shown 3-4 cards to sing.    

Point:  

"I'm going to put these cards up on our board." 
"I'm going to sing one of these cards… when I finish, put your hand up if you can tell me which one I sang." 
Teacher sings on a neutral syllable like "loo". 
"(1st student) please show us which one I sang." 
"Let's all sing this one together." 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above exercise 2-3 times. 
"Who would like to sing one of the melodies on the board for the class to guess?" 
"(2nd student) please sing one for us." 
"(3rd student) please go and point to the one that was sung." 
"(2nd student), was he/she correct?" yes
Teacher points to one card. "Let's sing this one altogether in our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note: You can also use stick notation flash cards for this activity.

8. The students will identify known songs when:

1. the handsigns only are shown 
2. the song is sung in solfa and not with text 
3. staff notation or stick notation is shown but the students must put the melody "in their heads"

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will identify a known song when the teacher shows the handsigns for the song without singing.

Review:  

"Please sing after me." 
The teachers sings and signs 3-4 four beat "so-mi" melodies and the class sings and signs them back. 
"This time I'm going to show you a melody with my handsigns, but I'm not going to sing it - please sing while I sign." 
Teacher continues until class is singing confidently what he/she is signing. 

Point:  

"This time I am going to do the handsigns for a song we know. Keep the notes in your head (no singing!) and try to figure out what song I am signing." 
"Put your hand up when you think you know what song it is." 
Teacher signs whole song before asking individual students to tell what song it is. 
If the first student is correct, repeat for a new song. If the student is incorrect, show the whole class the handsigns for the song again and ask another student the name of the song. 
Once the song is guessed, have all the students sing and sign the song together. 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the activity above with different known songs. 

8. The students will identify known songs when:

1. the handsigns only are shown 
2. the song is sung in solfa and not with text 
3. staff notation or stick notation is shown but the students must put the melody "in their heads"

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will identify a known song when the teacher sings the solfa for the song.

Review:  

"Please sing after me." 
The teachers sings and signs 3-4 four beat "so-mi" melodies and the class sings and signs them back. 

Point:  

"This time I am going to sing the melody names for a song we know - I'm not going to sing any words!" 
"Put your hand up when you think you know what song it is." 
Teacher sings whole song in solfa before asking individual students to tell what song it is. 
If the first student is correct, repeat for a new song. If the student is incorrect, sing the song in solfa again and ask another student the name of the song. 
Once the song is guessed, have all the students sing and sign the song together with solfa and then sing the words. 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the activity above with different known songs. 

8. The students will identify known songs when:

1. the handsigns only are shown 
2. the song is sung in solfa and not with text 
3. staff notation or stick notation is shown but the students must put the melody "in their heads"

(c) Behavioural Objective: The students will identify a known song when shown the song on the staff e.g. Jump High Sight Reading (the students will put the melody "in their heads").

Review:  

"Let's sing the melody written on our staff." 
The teacher and the students sing a melody written with magnetic counters on a staff on the board. 
"I'm going to move our counters to make a new melody. Please sing our new melody, but this time I'm not going to sing with you!" 
"I'm going to move our counters to make a new melody. Please sing our new melody in your heads - I don't want to hear a sound!!"  
"Now let's sing this melody altogether." 
Repeat this activity a few times until class is singing confidently. 

Point:  

"This time I am going to put a song on the staff on the board that we know. Keep the notes in your head (no singing!) and try to figure out the name of the song." 
"Put your hand up when you think you know what song it is." 
Teacher counts in on the starting pitch and points to each note in time for the children to sing in their heads. The teacher finishes the song before asking individual students to tell what song it is. 
If the first student is correct, repeat for a new song. If the student is incorrect, have the whole class sing through the song again in their heads and ask another student the name of the song. 
Once the song is guessed, have all the students sing the song together. 

Reinforcement:  

"Repeat the activity above with different known songs. E.g. 'Jump High Sight Reading',  'Bye-lo Sight Reading' and 'Good Night Sleep Tight Sight Reading'"

Teaching Note: This activity can also be done with the children identifying known song material in stick notation.

9. The students will learn aurally and visually about form using phrases containing "so" and "mi".

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will aurally identify 4 beat, so-mi phrases which are melodically the same, different or similar.

