Tuesday, September 14, 2010

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 



Monday, September 13, 2010

Thursday, September 9, 2010

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

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

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

Monday, September 6, 2010

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.

  

Friday, September 3, 2010

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.