Lunar New Year Unit on MusicplayOnline

The Lunar New Year musical activities consist of lessons for K-5 music classes that teach about the holiday, featuring a traditional song with a vocal recording, a rondo lesson, instruction on Chinese zodiac animals incorporating rhythm words and sound effects, and a lesson on the dragon dance. Either the Rondo lesson or the Animals of the Zodiac lesson may span 1-2 music classes. Check out the unit by going to Units > Festivals & Holidays or by clicking the link here: Lunar New Year Unit

Fun Facts about the New Year 

The unit begins with Fun Facts about the Lunar New Year. In this section you will find a projectable containing information of the many traditions and customs of this holiday. A worksheet is included as well as a Dragon Dance Rhythm Sort interactive. 

Screenshot 2024-01-30 at 8.58.34 AMLink to Lunar New Year Rhythm Sort Interactive

Gong Xi Gong Xi

Gong Xi Gong Xi is a traditional song included in the unit. You will find notation and lyric videos, concept slides with the vocal track included to learn the pronunciation, and a song activities PDF.
 

Screenshot 2024-01-30 at 9.30.51 AMLink to Gong Xi Gong Xi Notation Video

Lunar New Year Rondo

Two composition activities are included. The first one is the Lunar New Year Rondo where students start with a simple song as the theme and then have the opportunity to create word rhythm compositions for the B, C, and D sections. We've provided two levels that you can download as PDFs: the easy word composition with 1-2 sounds per beat for younger students and another one that includes more words for older students. 
 

03-Lunar-New-Year-Easy-Word-Rhythm-CompositionLink to Lunar New Year Easy Word Rhythm Composition Worksheet

03-Lunar-New-Year-Word-Rhythm-CompositionLink to Lunar New Year Word Rhythm Composition Worksheet

Animals of the Zodiac 

Another composition activity you can opt for is the Animals of the Zodiac activity. This involves using animal word rhythms and sounds representing the animals. You can use the interactive version or download the PDF. Worksheets for practicing note names and solfa are also provided.
 

 

Dragon Dance

In this section you will find various videos on the dragon dance, coloring pages, and a rhythm chain activity both as an interactive and a PDF.

Screenshot 2024-01-30 at 11.35.11 AM

 Link to Dragon Rhythm Chain Interactive

A rhythm chain involves memorizing patterns by adding to them. Use a variety of body percussion to make your performance interesting. All of the rhythms will be displayed for you. Simply click on the rhythms to hide them. Begin with the first rhythm at the head. Once memorized, hide the first rhythm and reveal the second rhythm. Proceed by clapping both the first (hidden) and second (revealed) rhythms until you've memorized the second one. Hide the second rhythm and reveal the third one, continuing down the chain.

Leave a Comment