recorder song for black history month

Black History Month: Won’t You Sit Down

This week, I want to share with you a new song that I am doing with my fourth graders this year for Black History Month. It’s a spiritual called Won’t You Sit Down. I love it because you can do song much with it and it is very accessible for recorders.

Won’t You Sit Down

Won't You Sit Down song

Learn Call and Response

First thing we do is learn the song and have students sing the response. It’s a really simple one, so it doesn’t take long. I usually have everyone (teacher and students) sing the last sentence – “just got to heaven gonna look around.”

Teach Response on Recorder

Next, have students learn the response on recorder. It used just B, A and G, so it works great on the recorder!

Teach the Call on Recorder

The call part goes into low D and E, so this can be a great way to differentiate instruction. Give your advanced kids the call and the other students can do the response.

Add Improvisation

The verses are just on B and G. This is a super safe take off point for students to do some improvisation. Then have the rest of the class do the response during the verses.

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Hi, I'm Erin!

I am an elementary music teacher, blogger and mom on a mission to make teaching and lesson planning easier for you. When I’m not working, you can find me at home enjoying life with my husband, daughter and two cats.

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