Daniel Soloway 

MUS-149 

Talbot 

Vocal Lesson Plan 

Context: The 4th grade class will learn the importance of good breathing when singing. The

students will learn when it is appropriate to breathe and how to do so when singing. The

students will have had prior knowledge to solfege syllables, but another explanation will be

done.

Essential Question:  Why is breathe support important for singing?

Materials: 

 Paper and Pencil/Pen 

 Area in which to form a circle 

 Sheet of paper with solfege (Do Re Mi Fa etc.)

 Timer

 [CITATIONS] Did you get the definitions from a music dictionary, online or physical?

(You should have if you didn’t), put the citation for that here.

Learning Goals:  Concept: Healthy Breath Support

 Students will use their prior knowledge of solfege as well as help from the teacher to

follow along with the lesson. 

  Students will identify healthy breath support.

 Students will create their own solfege patterns. 

 The students learn breathing exercises that they can use at home. 

National Standards: 

 MU: Pr4.2.4a: Demonstrate understanding of the structure and the elements of music (such as

rhythm, pitch, and form) in music selected for performance. 

 MU: Pr4.2.4b When analyzing selected music, read and perform using iconic and/or standard

notation. 

 MU: Re7.2.4a Demonstrate and explain how responses to music are informed by the structure,

the use of the elements of music, and context (such as social and cultural). 

 MU: Cn11.0.4a Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts,

other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily 

Procedure: 

A. The teacher will invite the students to stand in a circle around them. 

B. The teacher will motion for the students to follow their lead and begin basic stretches and

breathing exercises. Stretches include:

1. Neck Stretches

2. Yawning

3. Slowed and Controlled Breathing

 1. Teacher will hold up a finger for each second.

2. Inhale for 4 seconds.

3. Hold for 2 seconds

4. Exhale for 4 seconds.

C. The teacher will hold up the piece of paper showing the solfege syllables and above it will say

“Solfege” and makes sure every student can see what it says.

D. After showing the paper to the students, the teacher will point to each solfege syllable, and sing

each one they point to from low Do to high Do.

E. The teacher will then motion for the students to follow along and sing along with them, once

again singing from low Do to high Do. Once this is done, the teacher will give a thumbs up to

make sure the students understand now what solfege is.

F. The teacher will now hold up a piece of paper saying “Breath Support” and show all the students.

G. [ADD A STEP] before your next activity, you need to provide them the term “breath support”,

either on a sheet of paper or a whiteboard so that they have something to refer to when providing

a thumbs up or thumbs down in the next activity. And then keep referring to this term as you do

the thumbs up/thumbs down thing so they make that connection.

H. The teacher will begin to sing a full solfege line, but in the following ways: 
 1. The teacher will first take a deep breath, then sing a full solfege line up to Do, while

holding their stomach. While they go through the solfege, they will extend their arm

slowly outward throughout. The teacher will hold a piece of paper saying “Good Breath

Support” as well as a thumbs up. When all the students appear to understand, the teacher

will move on.

2. The teacher will take a deep breath, but then exhale. When they exhale, they will attempt

to sing the solfege up to Do. Since this is not proper breathing, they will lose their breath

before they can finish. The teacher will then hold up a piece of paper saying “Bad Breath

Support” as well as a thumbs down. When all the students appear to understand, the

teacher will move on.

3. The teacher will repeat the solfege line, but first will take a deep breath. Using the same

hand motion as before, they will proceed up to Do. When reaching Do, they will take a

short but calm breath, and go down the solfege line back to Do. The teacher will once

again hold up the piece of paper saying “Good Breath Support” as well as a thumbs up.

I. The teacher will then initiate a call and response for the solfege syllables in order to make sure

the students have them memorized. The teacher will do the call and response as follows:

1. “Do Re Mi”

2. “Mi Fa Sol”

3. “Sol La Ti”

4. “Ti Do”

5. “Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do”
 J. After the call and response is finished, the teacher will then give a thumbs up to make sure the

students understand and feel memorized.

K. The teacher will then signal for the students to follow their lead and repeat the same steps (the

ones that were given a thumb up).

L. [ADD A STEP] I think you need to add more to your procedure. The student are never creating

during your lesson and I’m not sure theywill understand the concept of breath support with what

you’ve written. I think this is a great start but you need to add some more.

Assessments: 

 The students will have learned proper breath control vs improper breath control when singing.  

 The teacher will take note of those who were able to understand and sing the solfege.

 The teacher will keep note of students who noticed the call and response method used, as well as

those that can explain the essential question. 

 The teacher will assess both the use of solfege understanding and breath use from the students

during the extension.

Glossary: 

 Solfege: the study of singing and musicianship using solmization syllables. 

 Solmization: a system of associating each note of a scale with a particular syllable, especially to

teach singing.

 Breath Support: how we stabilize our bodies for air flow and how we regulate and coordinate

airflow for different activities (playing instruments, singing songs, swimming underwater, etc.). 

  
Extension

 Students will be able toThe teacher will now begin to invite the students to be able to create their

own solfege patterns.

 The teacher will separate the students into 3 different groups.

 Once the groups are made, the teacher will pull up the solfege paper and hold it in front of the

students.

 The teacher will then sing two different solfege patterns as examples:

i. “Do So Do”

ii. “Do Re La”

 The teacher will then motion for each group to come up with their own solfege patterns.

 While each group is creating their own patterns, the teacher will go around and make sure

each group can create their own pattern and understood the directions.

I affirm that I have upheld the highest principles of honesty and integrity in

my academic work and have not witnessed a violation of the Honor Code. 

Daniel Soloway