Unit 9 Animal magic

E X T E N S I O N A N D F U T U RE L E A R N I N G
In addition to the examples given in the Points to note section,
children could go on to:
create longer compositions in groups of four
create dances for their own compositions
use their own instruments to play a melody (the instrument could
help to select the appropriate animal)
find music that describes animals and bring it to school
compose a song about an animal, eg a pet, using poetry or using
their own words
celebrate their work in this unit by performing their musical
animals to other classes, parents and the community. This could
be accompanied by the recitation of poems written by the class
make music to describe animals in a rain forest, eg a troop of
monkeys, a tiger, a sloth, ants. Distribute the groups of animals
around the room. One person, the explorer, walks slowly
through the forest looking for the animals. As they approach
each animal or group, the animals play their music. Ask the
players to start quietly and, as the explorer approaches them, to
get louder. As the explorer moves away the music should get
quieter. This could be linked to the idea of sounds getting
quieter as they go away from the listener

Unit 9

ABOUT THE UNIT

This unit develops childrens ability to create, perform and analyse short descriptive compositions that combine sounds, movements
and words.
In this unit, children learn to recognise how sounds can be used to describe different things, eg animals. Using this understanding,
they create their own music in pairs, add movement and narration and rehearse towards a final performance for others. During the
unit they explore how the elements of pitch, duration, dynamics and tempo can be combined to describe different sounds,
eg animal sounds.
This unit should be revisited using different stimuli, eg insects, machines.

WH E RE T H E U N I T F I T S I N

When this unit is repeated, the focus will remain the same, that is,
exploring descriptive sounds, but the content and the expectations
should change. The content is changed easily through the use of
different examples, stories and other stimuli that could be used to
explore descriptive sounds. Expectations are changed by expecting
more of the children to achieve the most children and some
children will have progressed further statements and by placing
greater emphasis on the extension exercises in the Points to note
section.

This unit links to the ongoing skills unit (unit 8) through the development of singing, listening skills and physical response to music. It
builds on all previous units, particularly 2 and 7, and leads on to units 13 and 18 in the development of descriptive skills. It has a
direct link to English through the use of narration and the creation of multimedia presentations. It develops the childrens ability to
work together in pairs and/or in small groups and clearly demonstrates each childs contribution (PSHE).

Ref: QCA/00/440
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2000

YEAR 3/4

ENRICHMENT
The class could attend concerts that include animal music.
Musicians and ensembles could come to the school and invite
children to add sections and/or additional layers to
their performance.
The class could go to a musical and experience how music,
movement and narrative are brought together.

Animal magic
Exploring descriptive sounds

PRIOR LEARNING

VOCABULARY

R E S O U RC E S

It is helpful if children and teachers have:

learnt to recognise and use the
movement of notes in steps or jumps
experience of combining sounds
developed their skills through the
activities described in units 2 and 7

In this unit children will have an

opportunity to use words and phrases
related to:
duration, eg pulse, rhythm, longer,
shorter, sustained
tempo, eg faster, slower
pitch, eg steps, jumps/leaps
notation, eg note names C, D, E

Stimulus:
animals
music
song

Sound sources:
tuned and untuned instruments,
including keyboards

EXPECTATIONS
at the end of this unit
most children will:

recognise how musical elements can be used together to compose descriptive music;
combine sounds with movement and narrative

some children will not have made so

much progress and will:

recognise some descriptive uses of the elements; create descriptive music, eg based on
animals, that uses a sequence of sounds (often sound effects), movement and words

some children will have progressed

further and will:

work in groups of three to four to extend their ideas into longer pieces of music with
several layers of sounds

Unit 9 Animal magic

INTRODUCTION: HOW CAN MUSIC DESCRIBE DIFFERENT ANIMALS?

to identify how music can be used
descriptively, eg to represent different
animal characteristics