Review:  

"Look at these pictures.  Are the pictures of the two cats walking the same, similar or different?"  The same
"Are the pictures of the two cats sleeping, one in colour, one black and white similar or different?" Similar
"Are the pictures of one cat walking and one sleeping the same, similar or different?" Different.

Point:  

"In music sometimes we have melodies that are the same, similar or different." 
"I'm going to sing two melodies. Put two hands up if you think they were the same. Put one hand up if you think they were different. Cross your arms if you think they were similar." 
The teacher sings two melodies that are the same and the class show with their hands if they think the phrases are the same, different or similar.     

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above activity 3-4 times with a variety of same, similar and different melodies. 
"Here are our, same, similar and different pictures. (1st student) listen to these two melodies and point to the picture that shows if the melodies are the same, similar or different." 
Repeat the above activity with 2-3 different students. 
"Listen to this next melody and sing it back to me in your beautiful singing voices so it sounds the same." 

Teaching Note: When asking students to show you with their hands if the two melodies are the same, similar or different, you may like to draw stick figures beside the words "same", "similar" and "different" so students can remember whether to put their hand/s up or cross their arms.

9. The students will learn aurally and visually about form using phrases containing "so" and "mi".

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will visually identify 4 beat, so-mi phrases which are the same, different or similar.

Review:  

"Look at these pictures.  Are the pictures of the two cats walking the same, similar or different?"  The same
"Are the pictures of the two cats sleeping, one in colour, one black and white similar or different?" Similar
"Are the pictures of one cat walking and one sleeping the same, similar or different?" Different.

Point:  

"In music sometimes we have melodies that are the same, similar or different." 
"I'm going to put two melodies up on the board in stick notation. Put two hands up if you think they are the same. Put one hand up if you think they are different. Cross your arms if you think they are similar."   

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above activity 3-4 times with a variety of same, similar and different melodies. 
"Here are our same, similar and different pictures. (1st student) look at these two melodies and point to the picture that shows if the melodies are the same, similar or different." 
Repeat the above activity with 2-3 different students. 
"Look at this last melody. I'm going to sing it - please sing it back to me in your beautiful singing voices so it sounds the same as what is written." 

Teaching Notes: 

• The activity can also be done with the melody shown on the staff.

• Flash cards can be printed to support this activity, Stick notation flash cards, Staff flashcards.  Two copies can be printed to enable you to show melodies that are the same.

• When asking students to show you with their hands if the two melodies are the same, similar or different, you may like to draw stick figures beside the words "same", "similar" and "different" so students can remember whether to put their hand/s up or cross their arms.

10. The students will compose new melodies using "so" and "mi" by changing existing melodies written in stick notation and on the staff.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will make new melodies by changing the solfa in stick notation and singing the new melody in solfa.

Review:  

"Let's all sing what is on these flash cards."  
The teacher shows so-mi stick notation flash cards for the students to sing.

Point:  

"I'm going to write up what was on our last card on the board." 
"Let's sing it again." 
"(1st student) please choose one note to change. You can either make a 'so' a 'mi' or change a 'mi' into a 'so'." 
The teacher changes the note that the student chooses. 
"Let's all sing our new melody." 

Reinforcement:  

"(2nd student) please change another note." 
"Let's all sing our new melody." 
"(3rd student) please change another note." 
"Let's all sing our new melody." 
This activity can be repeated starting with different melodies. 

10. The students will compose new melodies using "so" and "mi" by changing exisiting melodies written in stick notation and on the staff.

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will make new melodies by changing the position of notes on the staff and singing the new melody in solfa.

Review:  

"Let's all sing what is on these flash cards."  
The teacher shows 3-4 so-mi staff flash cards for the students to sing.    

Point:  

"Using our magnetic counters, I'm going to put up on the board what was on our last card." 
"Let's sing it again." 
"(1st student) please choose one note to move. You can either make a 'so' a 'mi' by moving it down, or a 'mi' into a 'so' by moving it up." 
Teacher demonstrates moving a note before the student has a turn. 
"Let's all sing our new melody." 

