Week of June 4, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had a parsnip, a cherry, celery…
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
We’ve been listening to the Rubi songs during eating times: Trepak, Hello Goodbye, Syncopated Clock. We’ve also been working on Shoo Turkey Shoo, I Am Enough, and A Little Seed.
Week of May 28, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had a green bean, a “delicata” squash, purple kohlrabi (we found out it’s white inside), swiss chard.
On Wednesday I showed them a picture of my friend Rubi (see below), and said that she’s teaching me some songs which I’m working on learning. We sang this echo song – I didn’t have all the words right yet, and explained that I would have to work more on learning it. I want them to understand that it takes practice and I don’t get it right away. The song was: I Am Enough. I also said that she’ll be visiting us next week. (FYI, Rubi is the music teacher for the other classes and so we’re learning what she’ll be doing for the final day of school so we can join in the musical festivities with everyone.)
On Thursday, we added another Rubi song/fingerplay which involves scarves: A Lirrle Seed.
On Friday, we tried another Rubi thing. I handed out two paper plates to each child, and we clapped them together in a choreographed manner to Trepak, from the Nutcracker. It was fun and spirited!
Week of May 21, 2024
Week of May 14, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had asparagus, zucchini, potatoes – the first was brown on outside and yellow on the inside. The second was purple on the outside and also yellow on the inside – surprising many of us!
Those who wanted to did a little yoga (Tuesday): the sculpture Eve, mountain, moon, elephant, star, butterfly, turtle and candle.
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn – we couldn’t live without moose!
Way Up in the Sky (Little Birds)
We got out the rope on Thursday: Row Row Row (crocodile & putt putt verses), Shake It All Over Town
Also on Thursday we lay down on our backs and put beanbags on our bellies and I sang: Up Goes the Castle
Week of May 7, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had corn, strawberries, a pickle, and red cabbage.
We played the Monkey Around game again on Wednesday. Check out the action below!
Country Roads – we did a little dancing!
Week of April 30, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had a worm, a daffodil (for May Day!), broccoli, and an egg (hardboiled). We sang the Alfredo ABC’s on Thursday.
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn – we couldn’t live without pickles (Thursday, OOO cheer)
On Friday we played the “Monkey Around” game, in which I give each child a beanbag, telling them that it was a pretend banana. They each pick a card, one at a time, and we do whatever is on the card, which sometimes involves the banana and sometimes not: Balance the banana on the top of one foot; jump up and down; act like a monkey; lie down and put the banana on your bellybutton, etc. They enjoyed it!
We continue doing Willoughby Wallaby Woo (an elephant sat on you…) for calling children to lunch/snack.
Week of April 23, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had a brussel sprout, grapes, a cookie and scallions
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn – we did the WOW cheer on Wednesday, and couldn’t live without frogs; Thursday – pizza.
We continue doing Willoughby Wallaby Woo (an elephant sat on you…) for calling children to lunch/snack.
Week of April 9, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had a tomato, a sweet potato and a cucumber.
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn – we did the WOW cheer on Tuesday & Thursday. We can’t live without bellybuttons, elephants, or donuts!
Dancing to Give Light
We’ve also been sending children over to lunch/snack to the tune of Willoughby Wallaby Woo.
Week of April 2, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – had a pear, a dragonfruit and a radish!
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn – we’ve only done the OOO cheer. We also can’t live without ladybugs, rainbows or waffles!
We’ve been doing some lovely dancing to Inch By Inch and Country Roads
We’ve also been sending children over to lunch/snack to the tune of Willoughby Wallaby Woo.
Week of March 26, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – they were mystified by the kiwi Alfredo had on Tuesday (I showed it to them whole, then cut it in half to see the inside). Instead of singing the ABC’s we did: Hello, Alfredo! (Wed was an orange – a [sumo] orange, Thur waffle, Fri sunflower seeds)
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn – we’ve only done the OOO cheer. We also can’t live without pajamas, mushrooms, owls, or rainbows!
