Sample lesson plan: “Red River Gal”

Indiana Anchor Standards

 Performing
o #7 Performing a varied repertoire of music by singing, along and with other, from rote
memory and written notation.
 Listening & Responding
o #5 Listening to a varied repertoire of music by describing, interpreting, analyzing, and
evaluating music and its elemental components.

Class Goals and Objectives

 Continue to develop students’ skills through various singing activities.
 Enable students to aurally identify, describe, and perform songs that include dynamics (F, P)

Materials
 The piano, white board, Document camera and a copy of “Red River Gal”

Procedures
1. Students and instructor will discuss various dances.

QUESTION: What is your favorite kind of dance? What different types of dances have
you watched? What type of dances do you wish you could do?
PROMPT: I am going to sing a song about a special type of dance known as square
dancing. As I sing, I want all of you to keep a steady beat for me and see if
you can determine what square dancing might look like.

2. Students will keep a steady beat and listen as the instructor sings/models “Red River Gal.”

QUESTION: Based on the song, how might you describe what square dancing looks like? Are
there any clues in the song to help you?
PROMPT: Let’s now learn the song together.

3. Students will echo “Red River Gal” in small segments as modeled by the instructor in an effort
to learn the song by rote. The instructor will repeat this process many times, gradually increasing the
length of the phrase, providing enough repetition so that students will be able to sing accurate pitches,
rhythms, and lyrics.

PROMPT: Now let’s sing the whole song together.

4. The students and instructor will keep a steady beat and sing “Red River Gal” The instructor
will be sure to intone the starting pitch to make sure students can start together and sing accurately.

PROMPT: I bet you can sing “Red River Gal” without me this time. Let’s see.

5. The students will keep a steady beat and sing “Red River Gal.” The instructor will be sure to
intone the starting pitch to make sure students can start together and sing accurately. The instructor
will evaluate students’ ability to sing accurate pitches, rhythms, and lyrics as they sing.
 Sample lesson plan: “Red River Gal”
PROMPT: This time, I am going to sing “Red River Gal” 2 different ways . I want you all to
keep a steady beat for me and try to determine how my singing is different. (I will
sing it very loud then very soft)

6. Students will keep a steady beat and listen as the instructor sings/models “Red River Gal,” this
time very loud then very soft.

QUESTION: How would you describe the way I sang “Red River Gal” the first time? How
About the second time?
PROMPT: Now let’s have you try to sing it with me the first way then the second way.

7. Students and instructor will keep a steady beat and sing “Red River Gal” with a loud then soft. The
instructor will be sure to intone the starting pitch to make sure students can start together and sing
accurately.

QUESTION: If you were a composer and you wanted your song sung this way, what symbol
might you use in the music? What key words might you use?

8. After students have had the experience of singing forte and piano and speculated on how a composer
might indicate this in the music, the instructor will introduce the concept of Dynamics to his/her
students, and using the white board and a copy of “Red River Gal,” show the standard way to notate a
dynamics.

QUESTION: Thinking about how we described square dancing earlier, do you think it might be
appropriate to sing this song with a forte or piano dynamics? Why?
PROMPT: Now that we know the proper term for this type of singing, let’s sing “The
Bungalow Song” one more time with our forte dynamics.

9. To end the lesson, students will keep a steady beat and sing “Red River Gal” with dynamics.
The instructor will be sure to intone the starting pitch to make sure students can start
together and sing accurately. The instructor will evaluate students’ ability to sing accurately with a
staccato articulation as they sing.

PROMPT: Instructor will Split the room in half and evaluate who has learned how to use
dynamics while using the correct melody. Instructor will use the checklist method

Assessment of Goals and Objectives

Assessment of singing skill will be informal and achieved by monitoring students during singing
activities. The instructor will utilize a checklist to indicate which students are singing with accurate
pitch, rhythm, and articulation. Instructor will use checklist strategy to evaluate if they know how to use
dynamics