Submitted by Andrea Cope, Texas

Idea posted March 8, 2006

This is one of those lessons that was created in a panic five minutes before the class walks through the door. It's been surprisingly successful. I'm using it with second grade.

Lesson One
1. Introduce three parts of a meal: an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.
2. Give clues to help them guess that the appetizer is guacamole, the entree is pizza, and the dessert is jelly beans. (Get where I'm going with this?)
3. Sing through "Guacamole!" from Music K-8, Vol. 12, No. 4, "Pizza Love" from Music K-8, Vol. 8, No. 5, and "Jelly Bean Blues" from Music K-8, Vol. 12, No. 4. Talk about the different styles of the songs and quickly teach a simple choreography move representative of each style.
Lesson Two
1. Review three parts of a meal and what was in our meal.
2. Sing through "Guacamole!"
3. Divide into teams. My kids sit on four risers, so I have four easy teams. Each team's job is to create a movement that in some way matches the song "Guacamole!" Sing it a cappella, pointing out the number of different elements in the song that deserve their own movements.
4. Set them loose. Start with a minute or two of talking and planning, then play the song several times while they try out their moves. When you notice the need, stop and guide. End with a minute or two of sitting and talking, along with a reminder that performers don't tell each other what to do while on stage. I don't allow any copying or tattling that someone is copying. I am the ruling queen of the room, and I am the only person who can determine whether one group is copying from another.
5. Perform. I've been having all of the groups perform at the same time, simply because I prefer to spend more time on the process than the product. You could certainly have them perform one at a time.
6. If one group was outstanding, I have them perform alone for the class, and we talk about what made it so great. The best group so far had the boys on all fours with their heads tucked under so we couldn't see them. The girls knelt behind them dancing mightily from the knees up. Every time the word "Guacamole!" was sung, the boys popped their heads up and sang along. It was too cute.
Lesson 3
Repeat with Pizza Love
Lesson 4
Repeat with Jelly Beans

When you've "completed your meal," you've got three quick and easy grades you can average into one that actually means something. If anyone ever asks you to throw together a quick program, you've already got it.