Amy Phillips
Professor McConkey
MUSC 326-02: Music for Children
15 April 2010
Instrument Lesson Plan
Title: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly
Grade Level: K – 1
Materials needed: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly by Simms Taback
Various instruments from the 4 instrument families: wood, metals,
shakers, skins
Post keywords on whiteboard
Procedure:
Anticipatory Set
Instructional Input
Modeling
Check for Understanding
Practice
Closure
AS: “Today, I am going to read the class a book, and while I am reading through the
story, you all get to add sound effects to it. But first, by a quiet raise of hands, how many
of you have ever eaten a bird before? [Pause] How about a cat or a dog? [Pause] What
about a fly? [Pause] No, well those are animals we don’t usually eat, right? But, our
story today is about a woman who ate all of those things and more.”
Instruction:
1. Pass out an instrument from one of the instrument families to each student. Separate
the carpet/room into four groups: the wood corner, the shakers corner, the metals corner,
and the skins corner. Send students to where they belong and have them sit down.
*Remind the students that the instruments belong on the floor (drum skins facing down)
when not in use. If they use them when they are not supposed to, their instrument will be
taken away.
2. “Each group is going to have a keyword to listen for as I read the story.” These will
have been written on the whiteboard before the lesson as a reminder for the students.
You can choose your own keywords from the book, but the keywords I chose are as
follows:
“fly” = skins (drums)
“spider” = shakers
“cat” = wood
“dog” = metals
“horse” = all instrument families
turn page = glockenspiels only
3. “When you hear your keyword, play your instrument for three beats only and then
stop.” Practice saying the keywords and having the students play their instruments for the
proper amount of time.
4. Read the book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly to the class, pausing
after each keyword to allow time for students to play their instruments.
Closure: Collect the instruments, so students will not be distracted by them during
closure time. Have students sit back down on the carpet. Ask follow-up questions, such
as these:
 What happened to the old lady in the story?
 What are the four instrument families that we worked with today?
Social/Emotional
Excitement of
playing new
instruments
Cognitive
Listening for
keywords
throughout the
story
Playing
instruments only
for the assigned
number of beats
Knowing how to
play the
instruments
Physical
Playing the
instruments
Musical
Other Subjects
National Standards Content
Standards
1. Singing
2. Play
Instruments
3. Improvising
4. Composing
5. Reading &
Notating
6. Listening
7. Evaluating
8. Integration
(outside arts)
9. History/Culture
English Language-Arts:
Reading 1.4 – Recognize
that sentences in print are
made up of separate words.
(K)
English Language-Arts:
Listening and Speaking 1.1
– Understand and follow
one- and two-step oral
directions. (K)
English Language-Arts:
Reading 1.1 – Match oral
words to printed words.
(1st)
English Language-Arts:
Reading 1.11 – Read
common, irregular sight
words. (1st)
English Language-Arts:
Listening and Speaking 1.1
– Listen attentively. (1st)
Visual and Performing
Arts: Creative Expression
2.3 – Play simple
accompaniments on
classroom instruments.
(1st)