Vivaldi Lesson Plan

I was supposed to be going away on a weekend trip with the Grade 6s today but the bus was cancelled because of our lovely spring storm. We will be going tomorrow, hopefully! Since I was going to be absent for two days I thought I'd tie in my "Composer of the Month" with activities that I would leave for my supply teacher. I had two lessons planned - one for grades 4-6 and one for grades 7-8.


Source: Musicplay.ca

Junior Vivaldi Lesson



1. Read the Vivaldi biography as a class. (I found a biography in Listening Kit 2. I photocopied one set, to save paper, and will use it with all 10 classes.)
2. Ask students to make a prediction about which season this piece is based on. Listen to "Adagio molto, Autumn" by Antonio Vivaldi. (Don't accidentally reveal the title!)
3. Use scarves or ribbons to show the direction of the melody.
4. Have students draw a picture (see below) of what in the music makes them think of Autumn.



Intermediate Vivaldi Lesson Plan

1. Play "Allegro, Autumn" by Antonio Vivaldi but do not reveal the title of the compostion.
2. Have students do a "Quick Write" (more information about this Total Participation Technique is found at the end of this post) based on this prompt: This piece, written by Antonio Vivaldi, was inspired by one of the four seasons. Which season do you think inspired this piece and why? Make sure to include information about what you heard in the music in your answer.
3. Read the Vivaldi biogrpahy together.
4. Split students into groups of three. Students will rank (see below) what they feel are the two most important details from Vivaldi's biography and give reasons for why they think so.
5. Students join up with another group of three and share their rankings.
6. As a class, discuss what students noticed.

TPT #3 - Quick Writes

• select a prompt for students to respond to
• give them 3-5 minutes to jot down a response
• follow up with a Think-Pair-Share or Chalkboard Splash

TPT #4 - Ranking

• select items or paragraphs that could be ranked
• have students rank the items according to predetermined criteria
• students need to defend their choices
• follow up with a Think-Pair-Share