Week of March 19, 2024
Big Juice Box/Alfredo – every day! Ask your child what special food Alfredo had (so far, he’s had apple, banana, ginger (root), onion, lemon, cauliflower)
Alligator Pit – I read “A Fish Out of Water” before doing this (both Tuesday and Wednesday).
Week of March 12, 2024
The Ella Jenkins song: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4”
Week of March 5, 2024
Twinkle Twinkle (silly version)
I showed them the yoga pose Candle: Kneeling, rub hands together to “light the candle”, then hands in prayer position in front of chest, eyes closed, breathe in and out two times, then open eyes and “blow out the candle,” and put your hands to your sides.
Week of February 27, 2024
On Tuesday we played the colored cube game again. (description on “Week of Jan. 9”)
It being Chip’s favorite song, and one that I at least could remember the first verse of, I sang (the first verse of, twice) Country Roads on Wednesday and there was some spontaneous dancing that took place, too! I’ll work on the other verse and the bridge…
Paw Paw Patch – we put hearts with our photos on them on places on a big heart that I put on the wall during meeting. We’ve done this a few times this year.
Week of February 14, 2024
We read Go Away Big Green Monster, by Ed Emberley on Wednesday.
Week of February 6, 2024
We sang happy birthday to Sasha (Sylva Rose’s mom) on Tuesday! I asked her if she had a song request for her birthday, and she requested: Puff the Magic Dragon. I sang this again on Thursday.
Puddles, and some standing yoga poses: mountain, moon, elephant, star, Eve.
I sang Baby Beluga (with the book) on Friday.
Week of January 30, 2024
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
We played the colored cube game again (we did this a few weeks ago), which they very much enjoyed.
Week of January 23, 2024
Week of January 16, 2024
Alligator Song – I shared this one with them on Friday, after the entire class engaged in a spontaneous and rambunctious alligator dramatic play!
Week of January 9, 2024
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
We got out the rope for Row Row Row (crocodile and “out of gasoline” verses) and
Shake It All Over Town
YOGA: mountain, moon, elephant, star, Eve, butterfly, turtle
Twinkle Twinkle (silly version)
Alligator Song – I shared this one with them on Friday, after the entire class engaged in a spontaneous and rambunctious alligator dramatic play!
On Wednesday, we played a game in which each child had a turn rolling a cube with a different color on each side, then that child picked a card with the color that the cube landed on, and we did whatever it said on that card, e.g., giving ourselves a hug, stomping feet, look for something blue, lift up your arms and legs (photo below)…
Week of January 2, 2024
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
On Tuesday and Wednesday I also read them a book I created called “Goodnight Hearts,” a takeoff of “Goodnight Moon” that’s about all the things that are found inside the Two Big Black Hearts sculpture. We took a walk to the Hearts on Wednesday and many of the children were excited to find the objects that were in the book!
Week of December 12, 2023
Magic Penny – I played this on Thursday, but didn’t bring down the red ball to pass around. The children responded by passing around a pretend ball, all the way to the end and back again!
Yoga: Eve, mountain, moon, elephant, star.
I also sang Baby Beluga to them as Blake turned the pages in the book (Thursday).
Week of December 5, 2023
Give Light (1st verse)
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
On Thursday, I showed the children the lanterns that they’ll be using for the Lantern Walk. We’ll be putting colored tissue paper inside the lanterns, so I asked each child what color they wanted in their lantern. Tomorrow we’ll put the tissue paper inside. I then played them the song we’ll sing as we march, We Walk With Our Little Lanterns. Then I told them that we’ll also be singing This Little Light of Mine at the singalong, and we sang that, too. All the songs are in this link: LANTERN WALK SONGS
YOGA: mountain, moon, elephant, star, Eve
Week of November 28, 2023
Week of November 21, 2023
Jingle Bells -I gave out jingle bells for us to play along with the song. Then we did: Shake the Bells
Week of November 14, 2023
Week of November 7, 2023
Week of October 31, 2023
Yoga: we tried doing the sculpture Eve Celebrant (which I just call Eve) – photos below!
On Top of Spaghetti (a great song, which is also helpful in learning to sneeze and cough in your elbow, as we say “Ahh-choo!” in the sneeze part.)
