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Using the "Chopsticks" song to teach theme and variation.
January 18, 2014

Film Friday – Teaching Theme and Variation with Chopsticks!

This fantastic video uses an old favorite, the Chopsticks song, to teach theme and variation!  If I were to incorporate this video in a full lesson about theme and variation, I would probably start by teaching students how to play “Chopsticks” or at least ensure that they already know the tune.  If […]
This song is a great way to teach body vocabulary and lots more with primary kids!
January 9, 2014

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes as an ELL Tool

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes is a classic song that many, many students learn early on in life.  Lots of you folks are lucky enough to have this taught at home or in your preschools so that students come in knowing the familiar tune and words.  For many teachers, teaching […]
December 17, 2013

First Grade Carolers and Even Rondo Form

  Just wanted to quickly share about a fun little tradition that I have with my first graders.  Every year I teach them “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and talk about carols, caroling, and teach them the fun story of this song. We first learn the song and I […]
Frosty the Snowman: Blog post about critical thinking, using story books, music listening activities, and more!
December 12, 2013

Critical Thinking in Frosty the Snowman

  One of my favorite songs to teach at the holiday time is Frosty the Snowman.  I teach this to second grade (I’m learning at my highly ELL school that I can only teach about half of what many of the rest of you teach because it takes many of […]
Five Fat Turkeys - Adding a B section and playing with the form of the song.
November 18, 2013

Five Fat Turkeys – ABA form

“Five Fat Turkeys Are We” is one of my favorite songs to teach to little folks during the holidays.  It’s a fun song with a great story and most importantly it gets kids to think critically. I love asking kids questions and telling the story of the song in a way […]
Pumpkin on the Vine - Perfect song for fall with ABA form!
November 5, 2013

The Pumpkin on the Vine – Identifying ABA Form

One of the things that is required in our district curriculum is teaching first graders to identify ABA form in song.  Last year I couldn’t find any songs in my Thanksgiving or Fall repertoire that I really loved that were easy for my kids to see ABA form.  So, I […]
If You're Happy And You Know It book to use in the music classroom!
October 28, 2013

If You’re Happy And You Know It! – Book Recommendation

This is a totally fun book!  I know that many students have the song “If You’re Happy and You Know It…” down pat before they even get to Kindergarten but not my students.  I have a high population of English Language Learners (often called ELLs) and most from low income […]
Five little pumpkins song, great for fall holidays! Blog post includes ideas for poem, movement game, and more!
October 17, 2013

Five Little Pumpkins, sitting on a gate…

Five Little Pumpkins is a classic elementary music song/poem and so much fun!  If you haven’t heard or used this poem you can find resources here.  I use this with my K-1 kids and add a few extra things to reinforce some concepts.  Here’s my process: 1)  The kids learn […]
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