Take your class on a journey through the solar system and hear Gustav Holst’s magnificent suite The Planets. In each lesson, we stop at a planet and explore its music. From the Star Wars-like Mars, to the mysterious Neptune, your students will gain a greater appreciation of classical music. These lessons were designed specifically for distance learning.

Your students will:

• learn about Gustav Holst and this suite.
• see stunning images of the planets and learn interesting facts about the featured planet.
• study how the composer manipulates music elements to create moods.
• listen to each movement and take a quiz on each.
• use higher-order thinking to analyze and evaluate the movements.
• watch an informative video in each lesson about the movement.
• do a fun worksheet for each movement.

Each movement provides opportunities to learn, review, and practice music concepts:

• Mars, the Bringer of War: Dynamics, triplet, ostinato
• Venus, the Bringer of Peace: Tempo, legato
• Mercury, the Winged Messenger: Upward/downward pitch, crescendo/decrescendo
• Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity: Theme
• Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age: Beat, pizzicato
• Uranus, the Magician: Staccato
• Neptune, the Mystic: Measure, time signature

Google Account: A Google account for you and your students is required. Also needed is Google Classroom or another lesson management system that accepts Google files.

Editability: Slideshows, lesson plans, and quizzes are editable.

Differentiation: Incorporated in lessons. Two quiz versions are provided, varying in complexity.

Each lesson has the following contents:

• Slideshow about Gustav Holst and The Planets (Google Slides™)
• Slideshow about the movement (Google Slides™)
• Two quizzes of differing complexity (Google Forms™)
• Worksheet (PDF)
• Lesson plan (Google Docs™)
• Essential Questions and “I Can” statements
• Link to video about the movement
• Teacher’s Guide (PDF)

U.S. National Standards Alignment (4th grade shown):

• MU:Re7.2.4a: Demonstrate and explain how responses to music are informed by the structure, the use of the elements of music, and context (such as social and cultural).
• MU:Re8.1.4a: Demonstrate and explain how the expressive qualities (such as dynamics, tempo, and timbre) are used in performers’ and personal interpretations to reflect expressive intent.
• MU:Re9.1.4a: Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, and explain appropriateness to the context.
• MU:Pr4.2.4a: Demonstrate understanding of the structure and the elements of music (such as rhythm, pitch, and form) in music selected for performance.
• MU:Pr4.2.4b: When analyzing selected music, read and perform using iconic and/or standard notation.

A ViewPure link of each movement is provided, though there are many online recordings from which to choose.

Some files are in PDF format. If you do not have the latest Adobe Acrobat, you can download it here.