Title: Carnival of the Animals STEAM Lesson Brief
1st Grade
Educators on the team: Lindsey Parker and Mark Carey
Trained:2014/2015 -Knob Noster, Missouri
Students use knowledge from across the disciplines to strengthen their understanding of each subject’s
content and its related careers through topic or theme oriented realistic problem-based activity-rich
lessons.
Theme that this lesson would tie to: Animal life
Specific Topic Concept within that theme: Animals in real-life and artistic representation
Thank you for your work! I have included some suggestions and comments about how to strengthen this
plan even further. Overall, you did a great job pulling it all together and back to the animal theme.
Because it is so close, we will approve your plan and certify each of you on the team without requiring
another revision back from you. Well done! - MS
PROJECT IDEA + brief notes & supplies
BASIC CONCEPTS
Essential Concept: Students will identify
animal characteristics in real life and
dance to mimic animal movements then
design methods for making animals in
dance seem more realistic. Students will
research and describe geographic regions
and identify animals in those areas.
Students will identify mathematical
patterns in music to represent animals
and create drawings of their
individualized visualizations. Students will
communicate in class discussions about
the musical composition using content
appropriate language.
Science –
● Concepts – Students will identify characteristics of
animal life; predator and prey, food chain, habitats,
classification, difference and similarities, and
fossils.
● Goal / Objectives - Identify and sequence life cycles
of animals. Identify and relate the similarities and
differences among animals.
● Standards - Missing
● Careers – Zoologist, Wildlife Biologist, Biological
Science Teacher, Veterinarian
● Project – Students will define carnivore, omnivore,
and herbivore in writing. Students will research to
learn the animal species habitat and how it survives
in the wilderness. Students will create a food chain
on paper to illustrate how animals survive in the
wilderness. Students will use the food chains to
identify characteristics of animal life; predator and
prey, food chain, habitats, classification, difference
and similarities.
● Assessment –Students will use whiteboards and
markers and respond to teacher questions to
Basic Plan:
Students will become engaged in the
lesson by listening to the music from
Camille Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the
Animals.
Students will identify key terminology
and food chains of animals. Students will
respond to questions about basic animal
characteristics. Students will also create
a mimetic videography as well as design
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STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
and construct dance aids to help them
move like the animal they would like to
represent. Students will identify
mathematical patterns and create a chart
describing the patterns developed.
Students will analyze the data to interpret
how the pattern relates to the animal
represented. Students will effectively
communicate using appropriate
vocabulary when asking questions, and
participating in discussions, and in writing
about the Carnival of the Animals to
communicate effectively. Students will
identify geographical locations and
regional characteristics. Students will
explain how one might travel and
experiences different cultures.Drawing
visual representations will be completed
individually as students listen to the
music and create an image of the animal
that the sound is being used to represent.
Students will create interpretive dance
movements to represent animals in real
life and in artistic expression. Students
will listen and respond to music through
drawing, verbal communication and
dance.
Skill level (Grade Range): 1st
Timing of Lesson: Eight 25 minute classes
Basic Supplies:
All Subjects:
Desktop-projector-powerpoint
CD player
Paper and crayons
Whiteboard and marker
Found items- plastic bottles, toilet paper
rolls, cardboard, branches, etc.
Individual Subjects:
List out what you will need by individual
subjects.
IT Resources:
Music will be played on a CD. No
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identify and sequence life cycles of animals and
identify basic similarities and differences among
animals based on the concepts and vocabulary
covered in the lesson.
Extension - Students will listen to “Carnival of the
Animals” and then create a list of animals that
Camille Saint-Saen could’ve included and research
their food chain. Students will also describe how
animal characteristics might influence the sound or
pattern that is used to represent them.
Technology & Engineering –
● Concepts –create mimetic videography
● Goal / Objectives - Create mimetic portraits of
animals from Carnival of the Animals using body
position, facial expression, gesture, and walk
(rhythm).
● Standards – 1C- Use models and simulations to
explore complex systems and issues. I'm not sure if
this is the best standard to use here. Maybe
1A: Students apply existing knowledge to generate
new ideas, products, or processes?
● Careers–videographer, costume creators
● Project - Students will move to the music in the
way that the animal moves. Videographers will be
assigned (different for each song so everyone has a
turn to dance and record). Students perform
animal characters from Carnival of the Animals
with music. Students will explore filming methods
and techniques to create a mimetic video that
represents the body position, facial expression,
gestures and walking rhythm of animals included in
the song. Students will discuss the performance
and determine which video most closely mimicked
the movements of animals in the mimetic video
(moved this up to keep all video components
together). Students will design and create an
engineering design that could be added by the
dancers to make the movements seem more
animal like e.g.: The Lion King on Broadway and the
stilts used by giraffes. Students will answer the
question - What materials from the classroom
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
additional resources needed.