Reinforcement:  

"(2nd student) please change another note." 
"Let's all sing our new melody." 
"(3rd student) please change another note." 
"Let's all sing our new melody." 
This activity can be repeated starting with different melodies. 

11. The students will practise placing "so" and "mi" on individual staff boards.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise the placement of so and mi on lines and spaces on individual staff boards with the song "Cuckoo Where Are You".

Review:  

"Today 'so' is living on the 5th line. Where will 'mi' live?" On the 4th line.
"I'm going to put some other counters up on the board to make a song." 
The teacher puts counters up and draws in the rhythm for "Cuckoo Where Are You". 
"Let's all clap the rhythm." 
"Let's all sing the song that is written on the staff." The children sing in solfa. 
"What is the name of the song we just sang?" Cuckoo Where Are You?

Point:  

"I'm going to hand out one staff board between 2 people and some counters. Can the first person please put 'so' in the second space." 
"Where will 'mi' go?" In the first space.
"Can the first person now finish putting our song on the staff? You don't need to put the rhythm in." 
"I'm going to put the song up on the board now with 'so' living in the second space. Can the second person please check the song."  

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above activity with the second child in the pair 'writing' the song with 'so' living on the 3rd line. 
The teacher can then put the answer on the board. Have the first child check the song from the board. 
"Let's all sing the song with the words in our beautiful singing voices while we follow what is written on the board." 

Teaching Notes: 

Alternatively, this activity can be done on the classroom board. Or children can be given staff on paper to write the songs.

This activity should be repeated with all known song material.

12. The students will practise reading "so" and "mi" on a hand staff.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise reading unknown material from the hand staff with the song "Swinging High".

Review:  

"I'm going to spread my fingers and thumb to make a hand staff. See here are my 5 lines and 4 spaces." 
The teacher holds up a hand and with the other hand counts up and points to 1-2-3-4-5 lines and 1-2-3-4 spaces. 
"I'm going to make my third finger 'so' today and my second finger 'mi'." 
"Watch while I sing and show a little melody." 
The teacher sings "so-mi-mi-so" and points to the relevant fingers. 
"Sing this melody with me." 
The class sings the same melody as the teacher shows it again on the hand staff. 

Point:  

"We are going to learn a new song today from our hand staff." 
"Sing as I point to each note." 
The teacher points out the melody of "Swinging High" and the students sing in solfa.   

Reinforcement:  

"This time we are going to start with 'so' in the fourth space. Here is our new starting sound. (The teacher hums a new starting pitch a step higher.) 
"Sing as I point to each note." 
The teacher points out the melody of "Swinging High" and the students sing in solfa. 
Repeat this activity starting on a different line or space. 
"Let's all sing our new melody with our handsigns and beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Notes:

• The song can be taught with the words after this activity, in another lesson.

• Practise reading unknown material from stick notation and the staff as well.

• Practise reading known material from stick notation, the staff and from a hand staff as well.

13. The students will dictate a short so-mi melody either on the staff or in stick notation as sung by the teacher.

(a) Behavioural Objective: Using counters, the students will dictate onto a staff a short so-mi phrase sung by the teacher on a neutral syllable. The students will be given the first note.

Review:  

"Please sing after me." 
The teacher sings 2-3, "so-mi" phrases in solfa and the class echos. 
"This time I'm going to sing high and low notes but I'm not going to sing our melody note names. Please sing back what I sing with our proper names." 
The teacher sings 2-3, "so-mi" phrases on a neutral syllable and the class sings back in solfa. 
"Everyone please put a counter on the second line - this will be your first note 'so'." 
"If 'so' is on the second line, where will 'mi' live?" On the first line.

Point:  

"I'm going to sing high and low notes to 'loo', please sing after me on 'loo'." 
The class echos the teacher. 
"I'm going to sing that one more time. This time sing it after me on 'loo' and then put a counter on the second line for every high note, and a counter on the first line for every low note. Remember we already have our first note on our boards." 
"Let's sing it once more to 'loo' to check our work." 
"(1st student) please come and put the answer on the staff on the board." 
"Let's sing it once more with our melody note names." 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above activity 3-4 more times. 
Repeat the above activity moving where 'so' and 'mi' live.     