Twinkle Twinkle (silly version)
We All Need More Kindness (in this world) – we had a lot of shout-outs about what we need more of in this world: apples, monsters…
Week of October 24, 2023
Yoga: butterfly (Seated, legs in diamond in front with feet together. Hands touching shoulders, flapping); turtle (with feet in same position, put hands inside that diamond space, then slide to the sides so that hands become turtle feet sticking out from legs).
With the rope: Row Row Row, the crocodile verse, and Shake It All Over Town.
Freeze Dance: this time I showed them stick figures of poses. Those of us who chose to tried out the pose, then danced as I played guitar, then froze in that pose when we stopped. We’re just figuring out how to do this. (see photo below)
Magic Penny (with the red ball)
It’s a Rainy Day – we started this with just body parts, knees, toes, belly, back, but soon suggestions were made for eyes, neck, hair, ears, and bottom!
There is constant and frequent play involving hiding, finding, appearing, enclosed spaces, and holes, so on Thursday I introduced Jack in the Box
Week of October 17, 2023
I “sang” the book of Baby Beluga before lunch a couple of days.
1&2&3&4, the Ella Jenkins song
Week of October 10, 2023
With the rope: Row Row Row, the crocodile verse, and Shake It All Over Town.
Traditionals: Wheels on the Bus, ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
Ella Jenkins song: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4.
YOGA: mountain, moon, elephant, star
Week of October 3, 2023
I Hear a Bee – I’ve been playing this song for no other reason than I just think it’s lovely.
With the rope: Row Row Row, the crocodile verse, and Shake It All Over Town.
Traditionals: Wheels on the Bus, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, and I introduced some of them to the variations on The Itsy Bitsy Spider: the “big hairy” and “teeny weeny” spider verses, using giant/small motions and low/squeaky voices, respectively.
On Thursday (and Friday) I introduced them to an old Ella Jenkins song: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4, in which you tap slowly up to 8, and then tap very fast up to 8. Then you do it again, clapping, then stomping.
.
YOGA:
Mountain: simply standing tall and strong with hands out just a bit and feet about a shoulder width apart.
Moon: from mountain, put arms overhead with palms together, curve to one side as far as is comfortable. Then curve the other way.
Elephant: from moon, arm together overhead are now your trunk; reach down and suck some water from a puddle, then put them back overhead and swallow the water. Repeat.
Star: arms out to sides, feet further apart.
At the end of that hot day on Wednesday, I got out the parachute, and we enjoyed shaking it, running in circles while holding it and singing ABC, and going underneath it. Photos/video below.
Week of September 26, 2023
Sailor Song – continuing on the boat theme!
I brought out a big length of rope on Thursday and we sat in a circle on the floor in the meeting area, holding it, pulling and lifting and so forth. There had just been a lot of play on the playground involving loud voices/animal sounds, etc. I wanted to bring an awareness to the children of how to regulate their voices, so I thought it might help to do Row Row Row, the crocodile verse. To learn this, we first practice screaming quietly. Then we sing it as we row with the rope. (We also sang the traditional Row Row Row Your Boat). We followed that with Shake It All Over Town. (We repeated this on Friday.)
We’ve been thinking about the children’s interest in wind, moving air – the huffing and puffing of the wolf, and the wind that makes sailboats go; My Favorite Flower, above, also connects with this: “…then let it out with one long blow.” So on Tuesday I read a couple of books at our before-lunch meeting: Huff and Puff, a new take on the Three Little Pigs (the pigs, it turns out, make a birthday cake for the wolf, who blows out the candles), and The Searcher and Old Tree, about a raccoon (Searcher) who sleeps in Old Tree, which grows by the shore. While Searcher is asleep, the wind grows stronger and stronger, as a storm blows in, making big waves and lightening. Searcher wakes once the storm has passed to find the ground wet and littered with branches. This book also ties in with our Nature/Sanctuary umbrella topic.
