Before you continue
This is preview content for the 2026-27 academic year. Your feedback will help us improve these units.
Learning objective
- To create and perform short melodies that reflect the mood of different clouds.
Success criteria
- I can use my cloud observations
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National curriculum
Music
Pupils should be taught to:
- Appreciate
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Cross-curricular links
None.
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Before the lesson
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Lesson plan
Recap and recall
Show the Presentation: Which is it? Recap the definitions of crescendo (getting louder) and diminuendo (getting quieter). Click the buttons to reveal them on the slide. Play the Audio. Read the three statements aloud and ask the children to talk to a partner to decide which is the correct answer.
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Adaptive teaching
Pupils needing support:
- Could use simple two-word phrases (e.g. soft cloud) to create a rhythm by matching one syllable to each note.
- Could follow a modelled example of dynamics to create contrast by copying and then adapting it in their own composition.
Pupils working at greater depth:
- Should develop their melody by combining techniques such as dynamics, tempo or layering to create contrast between cloud types.
- Should explain their musical choices by linking pitch, dynamics and tempo to the mood of each cloud.
- Could develop their phrase by using a technique not suggested, for example, adding chords.
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Assessing progress and understanding
Pupils with secure understanding can:
- Turn their own descriptive phrases into a rhythm.
- Use
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Vocabulary definitions
-
dynamics
The volume (loud and quiet).
-
melody
A pattern of different pitches (the tune).
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