Lesson Focus
* Analyzing character emotions and experiences through a story.

Standards
* Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
* Use information gained from illustrations and words to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
* Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

Content and Language Objectives
* Students will be able to identify the solfege pitches Do, Re, Mi through singing exercises.
* Students will be able to use solfege hand signs to reinforce pitch recognition and production.
* Students will be able to be expressive readers.
* Students will create a simple melodic phrase using Do, Re, Mi to represent a character’s emotional journey in a story.

Resources and Materials
* Storybook or passage with prominent character(s) experiencing challenges/events (such as Stellaluna)
* Projector or whiteboard to display story images
* Piano or pitched classroom instrument

Vocabulary
* Solfege
* Pitch
* Melody
* Hand Signs
* Rhythm
* Character
* Emotions
* Events
* Beginning/Middle/End
* Echo

Assessment
* Observe students during the solfege warmup activities (echoing pitches, using hand signs) to see if they are accurately matching and producing the pitches do, re, mi.
* During the class melody creation, listen for student suggestions that appropriately map solfege pitches to character emotions/events in the story.

Lesson Introduction (5 minutes)
* Lead students in clapping/tapping rhythms to familiar songs
* Discuss how rhythm and beat make learning fun and engaging
* Explain that hearing/feeling rhythms can help our brains get ready to read

Lesson Core (25 minutes)
* Introduce solfege as a way for musicians to identify and sing pitches (Do, Re, Mi).
* Model singing “Do, Re, Mi” with hand signs (fist, 2 fingers, 3 fingers).
* Have students echo the pitches and hand signs.
* Practice pitch matching games (e.g. you sing a pitch, they echo it back).
* Read the selected story, pausing to discuss major events/challenges the character faces.
* Project images from the story to aid comprehension.
* Ask students how the character might be feeling during those events (e.g. scared, happy, sad).
* Explain that they’ll create a simple melody using solfege to represent the character’s emotional journey.
* As a class, decide which solfege pitches represent different emotions (e.g. Do=neutral, Re=scared, Mi=happy).
* Have students suggest a 3-pitch melody for the beginning, middle, and end of the story based on the character’s feelings.
* Practice singing the class-created melody with solfege and hand signs.

Lesson Conclusion (10 minutes)
* Have students share written or drawn representations of the character’s emotional “roller coaster” through the story, using pictures/words that correspond to the solfege pitches they chose.