Play the children music that describes animals, eg Dawn parade and Trust in me from The jungle book,
The carnival of the animals, Saint-Sans. Compare the animals described with the sounds used. How
does the music help us imagine its size, how it moves, what it looks like, how it behaves?
After the class has commented on the more obvious musical features, eg louder, quieter, higher, lower,
faster, slower, ask them to concentrate on the use of rhythm and melody. Is the rhythm jumpy,
creeping, regular, hopping or gliding? Tap out some rhythms. Ask the children to listen carefully to the
melodies. Are they mainly high or low, or a mixture? Do they stay on the same note, move in small
steps or make big jumps high to low, low to high? [Link to unit 8: Listening]

recognise how musical elements are used and combined to describe

different animals

It is helpful sometimes to tell the children what the two pieces of

music will describe and ask them which is which, eg Which
describes the snake? Which describes the elephant? How do you
know?
This work requires children to think about several elements at once.
Some children will need help to consider two elements at the same
time, eg fast and high.
Extension activity: Some children could think about the overall
structure to identify how many times the main melody or rhythm
is repeated.

Sing some songs about animals with the children. Start with a well-known song such as Three blind
mice. Sing it slowly, then quickly. Start slow and then get faster and then try it the other way around.
Which works best? Sing using different vocal timbres, eg sing Baa, baa, black sheep with a wobbly
voice, The fox came out on a chilly night with an excited voice. [Link to unit 8: Singing]
Make movements to go with the music heard in the introduction. Try to establish the nature of the
animal that is being described before the children start to move. The children should think about:
the level of movement, eg high, low, in-between, and combinations of these
the length of the steps, eg short, striding
the rhythm of the movement, eg skipping, sprinting, galloping, scurrying
the quality of the movement, eg heavy, light, smooth, jerky
Combine two or more of these features, eg fast, small steps; big, strong steps; slow, sliding
movements. [Link to unit 8: Listening]
Ask the class to work in pairs to create sounds and movements to describe an animal. First choose an
animal with distinctive movements. Then select an untuned instrument that will make a sound that
matches the way the animal moves. Work out a sequence of sounds and movements one child plays
and the other moves. Change over. Try using a tuned instrument and explore melodic patterns. Should
the pattern move by small steps (close notes) or use bigger steps (two to five notes apart) or leaps
(more than five notes apart)? Should the pattern have a mixture of small steps and leaps? Perform the
animal sequences to other members of the class. Can you guess the animal? What helped you guess?
Add a narrator, so that one of the group describes what is happening as the other two children move
and make the sounds, eg The crow hopped along the ground and then flapped its wings first slowly
and then quickly before taking off. Flapping its wings it flew steadily away over the treetops.

sing songs and create different effects

Encourage children to give reasons for their answers, eg The song

sounds better getting faster because
Extension activity: Consider more than one element when
singing, eg singing quietly and quickly. (This is quite demanding.)
Children could also respond spontaneously (improvise).
Extension activity: Ask the children to create longer sequences.
Do not forget birds, fish, insects and reptiles. Also encourage the
pairs to use silence and stillness in both movements and sounds.
Explore small steps, bigger steps and leaps. Explore combinations,
eg small step, small step, leap. Combine rhythmic and melodic
patterns to increase the effect.

Ask children in pairs or small groups to compose music describing two animals. The animals should
interact with each other, eg a cat chasing a mouse (from a cartoon), a mouse helping a lion to escape
from a net (from the fable) a mongoose attacking a snake (Rikki-Tikki-Tavi), the hare and the tortoise
(from the fable).
Once they have decided on their two animals, the children choose an instrument for each one. One of
these instruments should be tuned. They should be encouraged to use a tuned instrument (including
keyboards) to make a melodic pattern, thinking about how the pitch and rhythm can describe their
chosen animal, eg a regular, fast, repetitive tune played high on a glockenspiel could represent a
mouse.
Perform to the rest of the class and discuss and make improvements.

create descriptive music in pairs or small groups

EXPLORATION: USING SOUNDS DESCRIPTIVELY

how to use the musical elements to
describe animals

how to use movement to describe

different animals

how to match sounds and

movement descriptively

how to use narration with sounds

and movement (multimedia)

explore and choose different movements to describe animals

create sequences of sound in response to the movements and

sequences of movements in response to sounds

combine narration, sounds and movement to describe a

chosen animal

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

to select particular ways in
which the elements can be
combined expressively

Encourage children to put into practice all they have learned in

previous lessons. They should, at the least, consider the most
appropriate instruments, rhythms and melody.
If keyboards are available, these could be used to provide a wider
range of sounds, and to record the melodies.
Extension activity: With larger groups of children two instruments
could be combined to create a wider range of sounds.

