Leaves in the Fall Songs

Leaves are Falling  Sung to "Are you sleeping?"

Red leaves falling, Red leaves falling   (wiggle fingers down to the ground)

On the ground, on the ground   (Hit floor 3 times)Autumn time is coming, autumn time is coming   (Clap 3 times)All around, all around   (Spread arms around in circle)

Substitute Red for the fall colors: Orange, yellow, brown.

Idea #1: You can cut out leaves from paper and pretend they are falling

Idea #2: Use scarves to pretend with as you sing about the leaves falling

Idea #3: Have leaves cut out and spread out on the floor or table. Tell the children they have to find the leaf you sing about it the song


Leaves are Falling  Sung to “Jingle Bells”

Leaves are falling, Leaves are falling

One fell on my nose

Leaves are falling, Leaves are falling

One fell on my toes

Leaves are falling, Leaves are falling

One fell on my head

Leaves are falling, Leaves are falling

Yellow, orange and red

This is the way Sung to “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”

This is the way we rake the leaves, rake the leaves, rake the leaves

This is the way we rake the leaves at Autumn time

Throw the leaves

Jump in the leaves

Five little leaves

Five little leaves in the autumn breeze

Tumbled and fluttered down from the trees

The 1st leaf said “I am red

I shall rest in a flower bed”

The 2nd leaf said “I am yellow

I’m a happy-go-lucky fellow”

The 3rd leaf said “I am green

I change color so you shall see”

The 4th leaf said “Orange am I

Brightly colored I will fly”

The 5th leaf said “I am brown

I shall blow all over town”

The leaves on the trees Sung to “The Wheels on the Bus”

The leaves on the trees are changing colors

Changing colors, changing colors

The leaves on the trees are changing colors

All around town

The wind makes the leaves go “Swish,swish, swish”

Then the leaves come tumbling down

The leaves on the ground make a crackling sound

We’ll rake them up into a pile

It Must Be Autumn  Sung to “When the Saints go Marching In”

Oh, when the leaves fall off the trees

Oh, when the leaves fall off the trees

We know it must be autumn

When the leaves fall off the trees

When the wind begins to blow

When the leaves are changing colors

When the squirrel gathers his food

When there’s a chill out in the air

When we put our jackets on

Recommended Reading

1. Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

2. Why do leaves change colors? by Betsy Maestro

3. When the leaf blew in by Steve Metzger

4. Leaves by David Ezra Stein

Candy Match Up

Here is a fun worksheet for primer levels that have students match the notes to the missing letters.  Download to print, for some reason it is not linking up right to print straight from this page.

Apple Songs

She’ll be coming round the mountain

She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes 
(YeeHaw) punch fist

She’ll be bringing big red apples when she comes 
(Oh ,boy) hands on face

She’ll be peeling big red apples when she comes 
(Ch, ch) brush hands together

She’ll be cooking big red apples when comes 
(Put em in a pot) pat legs

She’ll be making apple jelly when she comes 
(yum ,yum) rub tummy

Shake, shake the apple tree

Shake, shake the apple tree, apples red and rosy

Shake, shake the apple tree, apples red and rosy

Apples green and yummy

Apples yellow and sunny

Use shakers with this song

Five Red Apples Sung to: "This Old Man"

Way up high, in a tree (raise hands over head)
Five red apples smiled at me (smile)
So I shook that tree as har-r-d as I could (Pretend to shake tree)
Down came the apple, Ummm, it was good!!!! (Rub tummy)

Have students hold apples and countdown the apples as they fall

Five little apples

Five little apples hanging in a tree,

Teasing Mr. Slinky worm can't eat me,

Along comes Mr. Slinky worm quiet as can be...

and...CRUNCH!

He ate that apple right out of the tree.

Have students hold apples and countdown the apples as they fall

"1 little 2 little 3 little Apples"
(to the tune: 1 little 2 little 3 little Indians) 

1 little 2 little 3 little apples,
4 little 5 little 6 little apples,
7 little 8 little 9 little apples, on my apple tree.

Munch little, munch little, munch little apples
Crunch little, crunch little, crunch little apples
Bunch of little, bunch of little, bunch of little apples,
Good for you and me!

