Ashely Meyers

Hudsonville Christian School

2/28/17
The Carnival of Animals: Lion Lesson Plan
1. Objectives:
Students will gain familiarity with The Carnival of Animals
Students will actively listen to music from historically significant composers music
Students will identify contrasting sections within a piece of music

2. Standards:
ART.M.IV.3.1 Identify and describe distinguishing characteristics of contrasting styles.
ART.M.III.K.3 Describe the music performed and presented in 4th grade by moving,
drawing, or through other appropriate responses.
ART.M.III.4.4 In small groups, use music vocabulary to analyze, describe, and evaluate
music.
ART.M.III.4.7 Use music vocabulary and aesthetic vocabulary to describe personal
response to music.

3. Procedures:
The teacher will begin by giving students some background information about Saint-
Saens life and the Carnival of Animals. Explain that Camille Saint-Saens was a
French composer who began playing and composing music from a very young age
(he entered the Paris Conservatory when he was only 7 years old).
Tell the students about Carnival in Paris (the celebrations before Mardi Gras or Fat
Tuesday, which is the day before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday). The teacher should
inform the students that the Carnival of the Animals was written as a joke for Saint-
Saens friends and that it was not published when he was alive because he was
worried it would distract from his more serious music.
Lower elementary:
Tell the students that the music sounds like lions walking proudly (since its called the
Royal March of the Lion) and lions roaring. Ask students to use their hands to walk
in place like a lion when they think they hear the walking music and to silently make
a roaring face when they think they hear the lion roaring. The teacher should
encourage the students to watch him or her if they are unsure of what motion to do.
After the students have heard the song once, the teacher can ask the students to try to
be the lions on their own. This time, they are going to walk like a lion around the
room and stop and roar when they hear the roaring music. The teacher should
demonstrate this and set up parameters for where students can move in the room.
The teacher should play the recording again and let students move to the music.
 Upper elementary:
Show the students a listening map and point to each section as it comes. Identify the
fanfare (and that it was used for royalty), the main theme, and the lions roar with the
class. One or two smaller motifs may also be useful to identify.
Put 2-3 images from the listening map on the board with numbers beside them. Each
image should represent a different theme or section in the music. Ask the students to
hold up the number of fingers that correspond to the image they think they are
hearing as the song plays.

4. Assessment:
Lower elementary: informal/summative. The teacher will observe to see if students
can differentiate between the main parts of the song based on how they move around
the room. The teacher may also ask a few review questions at the end of the lesson to
see what the students remember about the background information about Carnival of
the Animals.
Upper elementary: informal/summative. The teacher will observe whether students
hold up the correct number of fingers to show that they understand what each section
of the piece sounds like and can differentiate between them. The teacher may also ask
a few review questions at the end of the lesson to see what the students remember
about the background information about Carnival of the Animals.