Teaching Note: You may like to dictate the first one together on the board.
If you don't have enough staff boards for one per student or one between two, this activity can also be done on the board with magnetic counters.

13. The students will dictate a short "so-mi" melody either on the staff or in stick notation as sung by the teacher.

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will add the 's' and 'm' below a given rhythm for a phrase sung by the teacher on a neutral syllable.

Review:  

"Everyone please clap the rhythm written on the board." 
Students clap:

"Listen to what I sing, am I singing the same rhythm?" 
The teacher sings on 'loo':

 
"Did I sing the same rhythm?" yes
"What are the names of the 2 different notes in my melody?" 'so' and 'mi'.
"What letters do I use to write those under my rhythm?" 's' and 'm'.
Teacher demonstrates by writing the first 2 under the rhythm on the board.

Point:  

"Can everyone please write the rhythm on the board in their books." 
"The first note is going to be 'so'. Please write an 's' under your first rhythm." 
"I'm going to sing high and low notes to 'loo', please sing after me on 'loo'." 
"This time, point in the air where we are going up and down as we sing it again." 
"Now write an 's' for the high notes and an 'm' for the low notes under your rhythm." 
"(1st student) please come and put the answer on the staff on the board." 
"Let's sing it once more with our melody note names." 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above activity 3-4 more times using the same rhythm but a different melody. 
Repeat the above activity with a different rhythm.     

13. The students will dictate a short "so-mi" melody either on the staff or in stick notation as sung by the teacher.

(c) Behavioural Objective: The students will dictate a short so-mi phrase sung by the teacher on a neutral syllable by drawing the note heads on a staff.

Review:  

"Please sing after me." 
The teacher sings 2-3, "so-mi" phrases in solfa and the class echos. 
"This time I'm going to sing high and low notes but I'm not going to sing our melody note names. Please sing back what I sing with our proper names." 
The teacher sings 2-3, "so-mi" phrases on a neutral syllable and the class sings back in solfa. 
"Everyone please draw a notehead in the second space - this will be your first note 'so'." 
"If 'so' is in the second space, where will 'mi' live?" In the first space.   

Point:  

"I'm going to sing high and low notes to 'loo', please sing after me on 'loo'." 
The class echos the teacher. 
"I'm going to sing that one more time. This time sing it after me on 'loo' and then draw a notehead in the second space for every high note, and draw a notehead in the first space for every low note. Remember we already have our first note on our staff." 
"Let's sing it once more to 'loo' to check our work." 
"(1st student) please come and put the answer on the staff on the board." 
"Let's sing it once more with our melody note names." 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the above activity 3-4 more times. Repeat the above activity moving where 'so' and 'mi' live.     

Teaching Note: You may like to dictate the first one together on the board.
If you don't have enough staff boards for one per student or one between two, this activity can also be done on the board by individual students using magnetic counters.

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise writing 'mi' on the correct line or space on a worksheet where 'so' is already written in different lines or spaces.

Review:  

"Please sing and handsign after me." 
The teacher sings 2-3 so-mi phrases and the class echo. 
"(1st student) where is 'so' going to live today?" On the 3rd line.
Teacher writes 'so' on the third line of staff up on the board. 
"(2nd student) if 'so' is on the 3rd line, where will 'mi' live?" On the 2nd line.
Teacher writes 'mi' on the second line of staff up on the board. 
"That's right, because 'mi' is a copycat and whenever 'so' is on a line, 'mi' lives on the line below." 
"I'm going to more 'so' to the 4th space." 
"(3rd student) if 'so' is in the 4th space, where will 'mi' live?" In the 3rd space.
"That's right, because 'mi' is a copycat and whenever 'so' is in a space, 'mi' lives in the space below." 

Point:  

"Here is a worksheet for us to finish." 
"Look at our worksheet - see how 'so' keeps moving! We have to help 'mi' find where he needs to live each time 'so' moves!" 
"Please write in a notehead for 'mi' after every 'so'."   

Reinforcement:  

"(4th student) I have written up our first 'so' on the board. Please come and write 'mi' up for us so we can check our work." 
After the teacher writes up each 'so' from the worksheet he/she asks a student to write the new 'mi'. 
"The important thing for us to remember is that 'mi' is a copycat and when 'so' is on a line, 'mi' is on the line below and when 'so' is in a space, 'mi' is in the space below." 

