Pumpkin Stew

October is the perfect month to teach this lesson. The objective in music is playing an ascending melodic pattern with steps and skips. The objective in “reading” is reading the ingredients that the children decide to put into their “pumpkin stew.” I use a Halloween cauldron and index cards. The students make suggestions for ingredients that are written on an index card and put into the cauldron. Someone stirs while we play “pumpkin stew.” D F G (pumpkin stew), D F G (pumpkin stew) then tap on rhythm sticks. What (ta) shall we (ti-ti) put (ta) in the (ti-ti) pumpkin stew (ta, ta ta rest. ) Every time an ingredient is added, we chop it up with our rhythm sticks to the following rhyme Chop, chop, chippity, chop. Cut off the bottom and cut off the top. What we have left we put in the pot. Chop, chop, chippity, chop. At the end of the lesson, I pull the cards out of the cauldron and randomly call on students to read the ingredient. Have fun!