Snowman’s Story: Movement Exploration

• Michelle Brinkman
• Posted 3/3/21
• 0 comments

Suggested Grades: K-2 

An Overview

Carl Orff and his associate, Gunild Keetman, developed the Orff-Schulwerk approach to teaching music in Germany during the 1920s. It is an active music-making approach in which children learn musical behavior by creating, listening, analyzing, and performing through speech, singing, movement, body percussion, and instruments. The Orff approach teaches musical skills and concepts using a four-stage learning process:  imitation, exploration, literacy, and improvisation. This lesson will focus on the exploration part of the learning through movement.  

Using the book Snowman’s Story, students listen to and move expressively to the impressionistic music of Claude Debussy in this movement exploration activity.

National Core Arts Standards 

#1 – Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.  

Objectives 

• Students will listen to “The Snow is Dancing” by Debussy.  
• Students will create a list of movement words. 
• Students will move expressively.  

Materials  

• Snowman’s Story by Will Hillenbrand 
• Scarves, Ribbon Wands, and other movement props 
• Recording: The Snow is Dancing by Claude Debussy 

Suggested Teaching Process

1. Explain to students the book they are going to see is unique because there are no words-only pictures. 
2. Show students the pictures in the book. 
3. While they are looking at the pictures, ask students to imagine what is happening in the story. 
4. Play a recording of “The Snow Is Dancing” from Children’s Corner Suite by Claude Debussy while the students are looking at the book’s pictures. 
5. After listening and looking at the pictures, invite students to share what they imagined. 
6. Students brainstorm a list of movement words that describe snow. 
7. Listen to the Debussy piece again. 
8. Students move in personal space using their movement words.  
9. Optional: Use scarves, ribbon wands, or other movement props. 

Movement Props