Lesson Introduction: 

Students love learning music through play. A favorite song and game to play with students is, “Apple Tree.” This song can be reused year after year in different grades to scaffold instruction, but I initially like to teach it in 1st/2nd grade, to familiarize the song and game with students. Students will learn to sing the song, using a Sol Mi melodic structure and simple rhythms. 

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Structure / Activities

1. As a model, the teacher will sing “Apple Tree” for the students one time. (See resources below).
2. The teacher will model patting the beat while singing, “Apple Tree” the second time through the song.
3. Have the students practice patting the beat on their laps, while the teacher sings “Apple Tree” a third time.
4. Have the students echo sing “Apple Tree” a fourth time through the song to teach lyrics. (i.e. Teacher: “Apple Tree”. Students: “Apple Tree”. Teacher “Apple Tree”. Students: “Apple Tree”. Teacher: “Will your apples”. Students: “Will your apples.”, etc.)
5. Have the students sit in a circle and practice patting their lap to the beat of the song while the teacher sings the song a fifth time (students are encouraged to sing along once they know the song at this point). Keeping a slow, steady beat. You may practice this several times, adjusting the beat to help students feel the concept of beat.
6. Next, the goal is to practice passing an object to the beat of the song. Have the students sit in a round shape on the floor. Practice passing an object around in a single direction on the beat of the song, “Apple Tree” while the teacher sings. To help all students feel the beat, students not presently involved with passing the object, should pat the beat on their lap. Students should sing along if they know the song well enough to do so.
7. Once the students are comfortable passing an object around to the beat of a song successfully, the teacher will instruct that whomever the object lands on when the song ends is the TREE. From that point, the TREE will spell their first name. As the TREE spells his/her name, for each letter the students will pass the ball one student over in the same direction the ball was previously passed. The ball will stop when there are no more letters to spell. Whomever has the ball at the end of the name being spelt, has been knocked “out” by the tree. The student who is “out” will eventually have a new job as decided by the teacher.
8. Play a few practice rounds of the song/game to familarize students with the game and process. After a few practice rounds, play the game. 

Assessment / Closure

As playing the game, the student who is “out” is described above. However, the teacher can decide to toughen up the structure and students who fail to keep the beat can be deemed “out” by the teacher. Students who also fail to sing can be deemed “out” by the teacher to encourage full participation. Students who are not patting the beat on their lap when they don’t have the ball can, also, be deemed “out”. The teacher will assess for student understanding as students play the game and participate. If playing in an elimination model: students should play the game until there is one student left remaining who is the winner, but can also play until there is no time left to continue and all remaining students can be deemed winners. If playing in a model that allows students to re-enter, the game may continue as long as the teacher allows.

When students get knocked out, there are a variety of ideas that can be implemented depending on your classroom needs/resources. Students can be out for the rest of the game, or simply sit in middle until the next round. Students who are out, should practice keeping the steady beat on their lap. Students who are out may be handed auxilliary percussion instruments to play and keep the beat on, in order to be more engaged and still active participants in the game. Students who are “in the middle” can be asked to dance to the song, or simply sit. The are several possibilities and you may use what works best for your class and students.

It is important when starting the game, that students are clear on the rules, how you get out, and that there is absolutely no throwing of the object (students who throw the object should be out). Remind students that this is not “Hot Potato” but rather, “Apple Tree”. In “Hot Potato” the goal is to go as fast as you can to get rid of the potato. In “Apple Tree” the goal is to keep a steady beat, and sing along. The teacher will assess understanding by student participation in the game/song. 

Examples and Additional Resources

Song Lyrics:

Apple tree, apple tree
will your apples fall on me?
I won’t cry and I won’t shout,
if your apples knock me out.

Rhythm:

Ti-ti ta, ti-ti ta
ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta?
Ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta,
ti-ti ti-ti ti-ti ta.

Pitch:

Sol sol mi, sol sol mi
sol sol mi mi, sol sol mi.
Sol sol mi mi sol sol mi,
sol sol mi mi, sol sol do.