Lesson Plan 7: "Old Dan Tucker", an American Folk Song

Objectives:

1. To recognize two different sections in a song. (25.A.1c)

2. To evaluate children's understanding of two-part music. (25.B.1; 27.A.1b)

3. To explore folk music using the Internet. (27.B.1)

Classroom Material:

• CD 3-23, "World of Music" Grade 2 series
• pupil textbooks, "World of Music" Grade 2, "Old Dan Tucker", pages 116-117
• Internet connection
• television with LTV hookup

Vocabulary:

• section
• same,
• different
• folk song

Time:

One, thirty minute music class

Instructional Procedure:

1. Have the children look around the room and find two things that are alike (windows, light fixtures, chalkboard erasers). Then have them find two things that are different from one another (chalk and eraser, window and door, desk and chair).

2. Tell the class the "Old Dan Tucker" is a song with two sections. Then have them answer the questions on page 116 in their textbook.

3. Ask them to listen to the song to be able to describe what sections A and B tell about Dan. Play the recording through the first verse and refrain only. (Section A tells about Dan; Section B tells him to get out of the way.) As children listen to the recording, they show sections by standing during section A and sitting during section B.

4. When children know the song, have them keep the beat by alternately patting their lays and clapping their hands during section A (PAT-clap-clap-clap.) During section B they clap the rhythm pattern each time the words Get out the way occur.

5. To help the class develop inner hearing, have them perform "Old Dan Tucker" without the recording in the following ways:

• Children sing section A aloud; they sing section B silently, thinking the melody and words. They each raise they hand when they reach the end of section B. Goal: All reach the end of section B at the same time.
• Establish the beat and give a starting pitch. Children silently sing section A; they sing section B aloud. Goal: All begin to sing aloud (and on the same pitch) at the same time.

6. Teach children a dance for "Old Dan Tucker" to help them further recognize the contrasting sections.

Directions for Dance:

Preparation: Designate one child to be Old Dan Tucker. Other children choose partners. Partners stand facing each other, making two lines, eight to ten steps apart.

 

Section A:

While the others pat their laps to the beat, Old Dan Tucker moves up and down between the lines, pantomiming the words of the song. At the end of the section, he or she "gets out the way" by moving to a different part of the room.

 

Section B:

Phrase 1: Partners take 4 steps toward each other, in time with the steady beat.

Phrase 2: They take 4 steps back to place.

Phrases 3 and 4: Partners take 7 steps forward, passing right shoulders, then turn to face each other on step 8.

 

The lines of children are now reversed. Old Dan Tucker comes back and chooses a new Dan Tucker, and then takes that child's place in line. The dance begins again.

7. Discuss the story that the song "Old Dan Tucker" tells. Briefly explain folk songs.

8. Using the teacher-book marked Internet sites featuring folk music, investigate different folk song styles and the stories they convey. Such sites could include Mabel's Folk Songs for Children.

Return to Lynn Gilmore's Home Page.

Submitted: July 1, 1998