Unit 9 Animal magic

E X T E N S I O N A N D F U T U RE L E A R N I N G
In addition to the examples given in the Points to note section,
children could go on to:
create longer compositions in groups of four
create dances for their own compositions
use their own instruments to play a melody (the instrument could
help to select the appropriate animal)
find music that describes animals and bring it to school
compose a song about an animal, eg a pet, using poetry or using
their own words
celebrate their work in this unit by performing their musical
animals to other classes, parents and the community. This could
be accompanied by the recitation of poems written by the class
make music to describe animals in a rain forest, eg a troop of
monkeys, a tiger, a sloth, ants. Distribute the groups of animals
around the room. One person, the explorer, walks slowly
through the forest looking for the animals. As they approach
each animal or group, the animals play their music. Ask the
players to start quietly and, as the explorer approaches them, to
get louder. As the explorer moves away the music should get
quieter. This could be linked to the idea of sounds getting
quieter as they go away from the listener

Unit 9

ABOUT THE UNIT

This unit develops childrens ability to create, perform and analyse short descriptive compositions that combine sounds, movements
and words.
In this unit, children learn to recognise how sounds can be used to describe different things, eg animals. Using this understanding,
they create their own music in pairs, add movement and narration and rehearse towards a final performance for others. During the
unit they explore how the elements of pitch, duration, dynamics and tempo can be combined to describe different sounds,
eg animal sounds.
This unit should be revisited using different stimuli, eg insects, machines.

WH E RE T H E U N I T F I T S I N

When this unit is repeated, the focus will remain the same, that is,
exploring descriptive sounds, but the content and the expectations
should change. The content is changed easily through the use of
different examples, stories and other stimuli that could be used to
explore descriptive sounds. Expectations are changed by expecting
more of the children to achieve the most children and some
children will have progressed further statements and by placing
greater emphasis on the extension exercises in the Points to note
section.

This unit links to the ongoing skills unit (unit 8) through the development of singing, listening skills and physical response to music. It
builds on all previous units, particularly 2 and 7, and leads on to units 13 and 18 in the development of descriptive skills. It has a
direct link to English through the use of narration and the creation of multimedia presentations. It develops the childrens ability to
work together in pairs and/or in small groups and clearly demonstrates each childs contribution (PSHE).

Ref: QCA/00/440
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2000

YEAR 3/4

ENRICHMENT
The class could attend concerts that include animal music.
Musicians and ensembles could come to the school and invite
children to add sections and/or additional layers to
their performance.
The class could go to a musical and experience how music,
movement and narrative are brought together.

Animal magic
Exploring descriptive sounds

PRIOR LEARNING

VOCABULARY

R E S O U RC E S

It is helpful if children and teachers have:

learnt to recognise and use the
movement of notes in steps or jumps
experience of combining sounds
developed their skills through the
activities described in units 2 and 7

In this unit children will have an

opportunity to use words and phrases
related to:
duration, eg pulse, rhythm, longer,
shorter, sustained
tempo, eg faster, slower
pitch, eg steps, jumps/leaps
notation, eg note names C, D, E

Stimulus:
animals
music
song

Sound sources:
tuned and untuned instruments,
including keyboards

EXPECTATIONS
at the end of this unit
most children will:

recognise how musical elements can be used together to compose descriptive music;
combine sounds with movement and narrative

some children will not have made so

much progress and will:

recognise some descriptive uses of the elements; create descriptive music, eg based on
animals, that uses a sequence of sounds (often sound effects), movement and words

some children will have progressed

further and will:

work in groups of three to four to extend their ideas into longer pieces of music with
several layers of sounds