Looking for a fresh and engaging way to teach half note in your elementary music classroom? Let Us Chase the Squirrel is one of my favorite fall folk songs to use during the back-to-school season. It’s playful, rhythmic, and packed with opportunities for movement, singing, literacy, and instrument play. Today, I’m sharing exactly how I implement this lesson in my own classroom using my Folk Song Expansion Pack: Let Us Chase the Squirrel, available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
This folk song lesson is a hit every year with my students, and I’m excited to walk you through how I break it down across four days of instruction.
Day 1 – Sing, Move, and Play the Game
Start the lesson by capturing your students’ imaginations with a storytelling hook. I use the “1 Squirrel Story” slides included in the resource to introduce the song and characters.
The Story:
Once upon a time, there lived a granny and her cats in a cozy little cottage by the woods. Granny loved to bake pies—cherry, pumpkin, lemon, apple, and blueberry—and would place them on her windowsill to cool. But the delicious scent attracted some sneaky visitors… the squirrels in the hick’ry trees nearby! As Granny sang, her cats chased the squirrels around the trees. Can your students be the squirrels who don’t get caught?
Game Materials:
- Velcro dots, hula hoops, or colored spots (matching pie colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue)
- Printable pies (included in the pack)
- Bag or basket to draw pies from
How to Play:
- Students sing the song while walking around the room.
- When the song ends, they stand on the color of the pie they “want to sneak a bite of.”
- You pull a pie out of the bag—whoever is on that color is out!
- That color is now eliminated.
- Continue until only one pie/color remains. The students who chose the final pie are the winners!
This is a great way to build excitement, community, and rhythm practice all in one activity.
Day 2 – Discover the Half Note
Now that the students are familiar with the song, it’s time to explore its rhythmic foundation. I guide students through a rhythm discovery process using the visuals and slides included in the pack.
Key Activities:
- Echo sing the song in phrases
- Tap the steady beat
- Identify icons (acorns for steady beat, pies for eighth notes, squirrel for quarter notes)
- Discover the half note using visual and aural clues
- Clap and speak the full rhythm of the song
This is the perfect way to introduce or reinforce the concept of half note in a meaningful, contextualized way.
Day 3 – Rhythmic Literacy: Put the Song in Order
Day three focuses on music literacy through rhythm sequencing.
Three Levels of Differentiation:
- Level 1: Match rhythm strips under each word phrase
- Level 2: Sequence the song using 4-beat rhythm cards
- Level 3: Use individual rhythm icons to recreate the full song under the lyrics
Whether you’re working with 2nd graders or upper elementary, there’s a level that fits your learners. This activity really supports those developing skills in decoding and matching rhythms.
Day 4 – Add Instruments and Movement
On the final day, bring the song to life with instruments and expressive movement!
Movement Cues:
- Two pats on “squirrel”
- Hand slide for “hick’ry” and “tree” (longer slide for the half note on “tree”)
- Pretend mallet glissando movements (up = right, down = left)
Instruments to Use:
- Woodblock
- Glockenspiel
- Sandblocks
Rotate instrument parts so that each student has a chance to play every role. This is a fantastic opportunity for ensemble practice, musical expression, and rhythm application.
Grab the Complete “Let Us Chase the Squirrel” Resource!
If you’re ready to bring this folk song to life in your classroom, you’ll love my Folk Song Expansion Pack: Let Us Chase the Squirrel. It includes:
- Story slides
- Game visuals and printable pies
- Rhythm discovery slides
- Differentiated sequencing cards
- Instrument parts
- Editable options for customization
🎉 Check it out here in my Teachers Pay Teachers store >>
This pack makes it easy to plan four engaging, standards-based music lessons with little prep on your end. Your students will be singing, moving, and learning rhythm skills all while chasing some very sneaky squirrels.
Happy Teaching!
