Super Heroes

Day 1

Teach “Canon” and sing as a two or three-part canon. (Music for Children I, #41 pg. 132 with adjusted rhythm to fit text)

Day 2

As a class, have students brainstorm superheroes and create an eight-beat rhythm using superhero names. For example,

Together, create body percussion to go with superhero rhythm, perform as a B section with the canon.

Day 3

In small groups the children choose two superhero’s from my stack of Super Hero Trading Cards and keep them secret from the other groups. You can make your own “superhero deck” with resources from the internet, purchase superhero playing cards on Amazon or old superhero trading cards on E-bay. The students create a list of adjectives that fit the superhero’s personality. (Courageous, fearless, epic, brave etc.) After creating the word list, they choose the hero they like best. Each group shares their list of adjectives and the other groups try to guess who it is. (This step may take two classes, depending on your students.)

Here is an example:

Day 4

Students create a 32-beat rhythm about their superhero using at least two of the adjectives from their lists. They CAN NOT use the word VERY. The speech pattern should be in an elemental form and the last beat should be a quarter note or quarter rest.  Examples of elemental form are as follows:

a a b a
a a a b
a b c a
a b a a
a b a c
a b b a

Day 5

Create “Action Cards” that say CM (creative movement), BP (body percussion), UTP (untuned percussion) and BP (barred percussion). The groups randomly select an action card and transfer their 32-beat rhythm to the action listed on their card. Share the creations with the class.

Day 6

Review composition, the canon, and the body percussion and rhythm from class two. As a class, decide on a form for the final product. The children may choose to use all of the parts or not.

Start with an introduction, and end with a strong coda.