Whale Songs

Procedure

Welcome students to class with a hello song.

Show students the picture book Baby Beluga illustrated by Ashley Wolff. Point out the written music at the back of the book. This music is by the singer Raffi and the book was made to illustrate the song. Play a recording of Raffi singing Baby Beluga (available on iTunes and YouTube) as you show the pictures to the class. After the song, let students take turns pointing to the Beluga whale and other artic sea animals featured in the illustrations. Help students match their preferred illustration to a laminated picture of the animal (photocopy from the book or search google images). Model moving the animal picture like a puppet through the water/air. Mention that Beluga whales are known as “the canary of the sea” because of the sounds they can make. Tell the class we are going to listen to the song again with our puppet pictures instead of the book. This time we will move with our puppet picture and sing to them when the whale sings his song (interlude between verses). As the song plays model moving a puppet picture rhythmically through the water/air and encourage students to do the same. During the interlude model singing to each student’s puppet picture. During this initial vocal exploration do not put students on the spot to perform. Simple notice and acknowledge their vocalizations by imitating what you hear.

When the recording finishes ask your puppet picture if he/she would like to sing to the class. Have the puppet nod or answer yes. Then introduce a modified animal sounds song (see examples of Old McDonald, Bought Me a Cat, or Cock-a-Doodle Doo by Lynn Kleiner in notes). Model your puppet picture responding with a vocal improvisation (remember whales sing so this is less about saying a specific sound and more about vocalizing on cue).
Ask the students if one of their puppet pictures wants to sing for the class (Tip: using the puppets removes some of the performance pressure). Repeat the song changing the word whale to match the student’s puppet picture. Continue until all the students have had a turn to sing.

Help students transition from their puppet picture activity by singing goodbye to their puppet pictures as you gather them up and put them away.
Share with students that Raffi was inspired to write his song about the Baby Beluga while after seeing a beluga whale swimming in the ocean. Play an example of a beluga whale song (YouTube has tons of video examples to choose from). What kinds of sounds did the whale make? Chirps, clicks, sputter, squeal, whistle, etc. (Tip: in a non-verbal class, model answering this questions and/or invite paraprofessionals to voice answers they think the students heard.

Ask, do you think we can make some of these sounds with our rhythm instruments? Invite a student to pick an instrument to make a whale sound (i.e. castanets, ocean drums, finger cymbals, bell tree, rasps, guiro, sand blocks, etc.). Let the student demonstrate a whale sound on the instrument they choose. (If you need to support this exploration, repeat the Sing Along Song from above with the words “play” and “play along”). If you have a classroom set of the instrument let everyone make the sound together. If not, thank the student volunteer and invite another student to select an instrument. Continue until all the students had a turn to choose an instrument and explore its sound(s).

Ask students what gave them ideas for the music we made together today. Students can answer verbally or point to items from the lesson including the picture book, an animal puppet picture, the video screen, a rhythm instrument. Summarize with a statement like, musician can get creative ideas from just about anywhere!

Close with a goodbye song.

Standards Code

Cr1.1.K

Suggested Assessment

Observe participation in the vocalization and instrument playing activities. Use a data sheet to record student’s response and level of prompting.

Enduring Understanding

The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musician's work emerge from a variety of sources.

Essential Question

How do musicians generate creative ideas?

Notes/Resources/Accommodations

Examples of modified Animal Sound Songs.

Old McDonald
Old McDonald sailed the sea, ee-i-ee-I-o.
And on the sea saw a whale, ee-i-ee-i-o.
With a _____ ____ here and a _____ _____ there,
ee-i-ee-i-o.

Caught Me a Whale (Bought Me A Cat)
I caught me a whale and my whale pleased me
Feed my whale in the deep blue sea
And my whale said _______ ________
My whale swam through the sea.

Sing Along With Me (Cock-a-Doodle-Doo by Lynn Kleiner)
Oh, I love my little whale and my whale loves me.
I’m gonna sing with my whale as she sings with me.
Sing whale sing, (pause and wait for student’s response)
(imitate the response back to the student)
Sing along, sing along, sing along with me.

Encourage students who have communication devices to bring their class and/or use them in class. Consult with your school speech teacher about how these devices can support your lesson (i.e. how to find key word in your lesson like whale, sing, or musical instruments). He or She may also have access to devices you can program and use specifically for your music classes.

Consult with your school occupational therapist about ways to adapt instruments for students with underdeveloped fine motor skills.

If you have a visual arts teacher at your school, you could suggest a collaboration where students create sea animal puppets.

Additional Instructional Ideas

Song stories are a great way to introduce new themes and encourage students to make music either by learning the song or letting it inspire original music.

This lesson could lend itself to several mini lessons focused on movement, vocalization or playing instruments depending on your students’ interests, abilities and the materials you have available.

This lesson could also be expanded to a full unit as students develop their vocal and/or instrumental explorations into original class compositions. The original music could be performed along with the music used during the lesson to inspire their responses in rondo form A. Movement to a verse of Baby Beluga
B. Vocally improvised whale songs
A. Movement to a verse of Baby Beluga
C. Instrumental whale sound composition
A. Movement to a verse of Baby Beluga