Archived unit: Classic music, dynamics and tempo
Children use their bodies and instruments to listen and respond to pieces of classical music that represent animals. They learn and perform a song as a class and compose a short section of music as a group, with a focus on dynamics and tempo.
This unit is archived. Our revised unit is aligned to current guidance. Visit the new unit
Please note
This unit has now been replaced by the Year 1 unit Tempo (Theme: Snail and mouse). It is no longer being updated in line with style and curriculum changes. It will remain permanently available here.
Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Observe others and try to play appropriately.
- Sing in time from memory, with some accuracy.
- Play either a call and/or a response role in time with another pupil.
- Keep a steady pulse.
- Improvise, using their instrument, to a given stimulus.
Suggested prior learning
Lessons
Lesson 1: Classical music, dynamics and tempo: Percussive animals
Lesson 2: Classical music, dynamics and tempo: Singing animals
Lesson 3: Classical music, dynamics and tempo: Performing animals
Lesson 4: Classical music, dynamics and tempo: Composing animals
Lesson 5: Classical music, dynamics and tempo: The story of the lion
Key skills
- Recognising basic tempo, dynamic
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Key knowledge
- To understand that sounds
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Key vocabulary
fast
slow
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Related content
Unit resources
Cross-curricular opportunities
Physical Education
‘Pupils should be taught to:
- perform dances using simple movement patterns’
See 'National curriculum - Physical Education key stages 1 and 2'.
Science
‘Pupils should be taught to:
- identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals’
See 'National curriculum - Science key stages 1 and 2'.
English
‘Pupils should be taught to:
- articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
- participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates
- develop pleasure in reading […] by: learning to appreciate rhymes and poems, and to recite some by heart’
