Peter and the Wolf (short bio and worksheet)

Introduce your students to Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev who is famous for his symphony Peter and the Wolf. Written especially for children, it tells the story of a little boy, Peter, who saves a bird. Characters are represented by various instruments as a narrator guides the listener through a musical story. A delightful story, it also serves as a beautiful introduction to classical music and the types of instruments in an orchestra.

For older students this is an opportunity to discuss who Sergei Prokofiev was and his contribution to opera and symphonies. For example, A Tale of a Real Man was banned by Stalin for political reasons...research why.

TIP: Locate Peter and the Wolf on youTube (a video or better yet, a recorded copy/vinyl copy without any dialog and let the music narrate the story for your students) and present it to your class after teaching your students about orchestra instruments to include (but don't tell your students until the end!)

• Peter by the Strings.
• The Bird by the Flute.
• The Duck by the Oboe.
• The Cat by the Clarinet.
• The Grandfather by the Bassoon.
• The Wolf by the French Horns.
• The Hunters by the Timpani (or Kettle Drums)

The second sheet has students using pencil and paper identify the instruments which represent each character from the symphony Peter and the Wolf. Draw lines from the character in Column A to the instruments in Column B.