Peter and the Wolf Unit Plan

Use Prokofiev's Children's Symphony to Teach the Orchestra

Apr 20, 2009

Young children can be taught much about the orchestra and it's instruments through the use of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

Sergei Prokofiev wrote many symphonies and lots of music for movies. However, his best known piece is a piece he wrote to teach young people about the orchestra. Prokofiev wrote Peter and the Wolf in 1936 as a symphony for children to teach them about orchestral music.

Prokofiev's most famous piece has been recorded by many of the famous orchestras around the world. It has also been made in to many videos. Storybook versions of the story are also available. All of these items can be purchased at Amazon as well as many other book sellers.

Peter and the Wolf can be the center of a unit of study on orchestral music for second or third grade elementary classrooms. The unit takes approximately 4 30 minute music classes to teach.

Materials Needed

Teach the Orchestra

On the first day of this lesson, introducethe musical instruments featured in the story. Pictures of the instruments or actual instruments themselves can be shown to the students. If the teacher can play any of the instruments, it is fun to let the children see the instrument actually being played. However, if the instruments cannot be played live, there are many sources of recordings of the various instruments.

It is also fun to pass the various mouthpieces around. This gives the children a chance to see the difference between a brass mouthpiece, a clarinet reed, and an oboe reed. It also makes them more active participants in the day's lesson.

The story of Peter and the Wolf is formally introduced to students through the use of the introduction of the characters and the instruments used to represent them. The instruments or pictures should be displayed where the students can actually see them.

On the next day of this music lesson, the first listening of the entire recording of Peter and the Wolf takes place. The students should be instructed to find a comfortable spot to listen to the music. They can lay down or just sit with their eyes closed depending upon the preference of the teacher.

After the recording is done playing, a discussion about what the students experienced should occur to get everyone thinking about the music. The discussion could include ideas of pictures the children got in their minds as they were listening to the story. A discussion could be also center on the way Prokofiev used the different instruments to portray the different moods in the music.

Connect Listening and Drawing

Next, the recording will be listened to again. While they are listening, students can draw a picture of their favorite part of the story. A sentence is added to the page to explain what the student has drawn. The pictures are then displayed for the entire school to enjoy.

Match Instruments to Characters

A picture matching quiz needs to be created for this part of the lesson. Clipart of the characters are put in one column with pictures of the instruments in another column. The students match the instrument to the character it represents.

After everyone has completed the worksheet and turned it in, a viewing of the DVD version of Peter and the Wolf should take place. The students can then compare their thoughts of what the story looked like with what the movie maker thought.

Prokofiev's most famous piece, Peter and the Wolf, is a great way to teach the orchestra to elementary students. Follow this four day plan for easy teaching.

The copyright of the article Peter and the Wolf Unit Plan in Music Education is owned by Kelley Huston. Permission to republish Peter and the Wolf Unit Plan in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.