Musik, Serious Gaming und Konzentrationsfähigkeit – mit der App entdecken die Kinder die Magie der klassischen Musik mit interaktiven Spielen.
Activity 1
Talk about music
Whole class
15 min.
Teacher:
“During the last lesson, you played 'The Nutcracker' level in the Fortissimo app. What did you learn? What can you remember?”
Read 'The Nutcracker' story to the class.
The Nutcracker' story
It's Christmas Eve. Clara and her little brother Fritz are sitting by the Christmas tree surrounded by their family and eagerly await for presents. How exciting!
Suddenly, there is a knock on the door and Uncle Drosselmeyer enters. His coat is covered with a few snowflakes. Uncle Drosselmeyer, who is a well-known watchmaker, has brought wonderful presents with him. Clara receives a nutcracker and is very happy about it, but Fritz is jealous. He also receives a present, but would have preferred Clara's nutcracker. Fritz is so angry that he grabs the nutcracker and throws it against the wall. Clara is shocked and very sad. She picks up her nutcracker, but one arm is broken. Luckily, Uncle Drosselmeyer finds some glue and, with his amazing watchmaker skilled hands, repairs the nutcracker. Clara is very happy.
But it's now getting late and Clara feels very tired. She hugs her nutcracker lovingly and goes to bed. Tonight the nutcracker will sleep next to her doll in the doll's bed.
Clara is fast asleep and her dreams are slowly coming to life! Clara finds herself in an enchanted dining hall: the Christmas tree gets bigger and bigger, and the candle lights on the walls start dancing. Then, out of nowhere, an army of mice invades the ballroom. The Mouse King is in charge and tries to take Clara's nutcracker away, but the nutcracker suddenly comes to life. He summons all the Fritz's soldier figures from the toy box to the rescue and leads them to drive the mice away.
Everyone fights against each other until the Nutcracker faces the Mouse King. The Mouse King gets the Nutcracker into a lot of trouble. But luckily Clara is there: she takes her left shoe and throws it at the Mouse King. It hits him and the Mouse King falls on the ground. The Nutcracker is saved and... he turns into a prince! Clara and the Nutcracker Prince are overjoyed. They joyfully dance together and somehow find themselves in the kingdom of sweets, where they are welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy. After hearing the story of the two young heroes, the Sugar Plum Fairy decides to throw a big party to celebrate Clara's bravery.
Ending 1: As Clara twirls around the ballroom dancing to the Waltz of the Flowers with her prince, she starts feeling dizzy and realises she is really very tired. She then sinks into a wonderful four-poster bed and falls asleep comfortably. When she opens her eyes the next morning, she finds herself in her own bed. The nutcracker is next to her. Everything was just a dream. Clara feels a little sad. She climbs out of her bed and makes her way to the breakfast table. A big surprise awaits her: Uncle Drosselmeyer has invited his nephew to spend Christmas Day with the family and he looks just like the prince of Clara's dream...
Ending 2: At the end of the party, the Sugar Plum Fairy makes an important announcement, calling Clara and the Nutcracker Prince by her side. To thank them for freeing the kingdom from the Mouse King and his army, she crowns the two of them as the new governors of the kingdom of sweets. The honey bees perform a celebratory dance and Clara and the Nutcracker Prince live happily ever after in the kingdom of sweets. They welcome guests from all around the world with great joy and dance the 'Waltz of the Flowers' with everyone to show their gratitude to the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Ending 3: To show her gratitude to Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy frees the Nutcracker Prince from his nutcracker existence forever and allows him to go back to the human world with Clara. A magical sleigh pulled by reindeer comes flying in. The sleigh takes them away from the Kingdom of Sweets and in the morning they arrive in front of Clara's house. Clara and the prince thank the reindeer and wave goodbye. They are welcomed home by Clara's parents, Uncle Drosselmeyer and Fritz who are all overjoyed. To celebrate Christmas morning, everyone happily dances around the Christmas tree.
And so ends the adventure of Clara and the Nutcraker. Which was your favourite ending?
Activity 2
Meet musical characters
In pairs
15 min.
Teacher:
1. "Today we're going to learn more about the different characters from the story of 'The Nutcracker'. First, choose the character you would like to be (Nutcracker, Mouse King, Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara, Fritz or Uncle Drosselmeyer)."
2. "We are now going to form pairs but you have to make sure you haven't chosen the same character as your partner. There shouldn't be any pair with 2 Claras or 2 Mouse Kings for instance."
3. "In your pair, you are going to conduct an interview and ask questions to help you understand the other person's character better. We all know a little bit about each character already from playing 'The Nutcracker' level in the app, and from hearing the story of 'The Nutcracker'. But we don't know everything yet. Try to put yourself in your character's shoes and imagine how they might respond to the questions. If you don't know the answer to a question, try to come up with an answer. It's important that the person interviewing takes note of the answers the other person gives. In each group, chose who will be doing the interview first and then swap roles.”
Tip
Either read the questions out loud to the class, waiting for children to inteview their partner after each question, or use a screen/projector to project the following questions on the board.
Questions
- What's your name?
- How old are you?
- What is your special quality?
- Do you have a weakness?
- What makes you angry or sad?
- What makes you particularly happy?
- What do you want to be when you are older?
- What's your favorite place in the story of the Nutcracker?
- Who is your best friend?
- If you could influence the story, is there anything you would like to change?
Activity 3
Presentation
Whole class
15 min.
Teacher:
“Everyone will now introduce their partner's character to the class. In order to do this, put yourself in your partner's character's shoe and, using the first person, tell the class what your partner told you about their character. Who would like to start?”
Example
Pair: Clara and Fritz
The child who was Clara in the interview now pretends to be Fritz and, using the first person, tells the group: “Hello everyone. I'm Fritz. I'm seven years old. I am an energetic child, but also often mischievous... I sometimes get very angry... etc."
The child who was Fritz in the interview now pretends to be Clara and says: "Hello everyone. I'm Clara and I'm eight years old. I'm a very nice person and I like to help others. I'm very sad when my toys break... etc."
If there's still time...
… children can take a physical break (e.g. 15 jumping jacks, 10 squats, etc.).
Skills learned in this lesson:
Students...
... internalise the attributes of the main characters in 'The Nutcracker' story.
... practice putting themselves in a character's shoes and imagine realistic attributes for their character by answering a specific set of questions.
... actively listen and present the information received orally.