Dinah/Pick a Bale

I'm working on a few new lessons for my older kiddos (4th and 5th).  This lesson is a review for the beginning of the year.  The students learn "Dinah" by using reading skills and have fun with movement for "Pick a Bale of Cotton" (which they learn by rote at first but we will revisit it later as they learn "fa").

I love it because:
1. Vocabulary: We review TONS of vocabulary as we learn the song (vocabulary words are defined on nearly every slide)
2. Pitches: We review the pitches Do Re Mi So La to prepare for a review of high Do, low La, and low So
3. Rhythm: We review the half note, quarter note/rest, eighth note pair, and sixteenth notes (in prep for learning more 16th-note variations).
4. Instrumentation: I love transitioning from fun body percussion (including clapping, tapping shoulders, and patting) to a three-part Orff arrangement (BX/BM, AX/AM, and tambourine)
5. MOVEMENT: I created this movement myself inspired on a few "getting to know you" activities I did with my family at summer camp this year.  They did a version of "rock paper scissors" that even I loved.  I decided to adapt it to the song and give it a "farm" theme - we've got the "farmer", "wolf", and "bull".

Here are some slides from the PowerPoint:

Steady Beat

Adding organization

Rhythmic Icons

Prep for Tika-Tika

Rhythm Slide

Melody Prep Slide

Melody Prep on Staff

adding solfa pitches

solfa melody

solfa on staff

rhythms on staff

entire song - talk about phrasing

 Instrumentation and movement activity is included.  You can download the file here Dinah/Pick a Bale

I also like this line dance for the song "Pick a Bale":

Jubilee

 Here's a good song to use with older kiddos (4th/5th) at the beginning of the year or 3rd graders more toward the end.

I created a movement activity that students enjoy doing that accompanies this song.  Here's the instructions.  Hopefully, I can update this later with a video of the kiddos doing it (our district has strict photo/video rules).

Afterward, students match the movements they used to corresponding rhythms (we do this together - I've printed out the pictures and the class matches them).

If you're using this song with 3rd graders, you may choose to stop there, or to bring back this powerpoint later in the year.  For 4th and 5th graders who already are familiar with  low la, you can skip the preparation slides if you need to.  Before discussing "tim-ka" - students obviously should be familiar with 16th notes (both beamed and separated) and also understand what a "tie" is.

Here are the slides used for teaching the song:

If you've downloaded my Low La set, you'll find this file there.  However, I included all the instructions and slides so that everyone can use it if they'd like.  Enjoy!