Little Sally Walker: Steady Beat Circle Game | Free Music Lesson Plan

Big Idea

Teach steady beat with Little Sally Walker—a classic circle game for grades K-2. Students chant the rhyme and patch the beat while the "it" student performs the actions. It's a no-prep music lesson plan your class will ask for over and over again!

Grade Level: K-2
Activity: Singing/Chanting Game
Skill: Steady Beat

Students will demonstrate an understanding of steady beat as they participate in this chanting game.

This lesson is designed to fulfill the 2014 National Standard for Music:
Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work. (Performing: Present music - MU:Pr6.1)

'Little Sally Walker' Rhyme (Included below)

Music Lesson Plan

Step 1
Teach the Little Sally Walker rhyme phrase by phrase. Chant a line and have your students repeat it back. To make sure they stay on track, keep a steady beat by tapping your knees while you chant. This helps the kids feel the pulse before the game begins!

Little Sally Walker,
Sitting in a saucer,
Rise Sally rise,
Wipe out your eyes,
Turn to the east,
And turn to the west,
And turn to the one that you like best.

Step 2
Have your students sit in a circle. Choose one student to stand in the middle—this student will be the first "Sally" (or "Sammy").

Step 3
Ask the class to chant the rhyme together while patching a steady beat on their knees. The student in the middle follows the instructions in the rhyme with these actions:

Little Sally Walker - Sit in the middle of the circle.
Sitting in a saucer - Remain seated.
Rise Sally/Sammy rise - Stand up.
Wipe out your eyes - Wipe eyes.
Turn to the east - Spin in one direction with right arm extended, pointing at students in the circle.
And turn to the west - Spin in the opposite direction.
And turn to the one that you like best - Stop spinning. Whoever the student is pointing at becomes the next person to go in the middle!

Step 4
Repeat the game several times! Usually, playing 4-5 rounds gives enough students a turn in the middle to keep the excitement high while reinforcing that steady beat.