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Download Lesson Plans
(Lessons 2-5) |
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The Prairie Dog That Met the President is a wonderful children’s opera that details the adventures of a small, timid Prairie Dog who was discovered by the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. The Prairie Dog, along with his Magpie friend, was sent back to Baltimore, Maryland to meet the president of the United States. Along his journey he makes new friends, visits parts of the country he has never seen, and spends a good deal of time trying to decide exactly what to say to the President about this country and his adventures.
The following seven unit plans were created to help guide teachers and students through the opera. Each unit was created to give students historical, geographical, social / cultural, and musical information to broaden their experience while watching the opera. The units can be taught in order of the opera, as displayed here, or as separate, individually units from which the teacher can choose which lessons and activities would be most appropriate for their classes. The units included are:
1) Opera;
2) Characters;
3) The Mission of Lewis and Clark;
4) The Turn of the Nineteenth Century;
5) The Journey South;
6) The Journey North to Baltimore; and
7) Meeting the President.
Each lesson contains multiple listening, singing, playing, and educational activities. These activities have been divided into the categories of elementary level and middle level lessons. Elementary lessons are intended for kindergarten – forth grade students, while middle level lessons are intended for fifth – eight grade students, although both categories of lessons can be ‘stretched’ up to higher grade levels or down to lower grade levels as deemed appropriate by the classroom teacher.
Each of these units has been designed to meet the MENC (The National Association for Music Education) national standards for music. For more information of the National Standards in Music Education please see the following link: http://www.menc.org/publication/books/standards.htm
National Standards for Music Education
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| 1. |
Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. |
| 2. |
Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. |
| 3. |
Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments. |
| 4. |
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. |
| 5. |
Reading and notating music. |
| 6. |
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. |
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Evaluating music and music performances. |
| 8. |
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. |
| 9. |
Understanding music in relation to history and culture. |
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The units are divided into seven categories for easy implementations:
1) background information;
2) objectives;
3) national standards;
4) materials (the materials needed by the instructors to teach the lesson);
5) procedures (how to use the given resources);
6) assessment of student learning; and
7) resources (these resources are ready for student use).
Many of the units’ resources are tied to internet sources that allow teachers to access musical examples from the web to supplement student learning.
Master of Music Education students at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, under the guidance of Dr. Ann C. Clements, Assistant Professor of Music Education, created these units. Biographical information about the authors can be found through the following links.
Ann C. Clements, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Fino-Radin
Sarah H. Watts
Sookja Woo
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