Page 20 - Level 1 Ukulele Lesson Plans

Reveal the birdie puppet from your sparkly magic bag. Tell the children that birdie is going to sing “hello” to them and that they must sing “hello birdie” back, copying birdie's voice. Hold birdie up high as you sing “hello everyone” at a high C pitch.
The children respond, ideally from the same pitch, singing “hello birdie”. Repeat several times.
Do the same with your big teddy only you hold him down low and sing from a low C pitch.
The children respond, ideally from the same pitch, singing “hello teddy”. Repeat several times.
Try mixing things up so sometimes singing as birdie then teddy, sometimes singing as teddy then birdie and sometimes singing as the same toy twice in a row. So the children learn to adjust their voices based on which toy is singing to them.
Ask the children what sort of a voice birdie has. If they struggle you can tell them birdie has a high voice. “So if birdie has a high voice, what sort of a voice does teddy have (a low voice)?”
Try singing as birdie or teddy to individuals who sing hello to the puppets on their own.
3. Getting to Know Your Ukulele (4 mins)
Choose a volunteer to show you where the frets and fretboard are on their ukulele. Next, point to each of the known parts on your own ukulele, one by one, and ask the group to name them.
“Who can describe to the class what a bridge is?” Choose a volunteer to answer, listen to their response and clarify if need be. “Excellent. Most bridges we know of carry people, cars or trains from one side of something to the other side of something. Usually from one side of water to another. There’s a bridge on the ukulele. Can anyone guess where it is?” Choose a volunteer to answer and clarify if need be. “Here is the bridge on my ukulele, but instead of carrying people, cars or trains, it carries strings!” Ask everyone to repeat the word “bridge” (e.g. “let’s all say bridge together. 1, 2, 3 bridge. 1, 2, 3 bridge. 1, 2, 3 bridge”).
Test the children’s knowledge of all the parts learnt so far. Sometimes point to a part and ask them to name it and sometimes say the name of a part and ask them to show you where it is on their ukuleles. Do this mostly with the whole group at once. However, you can sometimes call on volunteers to answer on their own as well.
“Part of this week’s homework is to learn the name of the bridge and where it is on your ukulele for next week.”
4. Finger Dexterity (3 mins): ‘The Finger Game’ Please see instructions in lesson plan 3.
5. Tuning (5 mins): ‘The Tuning Song’ written by Lucy Milan Davis Please see instructions in lesson plan 3.
6. Song/Game (4 mins): ‘Up and Down’ (traditional) Click activity name to open YouTube video link.
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