Count backwards

Apple Sauce (Sung to Peanut Butter and Jelly)

Apple, Apple Sauce Yum

Apple, Apple Sauce Yum

First you take an apple
And you skin it You skin it
And you skin it

Apple, Apple Sauce Yum
Apple, Apple Sauce Yum

Then you take the apple
And you chop it You chop it
And you chop it

Apple, Apple Sauce Yum
Apple, Apple Sauce Yum

Then you take the apple

And you squish it You squish it
And you squish it

Apple, Apple Sauce Yum
Apple, Apple Sauce Yum

Then you take the sauce
And you eat it You eat it
And you eat it

Apple, Apple Sauce Yum
Apple, Apple Sauce Yum

Five Red Apples

Five red apples hanging in a tree (Hold up five fingers)
The juiciest apples you ever did see.
The wind came by and gave an angry frown (Fingers flutter downward)
And one little apple came tumbling down (One finger falls)
Four red apples, hanging in a tree, etc.

All Around The Apple Tree Sung to: "Mulberry Bush"

Here we go round the apple tree, the apple tree, the apple tree
Here we go around the apple tree
On a frosty morning.
This is the way we climb the ladder
-pick the apples
-wash the apples
-peel the apples
-cook the apples

Ten Red Apples 

(Both hands high) Ten red apples grow on a tree
(Dangle one hand and then the other) Five for you and five for me.
(Shake body) Let us shake the tree just so
(Hands fall) And ten red apples will fall below
(Count ea. finger) 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.

Apple On A Stick

Apple on a stick, apple on a stick
I can lick it all day and not get sick.
Apple in a cup, apple in a cup
I can drink it all day and not fill up.
Apple in a crunch, apple in a crunch
I can eat it all day, it is so good to munch
Apple in a cake, apple in a cake
I can eat it all day with no tummy ache
Apple in a pie, apple in a pie
I can eat it all day and never cry.
Apple in a dish, apple in a dish
I can eat it all day, it's so delish!

A Wiggly Worm  Sung to: "Boom! Boom! Ain't It Great to Be Crazy?"

Chorus:
Yum! Yum! Don't you know I love apples?
Yum! Yum! Don't you know I love apples?
Red and green and yellow, too…
Yum! Yum! Don't you know I love apples?

Verse 1
Way up high in an apple tree, I saw two eyes look at me.
I reached for an apple; it started to squirm…oops! I found a wiggly worm!

Chorus

Verse 2
That wiggly worm is a friend of mine. We eat apples all the time.
I let him crawl back to that tree… hey! I see that worm looking at me!

Chorus

Apple Sung to: "Bingo"

I know a fruit that grows on trees,
An apple is its name, oh!

(Chorus)
A. P. P. L. E.
A. P. P. L. E.
A. P. P. L. E.
An apple is its name, oh!

In summer and in early fall
It's time to pick an apple!
Chorus

It may be sweet or may be tart,
It's red, or green, or yellow!
Chorus

A McIntosh or Granny Smith,
A Winesap or Delicious!
Chorus

Make applesauce or apple juice
Or apple pie with apples!
Chorus

Take away a letter from the chorus each time, clapping instead of saying the letter:

 X P P L E,  X X P L E, X X X L E, X X X X E, X X X X X

Wiggly Worm Game

Wiggly Worm Game: Students take turns 

Identifying the apple card.  If they identify it correctly

they get to keep the card.  When they draw a wiggly

worm card, they get to take a card from the another

player, but they must identify the card first.  If they 

cannot identify the card they must give it back.  

Play continues until all the card are gone.  Whoever

has the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Apple Keyboard Flashcards

Apple Staff Flashcards

Apple Keys Flashcards

Nursery Rhymes

To Rhyming Land We Go! Sung to: " Farmer in the Dell"

To Rhyming Land we go,

To Rhyming Land we go!
High-ho the derry-o,
To Rhyming Land we go!

Continue singing the song substituting the following verses:

King Cole wears a crown

Jack and Jill fall down

High-ho the derry-o

Crown rhymes with down

V. 4: Bo-Peep has lost her sheep.
V. 5: Boy Blue is fast asleep.
V. 6: The cat can play a tune.
V. 7: The cow jumps over the moon.
V. 8: A star shines in the sky.
V. 9: And now we'll say good-bye!

Humpty Dumpty Sung to the tune of 10 green bottles.

5 Humpty Dumpty's sitting on a wall
5 Humpty Dumpty's sitting on a wall
And if one Humpty Dumpty should accidentally fall....
CRACK! There'll be 4 Humpty Dumpty's sitting on a wall....

Repeat until there are no eggs left

Humpty Dumpty 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. (Extend arms in a circle.) 

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. (Pretend to drop something.) 

All the king’s horses, 

And all the king’s men, 

Couldn’t put Humpty (Shake head “no.”) 

Together again. (Hold palms up.) 

Activities:  Make up additional verses with other body parts.  For example:  “Humpty 

Dumpty sat on a peg.  Humpty Dumpty fell on his leg.”  Bed – head; farm – arm; rose – 

toes; nest – chest; tack – back; pie – eye, etc/ 

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory Dickory Dock.

