Lesson Plan: “Community Pride: A Musical Look at Cooperation, Communication and Conviction”
Grade level: K-2
Objective
Students will learn the importance of music in their communities. They will also learn about their peers’ communities, and
the class will choose or compose a song that celebrates their school community. This lesson will prepare students for the
2011 BSO Youth Concerts, which will explore this theme.
Resources Needed
 CD/Tape Player
Vocabulary
 Community: a group of people and/or a place you find your sense of belonging in (family, neighborhood, school,
church, synagogue or mosque, ethnic group, etc)
 Communication: to share thoughts, opinions, or information with others by speaking, writing, or using signs or body
language.
 Conviction: A firm belief in something.
 Cooperation: Working effectively with others toward a common purpose or goal.
 Community Pride: Having pride, ownership and responsibility for the well-being of your community.
Pre-Lesson Preparation
 Have students identify the various communities they are part of.
 Have each student bring in a recording or plan to sing a musical selection that is important to his or her community .
Teaching Sequence
 Discuss vocabulary and explain that the theme of this year’s BSO Youth Concert Series is “Community Pride: A Musical
look at Cooperation, Communication, and Conviction”.
 Have a discussion about how cooperation, communication and conviction contribute to strong and healthy
communities. Talk about what it means to have pride in your community.
 Discuss the role music plays in our communities.
 Have each student play a short musical selection that has meaning in his/her community.
 Have each student describe what his/her community is like, why s/he has pride in the community, and why s/he chose
this musical selection
 Compose or choose a “class song” to sing regularly that will help develop community pride at school. Discuss the
importance of cooperation, communication and conviction as the class works on the project together.
For Further Exploration
 Perform the new class song at a school-wide assembly.
 Have students bring in photos that reflect their communities and create a slide show with their musical selections as
the background. Present the slide show at an upcoming parent night.
 Invite parents to come in and share music with the class (if they play an instrument or sing).
Evaluation
Students will be able to define the vocabulary and understand how each concept applies to them; identify music that
relates to their communities; and develop a deeper sense of community pride through music in their school community.
This lesson plan was produced by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to prepare children for the “Community Pride: A Musical Look at Cooperation,
Communication and Conviction” Youth and Family Concert Series February 16-19, 2011.