Teaching Note: The next step would be for students to complete the worksheet Stave https://msongfile.com/songs/stave_writing_(sm_write_missing_notes_%22so%22).aspx and fill in each missing "so".
For a bit more of a challenge, students can complete the worksheet https://mysongfile.com/songs/stave_writing_(sm_write_missing_notes).aspx which has some missing "so's" and some missing "mi's".

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will practise writing 'so' and 'mi' by copying "Bye-lo" onto the staff.

Review:  

"Look at the notes on your worksheet. What is the name of our first note?" So
"Where is 'so' living today?" On the third line.
"What is the name of our second note?" Mi
"Where is 'mi' living today?" On the second line.

Point:  

"Let's copy all these notes on the staff below where they are written." 
"Make sure each 'so' is on the 3rd line, and each 'mi' is on the second line."   

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) I have written up the first note, please come and write the next 3 notes for us." 
The teacher continues choosing students to write a few notes each until the song is complete. 

Teaching Note: 

You can have students sing the song they have just written in solfa, guess the name of the song and write it in (the picture on the worksheet will be a big clue!)

Other songs with worksheets for this activity with a range of different starting pitches are:
"Clap Your Hand - Stave Writing - Copy this song"
"Good Night - Stave Writing - Copy this song"
"Hey Hey Look at Me - Stave Writing - Copy this song"
"Jump High - Stave Writing - Copy this song"
"See Saw - Stave Writing - Copy this song"
"Swinging High - Stave Writing - Copy this song"
"Walking Low - Stave Writing - Copy this song"

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(c) Behavioural Objective: The students will draw stems behind noteheads written on the staff on the worksheet "Stave Writing - Write missing stems up".  They will make some ta's and some ti-ti's.

Review:  

"Look at these note-heads written on the board. What is missing?" Stems
"When we draw stems on notes written under the 'special middle line' do the stems go up or down?" Up
"Do the stems go in front or behind the note?" Behind the note.
"That's correct, the notes go behind the note." 

Point:  

"Look at our worksheet for today."  
"Are all our notes on or under the 'special middle line'?" Yes
"Let's draw stems going up behind all our notes." 
"Let's make all the notes on the second line into ti-ti's." 
"Do we join them at the top, bottom, or middle of the stem?" At the top.

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) please draw stems on the first 3 noteheads that are written on the board." 
The teacher continues choosing students to write a few notes each until all the notes have stems.  

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(d) Behavioural Objective: The students will draw stems in front of noteheads written on the staff on the worksheet Stave writing - write missing stems down. They will make some ta's and some ti-tis.

Review:  

"Look at these note-heads written on the board. What is missing?" Stems
"When we draw stems on notes written above the 'special middle line' do the stems go up or down?" Down
"Do the stems go in front or behind the note?" In front of the note
"That's correct, the notes go in front of the note."

Point:  

"Look at our worksheet for today."  
"Are all our notes on or above the 'special middle line'?" Yes
"Let's draw stems going up after all our notes." 
"Let's make all the notes on the second line of staff into ti-ti's." 
"Do we join them at the top, bottom, or middle of the stem?" At the bottom.

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) please draw stems on the first 3 noteheads that are written on the board." 
The teacher continues choosing students to write a few notes each until all the notes have stems. 

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(e) Behavioural Objective: The students will draw stems onto noteheads written on the staff on the worksheet "Stave writing - write missing stems up and down".   Some notes are on, above or below the 'special middle line'.

Review:  

"Look at these note-heads written on the board. What is missing?" Stems
"When we draw stems on notes written above the 'special middle line' do the stems go up or down?" Down
"Do the stems go on in front of or behind the note?" In front of the note
"That's correct, the notes go in front of the note making the note look like a 'p'." 
The teacher draws one on the board. 
"When we draw stems on notes written below the 'special middle line' do the stems go up or down?" Up
"Do the stems go in front of or behind the note?" Behind the note
"That's correct, the notes go behind the note making the note look like a 'd'." 
The teacher draws one on the board. 
"What happens when the note is on the 'special middle line'?" The stem can go up or down.