Week of September 19, 2023
We sang some traditional songs again: Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, This Old Man, Old MacDonald. Sometimes I do “name that tune,” in which I play the melody on the guitar and see if someone recognizes the song.
We’ve started doing some yoga this week:
Mountain: simply standing tall and strong with hands out just a bit and feet about a shoulder width apart.
Moon: from mountain, put arms overhead with palms together, curve to one side as far as is comfortable. Then curve the other way.
Elephant: from moon, arm together overhead are now your trunk; reach down and suck some water from a puddle, then put them back overhead and swallow the water. Repeat.
Star: arms out to sides, feet further apart. (See photo below)
A note about my music & movement practice. I never pressure children to participate. Some children I’ve taught over the years have chosen not to participate, and that is fine. Sometimes it takes a child years before they choose to participate, and sometimes they participate whole hog for a few months and then stop and just watch for the rest of the year. It’s all good. Often children who choose to just observe will go home and sing everything we do – they just don’t feel comfortable doing it in a group setting, or maybe they are scientists, closely watching everything I do, so that they can then process it outside of class.
Week of September 12, 2023
We passed around the red ball and sang Magic Penny
In response to many children’s interest in building houses and tools, I introduced my adaptation of a Woody Guthrie song Bling Blang (adapted).
Wheels On the Bus
On Thursday after we sang Bling Blang, I showed them a real saw that I keep in the classroom. I explained that it was sharp, and that we could touch it, but we had to be careful. I offered each child a turn to touch it. Some children chose to touch the blade, and some chose not to. I believe it’s important for them to experience real tools (etc.) that are “dangerous” so that they can develop self-regulation. They see that they are able to touch the blade in a way that it does not hurt them. I also showed them the cover I put on it so that I don’t hurt myself.
On Friday, I taught them a song about the sounds one might hear when on a sailboat: Come Sail With Me.
I’ve been reading very large sized books with them before lunch, and on Thursday and Friday we were reading Look Look Look, by Tana Hoban. We come to a page with a rectangle cut out of the middle, so you can see a little bit of the photo underneath. You try to guess what it is, and then we turn the page to find out. On the next page is another image of that thing.
We saw this, and made some guesses…
When we turned the page it turned out to be a flower.
And on the following page was this photo.
Which inspired me to teach them: My Favorite Flower
Week of September 6, 2023
We’ve had so much play with the frogs and turtles, so I did: There Was a Little Turtle
We sang some traditional songs for which I don’t have links: Wheels On the Bus, ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider.
We’ve been passing a red ball around the circle at meeting – actually it’s a mini-medicine ball, so it has some heft to it and a little bit of squishiness. On Thursday I sang this as we passed it around: Magic Penny
Week of August 28, 2023
Repertoire
(a running list of songs that we’ve sung this year)
LANTERN WALK SONGS
3 Green & Speckled Frogs
3 Little Hot Dogs
A Little Seed
Alligator Pit
Alligator Song
Baby Fish
Be My Echo
Bling Blang (adapted)
A Cat Had a Birthday
Come Sail With Me
Country Roads
Give Light
I Am Enough
I Can’t Imagine Life Without Popcorn
I Couldn’t Sleep Last Night
I Hear a Bee
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
Inch By Inch
It’s a Rainy Day
Jack in the Box
Jingle Bells
Little Mr. Robin
Magic Penny
May Day song
Movie Star
My Favorite Flower
My Favorite Things
Mysterious Fish Tank
Old Oak Tree
Old Shoes, New Shoes
On Top of Spaghetti
Open Shut Them
Owl
Paw Paw Patch/When I See You
Peace Like a River
Pickle Soda
Popcorn Chant
Puddles
Puff the Magic Dragon
Row Row Row (crocodile & putt putt verses)
Sailor Song
Shake It All Over Town
Sit Down Stand Up Song
There Was a Little Turtle
This Little Light of Mine
Today is Monday
Twinkle Twinkle (silly version)
Way Up in the Sky (Little Birds)
We All Need More Kindness
What Makes the Fire
Where’s My Pajamas?
Who Fed the Chickens?
Wish They’d Find a Home
Yellow Jello