My beginning form lesson with first grade involves teaching them one of my personal favorite songs from Music K-8, "Presto, Largo". I have the kids act out what each animal is doing on the screen--and they love crawling on the ground like the bunny. What works really well about this song is that it has two distinct sections, the presto section (A) and largo section (B). They very quickly understand that our song is ABABA form. Boom! Let's kick it up a notch.
Introducing, the finale from the William Tell Overture. Okay, it's kicked up a whole lot of notches, and even though the kids are overwhelmed at first, when assisting them in breaking it down, they realize the song is more manageable than they think (especially when you add really goofy choreography to the different sections). Then, as I saw multiple examples on Youtube, I was able to add in rhythm sticks to the choreography, of which the kids loved. Here is one of my first grade classes (and life-skills kids included!) taking a crack at the William Tell Overture Finale.