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The bird looked at the clock,
The clock struck two 2,
Away she flew,
Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The dog barked at the clock,
The clock struck three 3,
Fiddle-de-dee,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The bear slept by the clock,
The clock struck four 4,
He ran out the door,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The bee buzzed round the clock,
The clock struck five 5,
She went to her hive,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The hen pecked at the clock,
The clock struck six 6,
Oh, fiddle-sticks,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The cat ran round the clock,
The clock struck seven 7,
She wanted to get 'em,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The horse jumped over the clock,
The clock struck eight 8,
He ate some cake,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The cow danced on the clock,
The clock struck nine 9,
She felt so fine,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The pig oinked at the clock,
The clock struck ten 10,
She did it again,
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The duck quacked at the clock
The clock struck eleven 11,
The duck said 'oh heavens!'
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck noon
He's here too soon!
Hickory Dickory Dock!

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory, Dickory, Dock (clap w/ each word) 

The mouse ran up the clock (L arm straight up & run R fingers up L arm) 

The clock struck 1 (over head, clap hands together once loudly over head) 

The mouse ran down (R fingers run down L arm while saying words) 

Hickory, Dickory, Dock (clap w/ each word)

Hickory, Dickory, Dock (repeat hand motions) 

The mouse ran up the clock (repeat hand motions) 

The clock stuck 2 (clap twice) 

The mouse said, "BOO!" (say loudly with hands cupped around mouth...or what ever movement you choose) 

Hickory, Dickory, Dock (repeat hand motions)

Hickory, Dickory, Dock (repeat hand motions) 

The mouse ran up the clock (repeat hand motions) 

The clock struck 3 (clap three times) The mouse went Whee! (slide R fingers down L arm fast while saying words) Hickory, Dickory, Dock (repeat hand motions)

The children enjoy the "BOO" and Whee! parts.

Itsy Bitsy Spider 

The itsy bitsy spider

Climbed up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

And the itsy bitsy spider

Went up the spout again

Substitute 'itsy bitsy' with emotions: the sad little spider (sing in a sad voice), the scared little spider (frightened voice), the shy little spider (soft voice) , the happy little spider (giggly voice) the proud little spider (opera voice) mad little spider (loud voice)

Nursery Rhyme Rap (Tune:  “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”) 

Jack and Jill went up the hill (Clap hands.) 

To fetch a pail of water. 

Jack fell down and broke his crown, 

And Jill came tumbling after. 

Chorus: 

A B C D E F G (Cross over touching right hand 

H I J K L to left knee, then left hand to right 

M N O P knee.) 

Q R S 

T U V W X Y Z 

Use other nursery rhymes: Humpty Dumpty…Little Miss Muffet…Hey, Diddle, Diddle…Little Boy Blue… 

Hickory  Dickory Dock 

Rhythm Labels for Level One

Here are some rhythm exercises that correlate with the Faber Level 1 Lesson Book.

Labels Level 1 Rhythm Exercise  

Teaching the White Keys

I use the story of two houses to teach the names of the white keys.  There is the big house of the three black keys and the little house, which is the dog house.  As we learn more keys we find out that the big house is Grandma's house (G) and she loves to make things with apples (A).  The F and B are the front door and the back door.  Beside the dog lives a Cat (C) and Elephant (E).

Here are some worksheets I use to introduce the concept.


Google Doc Link: Name of the White Keys Worksheet
Name of the White Keys

Numbers and Counting

Numbers March Right In! Sung to: "When the Saints Go Marching In"

Oh, When the numbers march right in,
Oh, when the numbers march right in.
We will count them one by one,
When the numbers march right in.
Oh, one-two-three, Four and five

Now backward, five, four, three, two, one

Oh here comes one, Oh here comes one

Here comes the number one

We have one nose and one mouth

Oh here comes the number one

Oh here comes two, Oh here comes two

Here comes the number two

We have two eyes and ears

Oh here comes the number two

Oh here comes three, Oh here comes three

Here comes the number three

A triangle has three sides

Oh here comes the number three

Oh here comes four, Oh here comes four

Here comes the number four

A square has four sides

Oh here comes the number four

Oh here comes five, Oh here comes five

Here comes the number five

We have five fingers on our hand

Oh here comes the number five

Have students march carrying different numbers.

Umbrellas Fingerplay
Five umbrellas stood by the back door,
The red one went outside, then there were four.
Four umbrellas pretty as can be,
The blue one went outside, then there were three.
Three umbrellas with nothing to do,
The green one went outside, then there was one.
Just one umbrella alone in the hall,
The purple one went outside, and that was all!

