movement

Did you know you can share the lyric videos from the FULL VOICE Listening Library? Click “share” and send the link to your students so they can sing at home. (We don’t call it practicing…)

An engaging and productive lesson can be connected to singers’ repertoire. Here are song-study activities using Wolf in the Forest by Donna Rhodenizer

Singing Lesson Plan for Students 10 and Under

Engaging Lesson Plan Ideas for Wolf in the Forest

(🇦🇺 AU song here)

Piquing Interest

Learning a new song can be scary for our young singers, so start by piquing their interest with some fun facts about Wolves.

Teacher Tip: I like to ask students if they know any fun facts about their song’s topic, and this often lights up their faces as kiddos love to share knowledge.

So if you were curious about wolves:

• Wolves are the largest members of the dog family.
• Wolves are known for their hauntingly beautiful howls.
• Wolves howl to communicate. If alone, a wolf may howl to attract the attention of his pack.
  Packs howl together to send territorial messages from one pack to another.
• All wolves in a pack help raise and take care of the pups.
• Wolves can roam large and long distances, sometimes up to 12 miles (20 kilometers)
  in a single day.

Partner the Song Elements as Warm-up Activities

Use warm-ups to prepare for learning the song.

Teachers can make lessons productive if we partner the lesson’s warm-up with the new song’s technical challenges. So, the vocal warm-up could include:

• singing minor triads.
• singing vocal slides up and down a perfect fifth (with and without solfege hand signs).
• learning the howl melody at bars 11 to 14 and using this melody as the warm-up.
• clapping/tapping the rhythmic pattern in bar 4.

Discovering the meaning of the text

Ask students to read the lyrics aloud. Discuss what the word mournful means. Why do you think the wolves are mournful? How can we sing expressively in this song? Students will be more successful at expressing the music if they understand the text.

Teaching the melody

The melody of Wolf in the Forest can be taught with a simple game of be my echo. Start with singing only 2 bars to the student (unaccompanied) and ask them to sing back. Don’t be discouraged if they need a few repetitions!

Active listening

Let students listen to the piano track or play the accompaniment for them. What does the music make them think of? How does it make them feel? Can they tap the beat while listening to the music? Can they hear when the music changes tempo?

Vocal technique

Ask students to explore different vowels for the wolf “howl.” Which vowel is easier? Practice the howl using other volumes. (Perhaps the wolf is far away or nearby!) Can singers sing 2 bars before taking a breath?

Composing

Ask students to compose their own ‘howl’ melody.

Happy Singing! ~Nikki

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