Introduction to Mozart: Ideas for Young Elementary Learners

I always love celebrating Mozart in my classroom, especially since his birthday falls several days after mine! I have gathered some resources that I would love to share in this blog post, which could help you introduce Mozart to your students. I have used these books and videos with students from PreK up to 2nd grade. Feel free to use and adapt these materials in the best way for your classroom.

Play Mozart Play by Peter Sis 

I like this book for the pictures, which are very attractive for younger learners and just enough text to convey the story. I usually start with this book as an introduction to the composer. I like to then play the variations for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and have them listen to the original and the variations while keeping a steady beat. 
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The Story Orchestra: The Magic Flute by Katy Flint 

The next book that I like to use is The Magic Flute, as a great example of an interactive book that tells the story through words and sound, that my students really love! This is one of many books in The Story Orchestra series. It does a great job of telling the story of The Magic Flute, and showcasing highlights from the opera. The book has a button you can press on each page to hear a highlight from that particular section of the opera, which matches with the story.

Videos

After I have read those two books and we have done the listening, depending on the grade level, I like to show a history of Mozart’s life which can be found here.

If I am working with particularly young learners, I like to play this clip of a cartoon version of the Rondo Alla Turca, which features several different instruments. It is funny and I use this opportunity to ask my students the names of all of the different instruments that are in the video. 

Scarves

My final activity is this movement activity, courtesy of Mikaela Sammond. She created this wonderful scarf activity to one of Mozart’s many menuets. In this video, she gives very clear directions on what to do during different sections of the music, which can then be used to explore form in music with the older students. I love to do this as the final activity in the lesson on Mozart. Students get to move and play with colorful scarves as the culminating activity.

I hope this was helpful to you and you can use some of this in your teaching.

Best,

Polina 

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