Point:  

"Look at our worksheet for today."  
"Are all our notes above or below the 'special middle line'?" Some are above, some are below.
"Where else are some notes?" On the 'special middle line'.
"Let's draw stems on all our notes."  

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) please draw stems on the first 3 noteheads that are written on the board." 
The teacher continues choosing students to write a few notes each until all the notes have stems. 
"So if our note is above the 'special middle line' does our stem go up or down, behind the note, or in front of the note?" Down, in front of the note
"If our note is below the 'special middle line' does our stem go up or down, behind the note, or in front of the note?" Up, behind the note

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(f) Behavioural Objective: The students will add the rhythm to noteheads to make the song "See Saw".

Review:  

"Let's all sing 'See Saw'." 
"Let's sing with our rhythm names." 
"Look at today's worksheet. Are the notes above or below the 'special middle line'?" Above
"Do our stems go up or down when notes are above the 'special middle line'?" Down
"In front of or behind the note?" In front of the note

Point:  

"Look at today's worksheet. Point to each notehead as we sing our rhythm names again." 
"Above the staff, let's write our rhythm." 
The students write the rhythm of "See Saw" above the notes, above the staff. 
"Let's 'drop our rhythm down' onto our noteheads and make sure our stems are going the correct way!"  

Reinforcement:  

The teacher draws up the noteheads for "See Saw" on the board. 
"(1st student) please come and draw the rhythm on the first 4 notes on the notes on the board." 
The teacher continues choosing students to each write up stems and beams on 3-4 notes until the song is finished. 
"Please check your worksheet with the answers on the board." 
"Let's all follow the music on the board and sing in rhythm names." 
"Let's sing 'See Saw' with the words in our beautiful singing voices." 

Teaching Note:  Worksheets also available for this activity with the songs: 
"Good Night - Stave Writing Rhythm" 
"Hey Hey Look At Me - Stave Writing Rhythm" 
"Jump High - Stave Writing Rhythm" 
"Swinging High - Stave Writing Rhythm"
"Walking Low - Stave Writing Rhythm" 

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(g) Behavioural Objective: The students will write a melody and rhythm from stick notation onto the staff.

Review:  

"I have a melody with a rhythm written above my staff on the board.  
"Today 'so' is going to live on the middle line." 
"If 'so' is on the the middle line, where does 'mi' live?" On the second line.
"If 'so' is on the middle line does the stem go up or down?" It can go up or down.
"If the stem goes up, is it in front of the note or behind the note?" Behind the note.
"If the stem goes down, is it in front of the note or behind the note?" In front of the note.

Point:  

"Draw all the 'so' and 'mi' noteheads on your staff under the rhythm." 
"Now drop the rhythm down to meet your noteheads."   

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) please come and write the first 4 notes and rhythms on the board." 
The teacher continues asking students to write 3-4 notes on the board until the melody is finished. 
"Everyone check your work with what is on the board." 

Teaching Note: You can finish with the students singing what is written on the board if it connects well to your next activity.

14. The students will practise written activities to develop music writing skills.

(h) Behavioural Objective: The students will re-write "See Saw" by writing the song on the staff in a new position.

Review:  

"Look at your worksheet. Let's sing with melody note names what is written on the staff." 
"Where is 'so' living today?" In the fourth space.
"Where is 'mi' living today?" In the third space.
"Look at the next line of staff - where is 'so' living?" In the third space.
"'So' has moved! In that case 'mi' should move too… Where is 'mi' going to move to?" To the second space.
"'So' is above the 'special middle line'. Will the stems go up or down, and will they be in front of the note or behind the note?" The stems will go down in front of 'so'.
"'Mi' is now below the 'special middle line'. Will the stems go up or down, and will they be in front of the note or behind 'mi'?" The stems will go up, behind 'mi'.

Point:  

"Everyone move all our 'so's' and 'mi's' to their new homes on your worksheets. Remember to write the rhythm in as well!"    

Reinforcement:  

"(1st student) please come and write the first 4 notes and rhythms on the board in their new homes." 
The teacher continues asking students to write 3-4 notes on the board until the melody is finished. 
"Everyone check your work with what is on the board." 

