One Cold and Frosty Morning

Perhaps I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but I really want to help you be prepared for the week after Thanksgiving break. For those who’ve already celebrated Thanksgiving (*waves to Canadian neighbors*) or those who are gearing up for holiday breaks, I’d love to share some ideas with you to make the following weeks a bit easier.

Today’s lesson idea centers around the song One Cold and Frosty Morning. I created a resource for this song about a year ago, which you can find here. The chords are simple enough to be played with a beginning ukulele class. It would also be great to use with a bordun accompaniment on Orff instruments, which is what I’ll be focusing on today.

Movement Activity – Learning the Song

I love beginning lessons with simple movements, so that students can internalize the song effortlessly as they perform the actions. There is no traditional dance or game associated with this song that I know of, so I decided to create one!

• Split students into a few large groups (makes movements easier later on).
• Begin with students shoulder to shoulder in a circle holding hands (teacher sings the song).
• “just as the sun did rise”- students stretch their circle out slowly (not breaking hands).
• “he drew himself up in a knot with his knees up to his chin”- students break hands and sit down on the floor with their knees up to their chin (just like the song).
• “when he stretched out again”- students lay down on their backs with their legs stretched out, and sing the final phrase on the floor.

I’ve always found these kinds of movements, in which students must gather in and then spread out, to elicit the most laughter. And that’s the aim! After they’ve performed the movements a few times through, encourage them to sing the last phrase without you. Then, continue letting them take over singing on specific phrases until they’re singing the whole song independently.

Bordun Accompaniment + Free Visuals

Pull out your Orff instruments and set them up for the bordun accompaniment of your choice. If it were me, I would most likely start with a simple bordun using C and G and instruct students to play on the steady beat. The final phrase is the trickiest, so you might try having students play the accompaniment only up until the final phrase.

Download and project the visuals below onto your interactive whiteboard. A big thanks to Dancing Crayon Designs for the wonderful clipart!

Structured Rotation

Once students know the song, try putting it all together in a structured rotation that allows all students to sing, play, and dance without getting bored.

• Break students into three groups (players, singers, and dancers).
• Sing the song through at least three times to give all students a chance to sing, play, and dance.

I hope these ideas will prove helpful to you in the coming months ahead. If you’re looking for even more resources for this song, check out this Guided Lesson for Orff Instruments.