Do-Re-Mi | Free Music Lesson Plan (Solfege & Richard Rodgers)

Music Lesson Plan

Step 1
Tell students, "We're going to wrap up our unit on American composer Richard Rodgers today with a song from the most popular movie musical of all time. It's 'Do-Re-Mi' from The Sound of Music. In this musical, Maria teaches the children to sing using solfege, which is a popular sight-singing method. Do you remember when I taught you the solfege scale—Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do? (Write the scale on the whiteboard.) First, let's learn the words to the song, and then we'll learn the actions!"

Step 2
Teach the lyrics to "Do-Re-Mi." Begin by chanting the lyrics phrase by phrase. When the students have successfully repeated the first verse, move on to the next.

Step 3
Learn the melody to "Do-Re-Mi." Ask the students to perform the song verse by verse as you play the melody on the piano. When the students seem confident, ask them to sing the song all the way through as you play the piano or a recording.

Step 4
Tell students, "Let's stand in a circle. It's time to learn the actions!" Model the actions suggested below as you and the students sing with the recording.

Doe - Ask students to pretend to pat a deer on the head.
Ray - Choose a boy to be "Ray." He'll hold up a sign that says, "Hi! I'm Ray" when everyone sings this phrase.
Me - Ask students to point their index fingers at themselves.
Far - Ask students to run in a circle.
Sew - Ask students to pretend to sew.
La - Ask students to hold their arms and palms up.
Tea - Ask students to pretend to hold a tea cup with one hand and a saucer with the other.

Step 5
Quiz the students by asking them to list facts about the composer or solfege:

What does a composer do?
Who wrote "Do-Re-Mi"?
What are the most popular musicals by Richard Rodgers?
What is solfege?
What are the solfege syllables?

Step 6
Tell students, "Let's try 'Do-Re-Mi' all the way through with all the actions!"

Step 7
When the homeroom teacher arrives, ask him or her to join in for the final performance.