Teaching Notes: 

You can finish with the students singing what is written on the board if it connects well to your next activity.

Worksheets also available for this activity with the songs:
"Bye-lo (stave writing-transposition)" 
"Clap Your Hands (stave writing-transposition)"

15. The students will improvise melodies to given words or rhythms.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will improvise so-mi melodies to known rhymes which do not have an existing melody.

Review:  

"Sometimes musicians make up music as they go along. A bit like when I sing you good morning with a different melody. I could sing… "

"Each time I sang a different melody that I made up as I went along." 

Point:  

"Today you will be able to make up your own song!" 
"Let's all say 'Engine Engine'". 
"Let's sing this rhyme on 'so'". 
"Let's sing this rhyme on 'mi'". 
"Those melodies weren't all that interesting, we really need to use 'so's' and 'mi's!" 
"If you would like to make up some of the melody of 'Engine Engine' put your hand up. I will walk around and if I tap you on the head, you can sing 4 beats of your own melody for us. I will go first." 
The teacher demonstrates the first 4 beats improvising a melody then taps individual students on the head and each chosen child will each sing a 4 beat melody. 

Reinforcement:  

Repeat the process above with the same rhyme or choose a different rhyme. 
"Everyone sing after me with your beautiful singing voices this melody I'm going to make up as we go!" 
The teacher sings 4 beat phrases of the rhyme the class finished with and the class echos. 

Teaching Note:  Other suggested rhymes for this activity include: 
"Eeny Meeny Miny Mo"
"Fishy Fishy" 
"One, Two, Three, Four"  
"Queen Queen Caroline" 
"See a Pin and Pick it Up" 
"Two Four Six Eight"

15. The students will improvise melodies to given words or rhythms.

(b) Behavioural Objective: The students will improvise an 8-beat, so-mi melody to fit a rhythm written by the teacher up on the board.

Review:  

"Everyone please clap the rhythm written on the board."
The class claps:"

Point:  

"Please sing after me." 
The teacher improvises a melody using 'so' and 'mi' using the rhythm on the board… the class sings with the teacher prompting with handsigns if necessary. 
"Did my melody use the rhythm on the board?" Yes
"(1st student) please make up your own melody to this rhythm using 'so' and 'mi'." 

Reinforcement:  

Have 2-3 students make up their own melody to the rhythm on the board. 
Change one beat of rhythm per line and choose 1-2 more students to make up their own melody. 
"Everyone please use your beautiful singing voices and sing after me." 
The teacher improvises an eight-beat, "so-mi" melody to the rhythm on the board and the class echos. The teacher prompts with handsigns if necessary. 

16. The students will compose a melody in a particular form.

(a) Behavioural Objective: The students will create a melody which uses only so-mi and ta and ti-ti but is written in the form A-B-C-B. The students will complete this activity using the composition template.

Review:  

"Let's say the rhyme 'One, Two, Three, Four' while I write the rhythm on the board." 
The teacher writes:

"I'm going to label the first line 'A'". 
"Is our next line the same or different?" Different
"What will we call our next line?" B
"What is our third line going to be called?" C
"Is our fourth line the same as any other line?" It's the same as the second line.
"What will we call the fourth line?" B
"Please write the letters A-B-C-B next to the rhythm on your worksheet." 
The teacher writes up the letters A-B-C-B at the end of each line of rhythm. 

Point:  

"We are going to write our own song using the pattern A-B-C-B." 
"On your sheet write a rhythm using ta and ti-ti in the first box." 
"Now write a different rhythm using ta and ti-ti in the second box." 
"Skip the third box and write that rhythm again in your last box." 
"Go back to your third box and write another different rhythm." 
"Above all your rhythms, now write a melody using a combination of 'so's' and 'mi's'. Make sure your second box and your fourth box have the same melody!" 

Reinforcement:  

2-3 individual students chosen to write their melodies on the board. The class checks that the form is A-B-C-B and then sings each one. 
(If any are incorrect, the class can help find the mistake and the student can adjust it on the board.) 

Teaching Note: Can use any form the students are familiar with, e.g. A-B-B-B; A-B-A-B