I.

Peter and the Wolf/Sergei Prokofiev (Elementary students)

Objective: Students will learn to identify the different instruments
of the orchestra as each character in the musical fairy tale, Peter
and the Wolf, by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, is played by
a different instrument. Identifying orchestra instruments is part of
our first grade curriculum. Our music teacher and I teamed up and
planned for this activity, which she did with all first grade classes
during the time we were doing fairy tales with Baba Yaga in the
library! Students were shown the different instrument groups,
which were color coded on poster-size pictures: strings, brass,
percussion, and woodwinds. Individual handouts show the
instruments in those groups and the characters in Peter and the
Wolf. After reading the story, discussing, and listening to the
instruments in the recording of Peter and the Wolf, the students
identified the instruments of the orchestra that were representing
each character in the story. Then they matched the instrument to
its group (strings/brass/percussion/woodwinds.)
Resources: Sergei Prokofiev’s story & music, Peter and the Wolf,
with a fully orchestrated & narrated CD, illustrated by Peter
Malone. Recording by the Cincinnati Pops under the direction of
Erich Kunzel. Narration by Peter A. Thomas. Published by Alfred
A. Knopf: New York, 2004. ISBN0-375-82430-8
(see attached pictures for5 activity sheets, plus one photo of our
music teacher with the posters of the instrument groups behind
her!)