Carnival of the Animals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cru7fqM20m
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1.
Student shares an animal movement with the class
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Students design a dance aid to help them mimic the
movement of an animal.
3.
4.
Students use their bodies to interpret animal
movements.
5.
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could they be given to make dance aids? Students
will draw some of the items they could design to
make dance aids (this implies that students would
be designing the materials to use, not the aid
itself). Students will use the set of materials
brainstormed by the class (such as plastic bottles,
toilet paper rolls, cardboard, branches, paper,
crayons, etc.) for the creation of their aid. From
these materials, students will design a sketch of the
aid they would like to create. Students will use the
materials found in the classroom to construct their
aid from their design.
Assessment- Students will use their drawing to
create an aid using found items to assist in making
the mimicking of the movement of animals
movements more realistic in video. How well does
the aid meet the design parameters? Does the
design accurately represent the animals'
characteristics?
Extension – Students will create choreography to a
list of new animals. Students will research and
make suggestions for filming techniques for other
songs or cultural examples that would improve the
realism of the presentation. Students will discuss
careers and purposes for adding realism to
videography.
Math –
● Concepts –Students will identify mathematical
patterns.
● Goal / Objectives - Students will identify
mathematical patterns and relate that information
to beat and poetry and rhymes.
● Standards – represent and interpret data Please
include the written out version of the standards or
goals in order to verify alignment. Do you have
standards related to identifying/describing
patterns?
● Careers – Music composer and arrangers, music
director (these are musical careers) let's move
them into your music section, poets, lyricist,
creative writers, public speakers, librarians (these
are LA careers). data analyst, economist
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
6.
Student creates a drawing of an animal visualized by
the music.
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Project –Students will identify mathematical
patterns in pieces of music and poetry. Class will
discuss the understanding of how math affects the
beat and tempo of a musical piece. Students will
identify and represent the patterns they discover in
the music mathematically. Students will create a
chart of representing the patterns they interpreted.
Assessment – Students will be assessed on their
ability to identify and use a mathematical pattern
in a real-world situation. After listening to the
recordings, students will use their vocabulary to
successfully describe the mathematical pattern in
the music and write their answers on the
whiteboard when discussing as a class and use the
information to create a chart.
Extension - Students will identify a mathematical
pattern and write their own animal poem using the
pattern.
Concepts – Communicate using appropriate
vocabulary
Goal / Objectives - Communicate effectively
Standards – Speaking and Listening 2 – Ask and
answer questions about key details in a text read
aloud or information presented orally or through
other media.
Careers - Poets, lyricist, creative writers, public
speaker, speech pathologist, English language
teachers, librarians
Project – Students will communicate using
appropriate content and descriptive vocabulary to
describe “Carnival of the Animals”. Students will in
discussions and classwork use the following
vocabulary: steady beat, tempo, pitch, forte, piano,
staccato, legato, composer, classical music, zoo,
and all the animals found in Carnival of the
Animals. Define and show understanding of musical
terms: pitch, tempo, forte, piano, legato, staccato.
Keep a steady beat while reciting poems/rhymes.
Students will Use appropriate musical terms while
reciting rhymes while working cooperatively and
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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collaboratively in a group. Students will use
adjectives to describe traits of the animals
(big/small, loud/soft, slow/fast, heavy/light). Use
and understand musical terms correctly. Respond
verbally with correct musical terms when an
auditory example is given. Show corresponding
hand signals for: forte, piano, legato, staccato.
Assessment –Students will be assessed on their
ability to communicate effectively using content
and descriptive vocabulary appropriately when
students discuss as a class the music of The
Carnival of the Animals. They will also be assessed
on their ability to use vocabulary when writing
their answers on the whiteboard.
Extension – Students will create a new list of
adjectives to describe the music.
Concepts –Identify geographical locations
Goal / Objectives – Students will be shown a map
of Europe and identify the country of Italy.
Standards – Geographical Study 5B – Locate a place
by pointing it out on a map and by describing its
relative location (description of a location by
explaining where the place is in relation to one or
more other places.)
Careers – Geographers, mapping technicians,
Cartographers, Geographic Information Systems
Technicians, geography teachers, historians,
curators, history teachers, archivist.
Project - Create 4 pictures of different countries
and successfully identify the country of Italy.
