Teaching Notes, 20160323

Today was the last class before a two week spring break, and since it was also the start of spring I decided to try a few songs relevant to spring.  The class also recently have done well with the dances, so I couldn't deny them another dance for today.

1. Intro: Everybody Oughta Know.  I debated about doing something else, but since I wasn't going to see the students for another three weeks, I used this yet again.  What worked really well, however, was that the students were slow to move from their desks to the carpet, so I used this as a rallying song, which worked well.  The students also responded pretty well in unison for the 3rd line, although I still gestured to them to sing together.
2. I'm A Tall Tall Tree.  Since it was spring, this was a great time to do this song, as it also allowed me to review the four seasons in order with the students.  We eventually did the song via echo for every line.  This took a little longer than I expected so I didn't try to do this song another time.  We'll come back to it after the break.
3. Razzama Tazzama.  This is always a big winner with the students, and this year was no exception.  However, I remembered from past years where students would really flop around on the ground on the "wally-woo-hoo", and so this time I kept the rhythm pattern through the entire chorus the first few times.  We made it through 5 different variations, and the kids were able to follow the pattern well after the 2nd time through.
4. Plant A Little Seed.  This was my chance to go back to springtime, and we spent a little time reviewing the song before jumping in, first by echo, and then all together.  I did include the cascade at the end, and one student noted quickly that it resembled the cascade from the Snowman song.
5. Seven Jumps (Shenanigans).  I first had the students start marching to the right (aka counter clockwise), which still isn't the easiest thing to do with kindergarteners, and when they could figure out which way to go and how to maintain a reasonable circle around the carpet, I then had them practice taking 8 steps, followed by the three-clap pattern (and twirl) that came at the end of each chorus.  I told the students that I'd at times walk into the middle, and they'd have to mimic me, but in place.  At first, the students didn't know what to make of the first "movement", but then as the song went on, they really seemed to have a lot of fun with the dance, and they were eager to see what was to come in the next iteration.
6. One Seed (Laurie Berkner).  This is an absolutely great song for spring for kinders, and since it was just the first time that they had sung (or heard) the song, I just taught them the chorus.  I told them that they'd get to sing that a few times in the song, and so I simply started the song and prompted them when it was time to sing the chorus.  The students did great here, and they didn't have to sing via echo (even though the original recording does that).  There were a few hand signs that I had the students do which may have helped.
7. Exit: Make New Friends.  The students sang it, but they simply went back to a circle on the carpet as the teacher wanted to continue class from there.

I had planned exactly these activities, and behold - I covered them all!  The dance always takes a little more time than the typical song, and so I only had really five items today, but it fit perfectly in the allotted time.  I also noticed that I had fewer distractions from the children this time (especially with One Seed), and it was great way to end the winter term.