November Music

Our November music theme was sharing. 

We talked about Native Americans sharing their knowledge with Pilgrims and then sharing in a feast for the first Thanksgiving. We sang lullabies to the babies who might have been at the first Thanksgiving feast: Rock-a-Bye Baby for the Pilgrim children and Hey, Hey Watenay for the Native American babies. 

We also read the Bible story of the Loaves and Fishes about sharing food and sang the chorus of the song. (https://youtu.be/QUnoDfDdYhQ)

We enjoyed some silly Thanksgiving stories and songs too. We read and sang along to There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey and I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie.  I changed the words around a little on the Old Lady and the Pie: 
There was an old lady who swallowed a pie, 
I don't know why she swallowed that pie, 
Maybe she'll cry.  WAAH! WAAH!"
It's easier for us to stick with the pattern and sing along with these words.

We also sang and danced to Strut Mr. Turkey--always a favorite! We sang it first in a regular Mommy Turkey voice, then in an itty-bitty Baby Turkey voice, then in a big old Daddy Turkey voice.
  
 
Hey, Hey Watenay 

Hey, hey, watenay 
Hey, hey, watenay 
Hey, hey, watenay
Kay-o-kay-nah Kay-o-kay-nah

Sleep, sleep, little one
Sleep, sleep, little one 
Sleep, sleep, little one 
Now go to sleep, now go to sleep. 


Loaves and Fishes

Loaves and fishes

Loaves and fishes

Loaves and fishes to share that day

Five loaves of bread

And two little fishes

Loaves and fishes to share!

Strut Mr. Turkey 

Who's that sitting there looking might perky? (Hands out to side in a question.) 
Looks like it might be old Mr. Turkey. (Point/shake finger.) 
Strut, Mr. Turkey, that's a fancy way to walk. (Make turkey wings with arms and pretend to strut.) 
Strut, Mr. Turkey, that's fancy way to walk. (“)  

Fall Fun at WIPP!

 Fall is a wonderful time to be a student at WIPP! The 2s, 3s, and 4s have been learning all about letters, colors, shapes,  numbers, pumpkins, animals, fire safety, and 2 of our favorite holidays: Halloween and Thanksgiving! We have been very busy with our friends and teachers, and had lots of fun every day. We raised money for Renegade Paws Rescue with our Pennies for Puppies drive, and are filling lots of boxes with food for Second Harvest food bank. Miss Kathleen has taught us new songs in music, and we learned about Jonah and the whale and the miracle of the loaves and fishes for our bible stories. 

Next month is all about Christmas, and the fun will continue!

September Music

 

We've finished up our first month of music fun! While every class is a little different, there are some things that I do with every class—including the Old Lady series of books. 

In September we sang There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books, and There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves. I switch some of the words from the chorus section so the kids can sing along and do some silly motions.  For the Old Lady and the Fly, we all sing "I don't know why she swallowed that fly...Maybe she'll cry! WAAH! WAAH!" and do lots of pretend crying.  For the Old Lady and the Books, it's "I don't know why she swallowed those books...Can you give her a silly look?" Of course, we then all have to make really silly faces! Finally when the Old Lady swallows leaves, we pretend to sneeze (while practicing sneezing into our elbows so we learn not to spread germs!)

We also spent some time singing our September Bible story song "Who Built the Ark?"  After telling the story of Noah and the Ark, we sing the Noah song.  Here's the chorus:

Who built the ark? Noah! Noah!
Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark.
Old man Noah, he built the ark, he built it out of the hickory bark. (Here we pretend to use a hammer while building our own ark.) 
He built it long and wide and tall (We stretch our arms in all of these directions.)
For all of the animals, big and small! 
REPEAT

We read the book See You Later, Alligator! and practiced synchronizing our claps and counting to four as we sang our own version of the chant:

See you later, Alligator. (Clap, clap, clap, clap)
After while, Crocodile. (Clap, clap, clap, clap)
See you later, Alligator. (Clap, clap, clap, clap)
Make me smile, Crocodile! (Put a big smile on your face!)

In some classes we've read and sung various versions of The Gingerbread Man. The kids love to shake their fingers while chanting: 

Run, run, as fast as you can!
You can't catch me 'cause I'M the gingerbread man!

Some of our classes also sang and marched along to The Ants Go Marching. It was especially fun to march "Down to the ground, to get out of the rain, BOOM BOOM BOOM!" on music days when it was raining.

In October we'll share some Halloween songs and stories as well as the Bible story of Jonah and The Whale. . 

Stay tuned!

September FUN!

 All of our classes have had so much fun this month! We've learned so much, and made so many new friends.