see Silver Burdett Grade 5 p. 76, CD 4-1; or Grade 6 p. 469 CD A card with the following rhythm, or have this rhythm written on the board:

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1 National Standard: 1a, 1b, 8b Music Targets 5th : Sing confidently in a broad vocal range differentiating between chest voice and head voice Sing using appropriate phrasing and articulation of vowels, consonants, and diphthongs Identify and respond to the element of contrasting and repeating musical phrases Obectives: The students will learn the melody, rhythm and lyrics to America the Beautiful. Students will identify the rhythmic form of the piece. Students will sing America the Beautiful appropriately, using good proper vocal technique, including head voice, vowels and diphthongs, breathing, and pitch) and will sing with emotion and a deeper under standing of the lyrics. (Curriculum Extension: Poetry) The students will become familiar with vocabulary and the poetic lyrics of America the Beautiful. Students will identify poetic tools of true rhyme, alliteration, and asso nance used in the song. Materials Needed: 4. a recording of America the Beautiful, and an accompaniment or performance track if possible see Silver Burdett Grade 5 p. 76, CD 4-1; or Grade 6 p. 469 CD A card with the following rhythm, or have this rhythm written on the board:. a handout of the words to all verses for each student. a pen or pencil two different colors of colored pencils, or two different color crayons. a piece of drawing paper and coloring materials for each student (if doing the art extension #9) prepare word-cards, a sheet of paper, or a puzzle with unfamiliar vocabulary words or phrases found in the first verse of the song spacious amber waves of grain purple mountain maesties fruited plain shed grace thee crown brotherhood sea to shining sea.

2 Prepare word-cards, a sheet of paper, or a puzzle with definitions for each of the words: Open and airy yellowish-brown mountains seen in the distance splendor/dignity ripened Flat land that produces food to drop all over favor and mercy you stalks blowing in the wind put the finishing touch to love of fellowman Pacific to Atlantic America the Beautiful Katharine Lee Bates Samuel A. Ward & 4 4 O & For & A -. beau - ti - ful for. pur - ple moun - tain. J mer - i - ca! A -. spa - cious skies,. for ma - es - ties A -. J mer - i - ca! God am - ber waves of # bove the fruit - ed shed His grace on grain, plain. thee, &.. And crown thy good with broth - er - hood From sea to shin - ing sea. Lesson Procedures: (Optional steps are encouraged for a complete experience with the poetry and song.) Day One: Curriculum Connection: Language Arts, Vocabulary and Poetry, Art 1. Hand out a lyric sheet to each student. 2. Have the class read and sing the first verse of the song as a group. (Some students will be unfamiliar with this song.) 3. Discuss the unusual language of the lyrics. Do we normally talk like that? 4. Sing the song again, stopping on the unfamiliar words. Post the word cards, or ust write them on the board, as you find them in the song. 5. Define the words by first by asking what the students think the words may mean. Post the definition cards on the board in no particular order.

3 4. 6. Have the students guess or try to figure out which definition matches the word or phrase. Then sing the definition in place of the word, i.e. Oh beautiful for open and airy skies. (not necessarily in the restrictive rhythm of the song, but ust sing the definition on a single pitch if necessary before you go on to the next word or the next phrase of the song). 7. Only define the words of the first verse (see extension). Have the students sing the song using their best voices, paying particular attention to pitch, diction, and tone quality (see below). 8. Clap the rhythm of the first line of the song... How many times does this rhythm occur in the song? (Four same rhythm throughout all four lines, ust on different pitches.) Art Extension: Have each student draw and color a picture representing spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountain maesties above the fruited plain, and brotherhood from sea to shining sea. Diction and Singing: Sing the verse using good, in-tune singing and pronouncing the words clearly. R s are ugly! Be sure and wait to sing the r sound in the words like purple and America by holding the vowel sound: Purple = puh---rple not purrrrrr-ple, and America = Ah-meh---ri-kah, not Uh-mairrrrrr-ick-uh. Remember to hold the vowel sound of each word as you sing, especially on dotted notes. Dipthongs-- two vowel sounds together in the same word-- are sung by holding the first vowel sound, and ust touching the second vowel sound with the ending consonant of the word, or by connecting it to the next word: Crown = Krah------oon, Waves = Weh------eevs Assessment: Evaluate your singing as a group. What could be better in pitch and pronunciation? Sing it again, and perhaps record the singing for immediate feedback and comment on diction and in-tune singing. Language Arts Extension: Poetry 5th and 6th Grade students study these poetic tools in Language Arts. Day Two: Sing the first verse of the song again, 1. Have the students look at the lyrics and find words that rhyme with the same exact ending sound (true rhyme). Underline those words. Write true rhyme on the board and define it for the students as they underline the rhymes.

4 2. (Optional) Find and underline all the true rhymes in the other verses. 3. Sing the song again noticing the true rhyming words, and on which lines they occur. 4. What kind of note in the rhythm are all the true rhymes sung on? 5. Next, find phrases or lines in the song that have a similar melody. (O beautiful for spacious skies and and the ending And crown thy good with brotherhood, which is similar but is sung at a higher pitch.) 5. After singing the song, ask the class to find two words next to each other that start with the same letter or sound (mountain maesties, shining sea). Have them get a colored pencil (any color, example is blue) and circle the two words that start with the same letter. 6. Write the word alliteration on the board and define it for the students. Two words next to each other that start with the same letter or sound. 7. (Optional) Have the students find alliteration in the other verses, and circle those words. 8. In the first verse, have the students find two words on the same line that have the same rhyming sound, even if they are spelled differently, and draw a square around them. 9. Write assonance on the board and define it: The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a succession of words. 10. (Optional) Find all places in the other verses of the song that have assonance, and draw a square around them, too.

5 11. Sing the first verse of the song again, paying particular attention to the different kinds of poetic tools used. 12. Sing the other verses of the song, using good vocal technique. If desired, define the vocabulary and poetic tools of all the other verses. America the Beautiful Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, Above the fruited plain! And crown thy good with brotherhood Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness! God mend thine ev ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self control, Thy liberty in law. Oh, beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife. Who more than self their county loved, And mercy more than life! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness And ev ry gain divine. Oh, beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam, Undimmed by human tears! And crown thy good with brotherhood