Lesson Plan #7

WMP/Practice: Alcitron
Teacher Name__Alora Duran___________________Target Grade Level__2_____________

Musical Concept of Focus: F and G Pentatonic

Standards Being Addressed:

MU:Pr4.2.2b When analyzing selected music, read and perform rhythmic and melodic patterns
using iconic or standard notation.
MU:Pr6.1.2a Perform music for a specific purpose with expression and technical accuracy.
MU:Pr6.1.2b Perform appropriately for the audience and purpose.
MU:Cr1.1.2a Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and musical ideas for a specific
purpose.

Materials of Instruction:
Powerpoint on Mexican Music: https://www.slideshare.net/JessicaRushton/music-of-mexico
Video of Mexican music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjw0AhiC0x0
Alcitron Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvnskp7EBs
Source: Locke, E. G. (1987). Sail Away 155 American Folk Songs to Sing Read and Play. Hal
Leonard.

Lesson Sequence:

Warm Up:
 T will display melodic motifs of three or four notes within G Pentatonic with basic
rhythms (quarter notes or eights) on flashcards or on the whiteboard from the bank above.
 Sing through each motif with the students, placing the hands at different heights for each
associated pitch.
 For the first few motifs, model first, then have the students repeat after the teacher. If
students do this successfully, have them move on to doing the next few without the
assistance of the teacher
Entry Activity/Transition:
 Introduce students to the cultural and musical context of Alcitron:
o Show them the PowerPoint and video linked above.
 While students are watching the video, periodically ask them questions
about what they see and hear.
 Ex: What instruments do you hear playing? Do the dancers look
like they’re having fun? What other emotions do you see in the
dancers? Is the music fast or slow?
o Explain that Alcitron specifically is a Mexican children’s game song

Activity #1 Objective: Students will perform Alcitron’s accompanying game with

correct movements and pulse.
1. Begin by playing the students the recording of Alcitron
a. Have the students listen a second time and this time, pat along to the beat.
2. Have students sit in a circle and pass out a beanbag or other similar object to each one
a. Have them practice passing the beanbag from the ground in front of them to
the ground in front of the person on their right.
b. Put on a steady beat via a metronome or the teacher patting and have the
students pass the bean bags to the beat.
i. They will need to pick up the bean bag on beats 2 and 4 and set it
down on beats 1 and 3
ii. Begin at a slow comfortable tempo and slowly speed up the
metronome until they are at the speed of the song
3. Once the students can pass the beanbags at tempo, have them do it along to the song
a. Repeat this as necessary until they are doing so capably.
4. T: “Now, on “triki triki tron” we’re going to do a slightly different move. Instead of
setting the beanbag down in front of the person on your right, you’re going to keep
ahold of it. This means that you’re going to go right, left, drop on right on “triki triki
tron”
a. Have students practice this slowly on pats
b. Once they can do it on pats, have them do it to that section of the music.
5. Then, have students put both pieces together and play the game to the recording
a. Repeat the song until students can play the game competently
b. Review any concepts as needed

Assessment: Students will perform the game to Alcitron with at least 80% correct
movements and pulse.

Transition: Good job, now we’re going to learn the song that we’ve been hearing in
the recording!

