Ring in the New Year with these lesson plans all about bells! Christmas break is just a few weeks away and will go by swiftly. Be prepared for the classroom or rehearsal on January 2nd with these easy to teach lessons that will resonate!
For centuries, bells have played a major role in the lives of people around the globe. They were used to chase away evil spirits and yet, they also rang to center one’s own inner self. We hear bells to sound an alarm but also to gather us into communities. Peals ring at joyful times such as weddings and also, mourn those we have lost. Bells come in all shapes and sizes and continually reverberate in our lives.
At ChimeWorks, we have created the following lesson plans to celebrate the joy of ringing. Surely, bells are worth singing about!
All of the lesson plans below are available for immediate purchase and digital download with license to copy as much as needed:
Frère Jacques is a traditional French nursery rhyme. This song is about a monk who has overslept and is urged to wake up and sound the bells for the matins, the midnight or very early morning prayers for which a monk would be expected to wake.
- Use: Secular
- Level: K – 2, 3 – 6
- Type: Ostinati
- Canon: Yes
- Topic: Bells
- Language: English, French
- Origin: France
- Use: Secular
- Level: K – 2
- Type: Icons
- Canon: Yes
- Topic: Bells, Nursery Rhyme
- Language: English, French
- Origin: France
Great Tom Is Cast is an English round traditionally sung in three parts. It tells the story of the completion of the great bell of Christ Church, Oxford. The great bells in England are given names. “Tom” is the name of the great bell of Christ Church. The bell tower is also known as “Tom Tower”.
- Use: Secular
- Level: K – 2, 3 – 6
- Type: Ostinati
- Canon: Yes
- Topic: Bells
- Language: English
- Origin: England
Oh, How Lovely is a German round traditionally sung in three parts. It was brought to the United States during the early 19th century.
- Use: Secular
- Level: 3 – 6
- Type: Ostinati
- Canon:Y es
- Topic: Bells, Evening
- Language: English
- Origin: Germany
St. Paul’s Steeple is a traditional English folk song dating from the mid-17th century.
- Use: Secular
- Level: K – 2
- Type: Scales
- Topic: Bells
- Language: English
- Origin: England
The Bell Doth Toll is a three-part canon taken from the Twice 55 Song Collection published in 1918. Its origin is anonymous.
- Use: Secular
- Level: 3 – 6
- Type: Ostinati
- Canon: Yes
- Topic: Bells
- Language: English
- Origin: England
Oseney Abbey, once located in Oxford, was founded as an Augustinian priory in 1129, becoming an abbey around 1154. It was dissolved in 1539 but was created a cathedral at that time. It was one of the four renowned monastic houses of medieval Oxford. It no longer stands. The Tenor bell is the largest, heaviest and lowest sounding pitch in a peal of bells.
- Use: Secular
- Level: K – 2, 3 – 6
- Type: Ostinati
- Canon: Yes
- Topic: Bells
- Language: English
- Origin: England