Lesson Plan: “Math Beats with Recycled Instruments!”

Objective: Students will explore basic math concepts like counting, patterns, and addition using music, beats, and recycled instruments.

Materials:

  • Recycled instruments
  • Music player
  • Flashcards with numbers or shapes
  • Markers and paper
  • Simple rhythm charts and/or songs ( “Twinkle, Twinkle”)

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

Teacher:

  • Welcome students and briefly introduce the topic. “Today we are going to make math fun with music!”
    We are going to use our recycled instruments we made, for math!
  • “Music is made of beats, and beats are like numbers. We will count, make patterns, and do some math using these beats!”

2. Body of Lesson (20 minutes)

Activity 1: Counting Beats (5 minutes)

  • Instructions:
  • Demonstrate how to clap or tap the recycled instruments to a simple beat (e.g., tap your instrument once for each number as you count from 1 to 4).
  • Let the students practice counting along with you.
  • “Let’s count to 4 with our instruments! Ready? One, two, three, four!”
  • Encourage students to use their recycled instruments and count out loud with you.

Activity 2: Pattern Recognition with Beats (5 minutes)

  • Instructions:
  • Introduce a simple rhythm pattern: “Tap, tap, clap, tap, tap, clap” or something like “1-2, 1-2” and repeat it. (We will we will rock you- Queen song) Music Portfolio
  • Have students use body movement
  • Show flashcards with numbers or simple shapes to illustrate the pattern. Use rhythm cards
    • Quarter note- bee
    • Eighth note spider
    • Triplet-lady bug
    • Sixteenth notes- caterpillar
    • Quarter rest- up (ant)

Activity 3: Math Through Addition with Beats (10 minutes)

Instructions:

  • Sit in a circle feet all in the middle
  • Demonstrate: “Let’s tap our feet twice, then tap two more times to see how many we have altogether.”
  • Use the rhythm to represent the addition. “Tap-tap (2) and tap-tap-tap (3) equals 5!”
  • Discussion:
    • Ask students what they learned today. “How did we use math today? Can you show me one pattern you made with your beats?”
    • Encourage children to reflect on how music and math are connected. For example, “Did you notice how the beats helped us count and add?”
  • Closing Song:
    • End with a fun song that incorporates counting. A good choice could be “This Old Man” where each verse counts up.
  • Wrap-Up:

3. Conclusion (5 minutes)

“You all did a fantastic job combining math and music today! Remember, math can be fun, especially when we make it with music. Keep practicing your counting and patterns at home with any instruments you can find!”

Resource– song lyrics

This Old Man” Lyrics

This old man, he played one,
He played knick-knack on my thumb;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played two,
He played knick-knack on my shoe;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played three,
He played knick-knack on my knee;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played four,
He played knick-knack on my door;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played five,
He played knick-knack on my hive;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played six,
He played knick-knack on my sticks;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played seven,
He played knick-knack up in heaven;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played eight,
He played knick-knack on my gate;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played nine,
He played knick-knack on my spine;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played ten,
He played knick-knack once again;
With a knick-knack paddywhack,
Give the dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home