Describe how a person might travel from one
location to another and the animals they might
encounter in each area to describe how regions
and areas change what is encountered. Students
will consider how a person may have traveled
during the time Saint-Saen was born, how they may
travel today, and even how people may travel in
the future. Students will complete a mini-research
paper on the way of life in a certain part of the
world and compare it with where they live.
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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Art –
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Assessment–Students will be assessed on their
ability to locate key geographical locations.
Students will discuss how geographic location
impacts the people who live in those regions
locations to the topics being studied. (not an
assessment, already covered in project element).
Students will be assessed on the culture of the
geographical location by doing a mini research
paper on the way of life in a certain area of the
world and how they differ from other parts of the
world.
Extension –Students will discuss how the song
“Carnival of the Animals” might be influenced by
Geography. Students will get a brief bio on
composer Camille Saint-Saen and identify on a map
where the composer grew up. Students will
identify the location of the animal ecosystems in
the song “Carnival of the Animals.” Students will
discuss how people know about animals and things
outside of their geographic location.
Concepts – Draw visual representations
Goal / Objectives – Visual art is connected to
performing arts
Standards – I3c: create original artwork that
communicates ideas about the following themes:
People, Animals, Things
Careers -Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors,
and Illustrators, Multimedia Artists and Animators,
Graphic Designers, Set and Exhibit Designers,
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers, Art
Directors
Project – Students will create a listening coloring
book in which they will draw their visualization of
the animal in the music while listening to each
piece. To do this, students will be given a pencil
and a blank coloring book with the title of each
animal at the top. Students will then listen and
draw the animal in their coloring book that they are
listening to. The student will be able to listen to
each piece of music and correlate the sounds they
hear along with visual aspects of the piece and
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
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create drawings of animals.
Assessment – Students will be assessed on their
ability to create a drawing that captures their
visualization of the animals in the song through the
listening coloring book will be assessed by the
teacher.
Extension –Students will create their own animal
and choose a coordinating instrument to
accompany the drawing they created.
Concepts –Create interpretive dance movements
Goal / Objectives – Identify dance as a physical
expression of self and art as well as health and
wellness.
Standards – Human Performance 1A –
Demonstrate all locomotor skills (walk, run, leap,
jump, hop, slide, gallop, skip)
Careers – Actors, Dancers, Cheerleaders,
choreographers
Project –Teacher will play a short game of charades
with the students who will try to guess what animal
the teacher is representing. Students will then use
their bodies to create an interpretive dance that
creates body positions using face, head, torso,
arms, hands, and legs that clearly identify the
animal character. Students will create mimetic
choreography to portray animals from Carnival of
the Animals using body position, facial expression,
gesture, and walk (rhythm). They will portray each
animals’ emotions, motivations and physicality by
matching the mood of the music. The group will
discuss the importance of dance as a means of selfexpression and health.
Assessment – Students will be assessed on their
ability to perform an interpretive dance using
movements they created to represent and mimic
animals. Students will also be assessed on their
ability to articulate dance as a physical expression
of self, art and health.
Extension –Students partner up and create a
movement for an animal not featured in “Carnival
STEAM Education
Lesson Brief
of the Animals” and perform it in front of the class,
having the class guess what animal they represent.
Music –
● Concepts –Students will actively listen and focus
attention.
● Goal / Objectives –Demonstrate active listening
and group focus of attention by listening to the
music. Demonstrate through writing, discussing,
drawing, photographing, and/or performance.
● Standards – add gles Missing Standards
● Careers - Music Therapists Bright Outlook Bright
Outlook (too specific, not a general career), Music
Directors, Music Composers and Arrangers,
Musicians, Instrumental, Art, Drama, and Music
Teachers, Sound Engineering Technicians,
Musicians and Singers, Singers
● Project – Students will actively listen to “The
Carnival of the Animals”. Students will
demonstrate active listening behavior by drawing
and discussing/describing what they hear in the
music with their peers. Students will define and
show understanding of musical terms: pitch,
tempo, forte, piano, legato, staccato and make
connections to mathematical patterning. Students
will learn and recite rhymes keeping a steady beat
that will precede each animal in Carnival of the
Animals, and identify musical terms/symbols being
used in various sections of Carnival of the Animals.
● Assessment – Teacher will observe and watch
students for demonstration of appropriate active
listening behavior. What are these behaviors?
Instead, let's use an idea from your original project
element: Students will demonstrate active listening
behavior by drawing and discussing/describing
what they hear in the music.
 Extension – Students will identify and describe other
times and places when active listening is important.
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STEAM Education
Lesson Brief