Activity #2 Objective: Students in 2nd grade will sing a song (Alcitron) with accurate
beat, rhythm, and pitch using solfege and standard notation.
1. 1. T will begin by displaying the notation for Alcitron on the board. Label phrases 1-3
for the students
2. Help students to discover that G is Do
a. T: “What solfege would be in a pentatonic scale?” S: “DRMSL” T: “What
would the Do be in C pentatonic?” S: “C” T: “And what would it be in G?” S:
“G” T: “And we see a lot of Gs in this notation, don’t we? So that means this
song is in G Pentatonic”
b. T: “Now that we know that this song is in G Pentatonic and G is our Do, let’s
work together to label the solfege”
3. Phrase 1:
a. With teacher guidance, have students work together to label the solfege for
phrase 1. As they do so, label the pitches on the board.
b. T: “Good job, now let’s sing this phrase on solfege. Repeat after me:…” Do
not move on to the next step until students can do so correctly
c. T: “Good, now let’s add on the lyrics. Repeat after me: Alcitron de un
fandango sango” S: “Alcitron de un fandango sango”
i. Use hand signals and repeat as necessary
4. Phrase 2: T: “Good, now let’s move on to the next phrase”
a. With teacher guidance, have students work together to label the solfege for
phrase 2. As they do so, label the pitches on the board.
b. T: “Good job, now let’s sing this phrase on solfege. Repeat after me:…” Do
not move on to the next step until students can do so correctly
c. T: “Good, now let’s add on the lyrics. Repeat after me: sango sabare sabare”
S: “sango sabare sabare”
i. Use hand signals and repeat as necessary
5. T: “Okie, now let’s sing Phrases 1 and 2 together. Repeat after me: “Alcitron de un
fandango sango sango sabare sabare” S: “Alcitron de un fandango sango sango sabare
sabare”
a. Repeat as necessary. Do not move on until students can sing both phrases
together correctly
6. Phrase 3: T: “Good, let’s move on to the next phrase”
a. With teacher guidance, have students work together to label the solfege for
phrase 3. As they do so, label the pitches on the board.
b. T: “Good job, now let’s sing this phrase on solfege. Repeat after me:…” Do
not move on to the next step until students can do so correctly
c. T: “Good, now let’s add on the lyrics. Repeat after me: T: “de la randela con
su triki triki tron” S: “de la randela con su triki triki tron.”
i. Use hand signals and repeat as necessary
7. T: “Do you think we can do the whole song together now?”
a. T+S: “Alcitron de un fandango sango sango sabare sabare de la randela con su
triki triki tron.”
b. T: Alright now I want us to do pats while we all sing the song silently in our
heads
i. Keep patting along
ii. T: alright, are there any parts that anyone has missed?
c. T: alright, how about you all do the song without me then! I’ll just do the pats!
i. S: “Alcitron de un fandango sango sango sabare sabare de la randela
con su triki triki tron”
 8. T: “Now, let’s try singing the song while we play the game!”
a. Have the students first do it slowly, then work it up to full tempo as they get
better at it.

Assessment: The teacher will listen to and watch the students to see if they can sing
the song Alcitron with 80% correct meter, rhythm, and pitch without teacher
assistance.

Transition: T: “Good job everyone, now we’re going to add some instruments to this
music”

Activity #3 Objective: Students will perform their own rhythmic ostinatos for Alcitron
with accurate pulse and rhythm.
1. T: “Are there any instruments that we saw in the presentation or the video that we
think would work well with this song? Feel free to call them out”
a. T: “Maracas, yeah!”
b. T: “Good, now what short rhythm do we think these should play?”
i. Any relatively simple combination of quarters or eight notes should
work
ii. Once students pick a rhythm, notate it on the board and label it as that
instrument
iii. Then, have the students practice looping the rhythm
c. T: “Do we have three people who would want to volunteer to keep playing
these?”
2. Repeat step 1 for up to four or five different instruments. If you have students do too
many, it can become chaotic.
a. Each time a new instrument is added on, have it practice with the instruments
that have already been selected before moving on to adding the next one.
b. If students pick a pitched instrument at any point, have them play their rhythm
on G to help solidify that as Do.
3. Once four or five instruments have been selected and given rhythmic ostinatos, have
all the remaining students pick their favorite rhythm and pat it on their laps
a. Repeat this as necessary until all students are confident in their rhythms
4. Then, play the recording for students and have them play along to it.
a. Encourage students to sing the song along to the recording if they would like
to
b. Repeat this until satisfactory

Assessment: The teacher will watch students to see if they can perform their
assigned rhythm with at least 80% accurate rhythm and pulse.

Closure: Good job today everyone! Next time we’re going to work on another song that is
Pentatonic