Who Has Seen the Wind?

There are some songs I use in my elementary music lessons that can be used for so many different music concepts that I end up using them in multiple lessons with multiple grade levels, and "Who Has Seen the Wind" is one of them! I can't say I use it in every grade every year- I think my older students' eyes would roll higher than the sky if I did that to them- but I have used it in different grades over the years so many different ways and it has honestly been equally effective every time, so today I'm compiling all of the ways I've used this song in one place.

If you aren't familiar with the song, it is based on a poem by Christina Rossetti. I'm not sure who wrote the melody but I found the hauntingly simple song originally from The Yellow Brick Road- listen to her recording here and see some of her other great lesson ideas and resources for the song in her blog post here.

Early Childhood

I have used the song most often with Kindergarten. I add some simple hand motions to the first verse and teach them the song, then have them play along with the steady beat on egg shakers, then use it as a way to introduce xylophone playing by having them play on the steady beat on D and A. To make it even more magical I have some students play other instruments with windy sounding timbres, like ocean drums, wind chimes, rain sticks, ratchets, and finger cymbals, and have students rotate through the parts. 

One new addition to that lesson plan this year was the song, "Blowing In the Wind" by Stephanie Leavell from Music for Kiddos. It goes perfectly with the song and is a great movement activity after having young students sitting still and concentrating on playing instruments and singing at the same time! 

2nd Grade

I introduce half notes in 2nd grade and this song is an easy one to teach quickly and have students aurally identify the half notes in the melody at the end of each phrase. I also have students practice performing half notes on instruments by showing them how to play sustained notes on metallophones and having them play a half note bordun on D and A with the song.

3rd Grade

The melody of this song uses low E, G, A, and B, with the notes going up and down the scale, so it's perfect for recorders when students are working on those notes! I always start with G, then low E, and add A and B, and this one has been a great option for when we first put those 4 notes together because the melody doesn't skip around. You can read details about how and why I start on G/E in this blog post.

Upper Elementary

Believe it or not I just used this song with 5th grade last week! I like to pull out some of these short and simple songs that I typically use more with younger students as a quick way to review or introduce a specific musical element or concept in a succinct, clear way. In this case I use it as an example of minor tonality- I have students identify the tonality after singing it, then I use it to discuss how tonality can impact the message or mood of the music, and we talk about why the composer might have chosen minor to go with the poem's words. Then I use it as a way to get students thinking about other expressive elements that help communicate the mood or message of the song by experimenting with different dynamics, tempi, and articulations and picking the ones they think best fit the song.

If you haven't used this song in your elementary music lessons yet, I hope you'll try it out! It's such a simple song but works so well in every grade I've used it. Have more ideas for using this song as a teaching tool? I'd love to hear more lesson ideas in the comments below!