A spring classic for the elementary classroom is Vivaldi’s Spring from The Seasons. Are you looking for this classic taught with ACTIVE music-making?
This resource with lots of movement teaches students to play and sing (new Spring lyrics) the main theme to Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto with Orff barred instrument ostinati, AND a recreation of the thunderstorm using instruments.
Vivaldi’s Spring Orff Arrangement
Playing, Moving, and Creating
- PLAYING this famous theme, not just LISTENING to it
- The “B section” thunderstorm is SO fun
- Learning with speech and movement
- Differentiated with the use of colors, images, and stepwise learning
- An ARTS Integration activity-draw a picture! (see art activity below)
- Teacher helpers with
- higher-order questions
- “I Can” statements
- a pre-filled checklist that can go into your evaluation folder
- “I Can” statements
- higher-order questions
Resource Reviews
Visualizing Vivaldi: A Spring Listening & Art Activity
Now it’s time to draw the imagery the music creates! This is one of my favorite lessons because it extends and complements playing and learning the music, plus it becomes a magnificent bulletin board, “Vivaldi’s Spring: When Music Paints a Picture.”
Connecting Music and Imagination
After reading and discussing the poetic inspiration behind Vivaldi’s Spring—a happy spring day with birds, brooks, and a sudden thunderstorm—we listened to the piece and brought the imagery to life through student drawings.
- Each student received half of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper to work on. We listened to Spring several times as students pencil sketched their ideas.
- Next came the coloring stage with crayons. I encouraged students to *color thoroughly, leaving no white spaces.
They could only use white if they asked permission and explained why it needed to be white. We looked at lots of images of clouds and skies to determine that there really isn’t that much white around. - To finish, students **outlined their drawings with black felt-tip markers or Sharpies to make their images pop and stand out visually. This outlining step gave the artwork a polished, vivid quality and tied it together beautifully.
*This was to discourage getting done quickly and scribbling. It works.
**I learned this from a brilliant elementary art teacher. It makes a world of difference in the final product.
Sharing Our Work
Once the drawings were complete, we got in a circle with our finished artwork. We slowly walked around the circle to view all the creations. This reflective, gallery-style walk encouraged conversation, observation, and appreciation of how music can “look” different to each of us.
A Bulletin Board That Pops
I collected the drawings and created a classroom display, Vivaldi’s Spring: “When Music Paints a Picture.” Other fun option might be “What Vivaldi’s Spring Looks Like” or “If You Could See the Music…”. I also included the relevant national standards:
MU:Re8.1.3a
Demonstrate and describe how a response to music can be informed by the structure, the use of the elements of music, and context (such as personal and social).
MU:Cn11.0.3a
Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.
This visual display not only celebrated student creativity but also reinforced listening skills and expressive interpretation. These are core elements of any well-rounded music program.
More Spring Songs & Activities
- I Love the Mountains-round with Orff arrangement.
- Parachute Games & Activities-for inside or take it outside!
- Whether the Weather-perfect for spring (although my poor dog hates thunderstorms!) with this classic rhyme with multi-lesson resource using barred instruments.
- 🌼 For more ideas, use the search bar at the top right of every page! Or the dropdown category search below it.
