Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

It may seem early for holiday music, but I love The Nutcracker!  This activity could easily be done with younger children, but I’m taking my 3^rd graders to see The Nutcracker at Ashley this year. I’m focusing less on the fact that it is a Christmas story and more Tchaikovsky, ballet, and the music (obviously).

I play “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” for the children, and have them close their eyes and visualize (literacy language).  Then, I have them turn and talk with their neighbor about what they saw in their head (some classes need to be guided…I tell them to imagine instruments, characters, mood, and setting). Then, I have a few students share their visualizations with the class.

We listen again, this time only for the instruments that the children hear. They always think that they hear a glockenspiel, but after pointing out the strings and clarinet, I show them an image of the celeste and I briefly explain the mechanics of the instrument and why it sounds like a glockenspiel. 

Finally, I reveal the title to the children, then show them this excerpt from the ballet:

My teachers are great at providing feedback about performances, and one thing they always tell me is that students don’t understand the culture of dance and so they giggle and are distracted. Hopefully this exposure will help them know what to expect!

Then, I pass out a sheet to them with the celeste rhythm for the main theme. I found mine on TeachersPayTeachers for FREE over the summer, but it costs $1.00 now, so I think I’m technically not allowed to share.  

The link to the TPT site is:  ti-ti ta ta ta ta ti-ti ta ti-ti ta ti-ti ta ti-ti ti-ti ta (sh) (sh), but it would be really easy to create your own, too!

I have them silent practice, then chant the rhythm together, then tap the rhythm along with the music. Finally, we perform the rhythm on triangles and finger cymbals. They’re amazed that they can play a REAL Tchaikovsky song!

You can also do movement with the ABA form, but my class periods are too short to do all that. Maybe for review later!

I love The Nutcracker as well. Here is part of my lesson for first graders.

I use a few listening examples and compare/contrast a march with a lullaby. I play a few youtube classical choices and ask students to dance or move to the music. Next, I use this listening map:

 I found this as part of the educational materials from classicsforkids.com. 

After listening/moving to these two parts of the piece, I show them clips from the ballet.

Then, we listen to a march section and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I ask students to give me words to describe each section. I write these on the board. (Students will use them later in their compare/contrast papers.) They choose one word for each section and write it at the bottom of each section on their paper. Finally, they draw and color as they listen to each section.

 Here are student examples: