LSO Children's Concert Lesson Plan The Composer Is Dead Music by Nathaniel Stookey, Book by Lemony Snicket Lesson by: Leighann Campbell, Madeline Noonan, Alex Wooten Junior Music Education Students from Doane College Learning Focus Concepts: Listening: Berlioz, Stravinsky, Mahler, Chopin Movement: Improv movement to Stravinsky Interpretation: Draw, Move, Discuss music Important Terms: Composer, Composing, Orchestra Learning Outcomes: ­listen and interpret different music by various composers ­know the various instruments in different orchestra families Lesson Objectives: The student will be able to listen to various composers (that are DEAD… get it?) and respond by discussion, interpretive drawing, and interpretive movements The student will be able to experience the different musical families. Anticipatory Set: ● This set is definitely one for setting the scene. The book is so dramatic so there needs to be a dramatic introduction. Here is the scene: ○ Turn the lights out and have this music ready to play for students as they walk in the room: ​
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cao6WyF­61s​
(start at 2:30) ○ Listen to the music through the bells and the ​
Dies Irae ​
theme (2:30­4:03) ○ Let the music continue to play as you say: “Ladies and Gentlemen, there has been a murder! We have been asked by the Inspector to help him solve the crime. Will you be willing to help the Inspector? (hopefully they say yes) He sent this book to give us the information we need to find the suspect” Learning Activities/Check for Understanding: 1) Read ​
The Composer Is Dead​
from page 1 (“The composer is dead. ‘Composer’ is a word which here means…”) through page 5 (‘I will find them if they are lurking in the strings.’”) 2) Describe that the different sections the inspector is going to examine are the parts of the orchestra and the orchestra is made up of many people. 3) Have the class list off the different instruments or “suspects” that are found in each section (if they can’t do this themselves, just tell them what they are) a) Strings: violin, viola, cello, bass, harp b) Brass: trumpet, trombone, french horn, tuba c) Woodwind: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon d) Percussion: cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, xylophone 4) Pass out small inspector books (could be pocket sized notebooks or regular paper folded up and stapled together) with at least 20 pages and pencils to each student 5) Students should write their name on the front of the book 6) Ask students to draw one instrument from each family (4 instruments total) on four different pages 7) These four instruments are suspects that the students want to find out about later on in the unit ACTIVITY TWO (COMPOSER LISTENING)
8) “Now that we have looked at the suspects, let’s focus on the victim. He was a composer, so let’s look at some other composers to understand what he did for a living.” 9) Play the Berlioz example from the beginning of class and ask the students felt when they heard this music. 10) Listen to the music of Mahler. Play the Symphony of a Thousand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuve8eKeqKA 11) Ask the students to discuss, with the person next to them, what they heard from the music example (instruments, volume, craziness, etc.) 12) Listen to Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring: Dance of the Young Girls” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb36n034bA0 13) Students should think about what they heard and think about some kind of movement to put to the music 14) Play “The Rite of Spring” again while the students create their movements 15) Split the class in half and have one half perform their movement for the other group 16) Listen to the music of Chopin. Play “Fantasie Impromptu.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBA­38mzabs 17) While you pass out art supplies (crayons, colored pencils, markers), have the students think about that music and what they heard 18) Ask students to draw what they heard in their inspector notebooks. They can draw specific scenes or even lines that represent the music. 19) Ask the students who their favorite composer was that we listened to today and why they liked that composer. “Next time, get ready to start our investigation!” 20) Collect inspector books to pass out during the next lesson Materials, Resources, Bibliography: ­computer and speakers ­prepare music online ­inspector notebooks and pencils for each student ­mark section of the book that is to be read to the class ­art supplies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cao6WyF­61s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuve8eKeqKA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb36n034bA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBA­38mzabs