Touchdown: Steady Beat & Math Movement Activity - MakingMusicFun.net

Music Lesson Plan

Step 1
Hook your students by asking, "Who wants to play a game?" Introduce the game Touchdown. Explain that to play, they’ll need to listen to the music and touch a certain number of "points" (body parts) to the floor to answer a math problem.

Step 2
Practice the musical element first. Explain that as they move, they must march to a steady beat. Use a drum to play different tempos—sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Have the students stand up and march around the room, matching their feet to your drum beat. Try a few different speeds to make sure they're locked in!

Step 3
Explain the math rules. Tell the students, "When the drum stops, I’ll give you a math problem. You have to say the answer out loud and then touch that many body parts to the floor."

Demonstrate. If the answer is 4 (2 + 2 = 4), students can touch two feet and two hands to the floor. If the answer is 10 (3 + 7 = 10), touch 10 body parts to the floor. They might use two feet, two elbows, and six fingers to reach ten points of contact. Encourage creativity!

Step 4
Start the game! Have everyone stand up and march to the drum for 12-16 beats. Stop the drum suddenly and call out a math fact. Wait for them to shout the answer and "touch down," then start the beat again.

Step 5
Keep the energy high for about 7-8 rounds. For the final round, give them a trick question: 0 + 0! It’s hilarious to see how they try to "touch down" zero points. If they get stuck, show them how to jump in the air so nothing is touching the floor.

If their classroom teacher arrives during the game, ask the students if they’d like to see if their teacher knows their math facts, too!