Make different colored umbrellas for students to visualize

Clifford Sung to “This old man”
Clifford, the big red dog
He ate zero and was a hero.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.

Clifford, the big red dog
He ate one and had some fun.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate two and then he grew.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate three in a tree.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate four down on the floor.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate five and took a dive.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate six and chased some sticks.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate seven and looked to heaven.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate eight and cleaned his plate.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.

Clifford, the big red dog
He ate nine and then felt fine.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.


Clifford, the big red dog
He ate ten and started again.
With a knick-knack paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone,
Then let's all go rolling home.

I have a Clifford stuffed animal that I bring out for this song.  I also have some foam letters that he pretends to eat.

Ten in the Bed

There were ten in the bed and the little on said "Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

Keep counting down until

There was one in the bed and the little one said "Good night"

You could bring different stuffed animals, toy animals/people or cutouts and count down with them.

You could also have the students lay down and act this out

Recommended Books

1. Roll Over by Merle Peek

2. Fish Eyes  by Lois Ehlert

3. Five Little Monkeys by Eileen Christelow

4. Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

Faber Primer Rhythm and Finger Exercises

I have decided to make some rhythm and finger exercises based on the Faber Primer book.  I got the idea of making them label from Susan Paradis.

I am assigning the student these exercises to have some extra practice with counting and playing rhythms and coordinating fingers.  I have placed page numbers on some exercises because the correlate with that page.

Though some are the exact pattern found in the song, some are combinations of patterns.  I am assigning these exercise one to two weeks before the student gets to that page, so they have done the preliminary work on the song already.

There are many possibilities with the rhythms, playing hands separately, hand together, clapping, stomping, patting, snapping, playing with instruments, counting out loud, playing on the keyboard, etc. .

I use Avery labels 48860 with a measurement of 1" by 2 5/8'

Faber Primer Level Rhythm and Finger Exercises

If you have trouble printing them, email me and I will email you a pdf file

Eight is Enough Game

I have come up with a new game called "Eight is Enough"

To play you need staff playing cards with a set of A- G.  I recommend two sets of A-G for each player.  Staff playing cards don't have the answer of what note it is on the back.  I have some flash cards I made. I suggest printing or copying them on card stock and then cutting them out.

Staff Playing Cards

Flash Cards

Each player gets four cards and the rest of the cards go into a pile.  Four cards are set around the pile, face up.

The youngest player goes first.

Each player takes turns building on the card that is face up.  You can build up or down regardless of clef.  So if the starting card is a Middle C you can put a Treble D above it or a Bass Clef B below it.

When you play a card you draw another card from the pile.  If you have no card to play you forfeit your turn.  You can trade in two cards in your hand for two cards in the pile, placing your two cards at the bottom.  If you trade in two cards, your still forfeit your turn and may not play a card until the next turn.

The person who plays the eighth card wins the pile.  The person who gets four piles is the winner of the game.

Variations: You could make the piles move up and down by intervals: 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. . You could also do chords.

  

Fun Magnets

I love these Smiley Face Magnets I found for $1.00 at Target.  I use them to represent notes on the staff on my magnetic white board I made.  I also found some heart shaped ones for Valentine's day.

Place Race

     Over the summer I invested in new flash cards to supplement my own.  So now I have many, many flash card to play with, which is super!


      To start off the new fall semester I chose to play a new game called "Place Race" to review the notes, chords and keys.  This is a great review game at the beginning of the year because you can limit what you test the student on.  To play you need alphabet cards, staff cards and a stop watch.  For Level One, I set out two rows of alphabet cards C D E F G.  I make the first row Treble Clef and the bottom row Bass Clef.  I give the student flash cards for C position in both clefs.  I have the student place the correct staff card on the letter and time them to see how fast they can match them up.  Then we play again and I see if they can beat their first time.   Here are some suggested levels, but I had one student who had a piece with ABCDE ledger lines in between the clefs, so I pulled out those flash cards and had her match them up.


Level One: C position (Top row Treble Clef, Bottom row Bass Clef)
Level Two: Lines and Spaces of the Treble Clef (Top row lines, bottom row spaces)
Lines and Space of the Bass Clef (Top row lines, bottom row spaces)
Level Three: Ledger Lines (Top row Treble Clef, Bottom row Bass Clef)
Level Four: Chords (Top row major, bottom row minor)
Level Five: Keys (Top row Sharps, Bottom row Flats)
 Keys (Top row major, Bottom row relative minor)


I could see modifying this to include intervals as well, rhythm values, just by changing the alphabet cards to number cards.