Lesson Plan for Kodly Method

Grade Level: 5+
Teacher: Sherry Hsiao

1. Learning Objectives and Standards

Using Kodalys method (solfege hand signs), students will
- Adopt the skill to audiate pitches before singing, and learn to sing
independently in small groups of 3-4.
- Revise and experiment major scales, intervals in thirds, and triads.
- Learn the concept of harmony using Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as an
example (using the basic I, IV, and V triads).

2. Assessment
- With the solfege hand sign of the first phrase in Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star demonstrated, students will get into groups of 3-4 and discuss
the solfege hand signs for the rest of the song. Students will be
informally assessed on their ability to associate solfege hand ansigns
with singing pitches accurately.

3. Required Prior Knowledge/Skills

- Students will be expected to understand the concept of major scales,
intervals in thirds and triads.
- Students will also be expected to work comfortably in solfege.
- Students need to be familiar with the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

4. Review Needed
- The solfege hand signs will be reviewed to refresh students memory.
This will involve students following after the teachers hand sign
demonstrations (beginning with sequential major scales going up and
down; then short melodies that could leap from notes to notes)

5. Materials, Repertoire, Equipment needed:

- Piano (for starting pitches), chairs, and a room of reasonable size.

6. Lesson Sequence
- Warm up: Students will sing the major scale up and down the octave
all together. They will then play the game of finding the relative-
do. This will involve the teacher giving the student a random pitch
as either mi or sol, and then have the students sing back the
relative do that is either a major third below (for mi) or a major
fifth below (for sol). This game is to help students be prepared for
the singing of thirds and triads later on.
- Learning Activity 1 (Audiation): Teacher will use two hands
independently by showing the singing pitch on the right hand and
the audiating pitch on the left hand. Students will first start on do,
and then look at the teachers left hand to audiate the next pitch to
 sing. They will then sing the audiated pitch when the teacher
matches the right hand solfege sign to the left hand solfege sign.
- Learning Activity 2 (singing thirds and triads): Next, group the
students into 2 groups and have one group sing the solfege hand
signs demonstrated on the teachers left hand, and the other group
sing the solfege hand signs on the teachers right hand. Using both
hands independently, the teacher will guide students to sing thirds,
starting from middle C (d-m > r-f > m-s > f-l > s-t > d). Next, guide
the students to sing triads (d-m-s > r-f-a > m-s-t > f-l-d > s-t-r > d).
- Learning Activity 3 (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star): Smoothly in
connection with the previous activity, use hand signs and lead the
students into singing the 1st phrase of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Then have the students discuss among their groups, the solfege
hand signs for the rest of the song. After 1-2 min, have each student
pair up with another student from the opposite groups to check
whether their answers match. At last, check the students answers.
- Learning Activity 4 (Harmony): Introduce the concept of Harmony to
students (refer to side note). After that, introduce the 3 main triads
used in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (I, IV, and V), and then make
connection between the concept of triads learned at the beginning
of class to the construction of triads as harmony for the song. This
will involve some singing of the I, IV, and V triads.
- Learning Activity 5 (Harmony): In the 2 groups, instruct one group to
sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, while the other group follows the
teachers hand signs and sings the tonic of each triad that
harmonies the song at each bar. Then, have the 2 groups switch role
to experiment the idea of harmonizing a song.
- Learning Activity 6 (Harmony): Guide the students in experiment the
possibilities they can do with the I, IV, and V triads apart from
simply singing the tonic. Allow students to contribute ideas to
compose the different patterns that could be used, for instance, the
alberti bass common during the classical period. In this activity,
notation is encouraged to be used as it would help certain students
visualize the concept better.
- Concluding Activity: Assign students into 3 small groups, where one
groups sings the main melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, one
group sings the tonic of the harmonizing triad, the other group sings
the composed accompanying pattern for each harmonizing triad
(can be very simple and slow; with the guide of the teacher).

7. Accommodations
- Kodalys method of using solfege hand signs itself is a very useful
way to accommodate students with listening disabilities. It helps
students to visualize pitches by having a certain hand sign
associated to a certain pitch.
 - ELL students could also be paired up with students that present a
more advance English understanding/communication skill, so that
he/she could help the ELL student follow instructions better.

8. Checklist of National Standards

- Creating: MU: Cr1.1.5a; MU:Cr1.1.5b
- Performing: MU:Pr4.2.5a
- Connecting: MU:Cn10.0.5a

9. Checklist of State Frameworks

- Singing: 1.1; 1.5
- Reading and Notation: 2.1
- Improvisation and Composition: 4.2
- Critical Response: 5.3
- Concepts of Style, Stylistic Influence, and Stylistic Change