Teaching Notes, 20150909

While last week we were able to pull off a very simple circle dance, I wanted to try to take the kids outside for an old favorite.  It was going to be a scorcher outside, but since my class starts at 8:30, I was hoping that I would be able to get in a decent activity before it got too hot.  The outside is something that I also want to use a lot this year while I can, since the space is wonderful.

Again, I wanted to keep things quick, and so I tried to minimize time on any one activity.  Sounds a little ADD-ish, but I think it works for them.

1. Opener: Hello My Friends.  This is now becoming a song that the kids are recognizing and singing away.  They still giggle a bit at my falsetto, but at least they are singing and giggling.  As a little twist, I also sang it in Mandarin, and the kids definitely followed.
2. I Like You.  I had the kids stand, and we tried a few variations of this, using clap, heel, turn, and jump.  I even through in a slide (which would be relevant later).  The kids do get a little bit chaotic with each different movement, and so I quickly had them sit down when we were done.
3. Criss Cross Applesauce.  This turned out to be a little challenging since the students were still nutty from I Like You, but eventually I had them follow my hand motions, and rhythm - no words yet.  Once they were mostly following, I had them echo me.  We then changed the pitch, speed, and volume.
4. Favorite Foods.  Without much of a segue, I asked the students what their favorite foods were.  After the first response, I repeated the answer in sol-mi and had the students echo me similarly. Eventually someone said "hot dog", and I told the students (to some quizzical looks) that to grown ups, hot dogs are called "sausages" - and that sometimes they're cooked in a frying pan.  (Actually who does that these days?)  Anyhow, that led to...
5. Five Fat Sausages.  This is an easy chant, which I had the students echo for all five lines.  I didn't repeat this - I'll use it again next week for sure.
6. Flight of the Bumblebee.  Next, I had the students listen to Bobby McFerrin's rendition (with Yo-Yo Ma) of this song.  I asked the students to see if they could identify what instruments they heard, and while I got a good variety of answers, many did converge around some sort of stringed instrument.  (I explained that a cello was simply a big version of a violin played on the ground.)  It took a while before a student correctly guessed that someone's voice was in the song, and when I pointed it out, a lot of students were happily amazed by the finding.
7. Bee Bee BumbleBee.  I got the students to tap a slow beat on their knees, and we started chanting this chant.  We did this only once (I probably should have done it twice), and then I had the students try to pass an object (a small ball) every time they tapped the beat.  This turned out to be very difficult - many students weren't really paying attention, not expecting the ball, and some just held onto it, causing some infighting among the kids.  We did this a few different times, each time with the student getting "out" joining me in the middle of the circle.
8. Come And Follow Me.  It was time to go outside, and so I had the students follow me outside. I had the students follow me out of the circle (which wasn't terribly clean), and we went outside.  I have to leave the vision of many of my students, so I didn't change the movement after each stanza.
9. Highway Number One.  This is an old favorite of mine, but before I had the students listen to the music, I had them practice a few moves.  I then told them about a faraway place called "Australia", and then I had them get into their cars, ready to drive.  Like past years, the kids mostly followed well, had fun, and fortunately didn't crash a whole lot (I guess it's less fun to crash on concrete than it is on carpet).  After we were done, I led them back into the classroom, as it was really really hot already.
10. Closing: Goodbye My Friends Goodbye.  Before singing the song, we talked a bit about what country we just "visited" (as a measurement to see how many kids were listening), and where it might be.  We also talked about how in Australia people speak English, but a little differently, so it was important to listen carefully.  And then, it was time to sing.