Week of September 24th, 2012


Five Little Squirrels!

We enjoyed using manipulatives (paper squirrels) to count today with children three and older, and also had a blast singing a few squirrel songs with a barrel full of plastic balls! Read on to discover the lyrics to some of our fun squirrel songs and also see a few pictures, video and a sound clip as well!

Our older children did some counting with small squirrels today in class. Each child was given an envelope with song lyrics and five squirrel pieces! As we sang the song, we used the appropriate number of squirrels in the song. Check out the sound clip and lyrics below to learn how to sing this song with your child, and listen to me explaining a bit more about the process:





FIVE LITTLE SQUIRRELS


Five little black squirrels, hiding in a tree

A pair came down just to see what they could see!

Another one followed them and that made three

But where were the others in there squirrel family?

Come, little black squirrels, join us please!

Three plus two makes five, you see!

If you come down from our squirrel nest tree,

We’ll have four then five our squirrel family!





FIVE LITTLE SQUIRRELS MP3 DOWNLOAD with Miss Chantal



                        
                      


GREY SQUIRREL

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel
Swish your bushy tail!

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel
Swish your bushy tail!

Wrinkly up your little nose
Put a nut between your toes!

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel
Swish your bushy tail!



The kids had fun pretending to be a grey squirrel, and tried their hand at balancing a ball between their feet as the song suggests! :)





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One of the most fun activities we did today in music was an activity  called "We'll Be Gathering All The Acorns". I brought in a tub of plastic balls and scattered them on the floor. The kids rushed to gather the acorns into the tub as we sang the song. 


There were plenty of giggles as we picked them up!






The twos were a busy bunch today. Shown above is a rare moment of solitude as they pretended to "snooze" for "Knees Up Mother Brown". :)

Week of September 17th, 2012


Yodel-ay-ee-whoo!!!

We had a very fun and educational music class today as we explored yodeling: its history, and how it’s done!  


Please note: Infant Music class was rescheduled for Wednesday, September 18th due to a high "snooze" factor at our normally scheduled class time today! :)

A little on the history of yodeling:

The word itself has German roots and was originally “jodelin”. The syllable “yo” itself is a central part of yodeling  which had its roots in the Alps, both of Swiss and Austrian descent. Some people speculate that shepherds, calling their animals, began the trend of yodeling vocalizations by switching from their medium and higher vocal ranges.
I explained to the children today that yodeling is switching between their normal, diaphragmatic voice and that of a higher register, or “FALSETTO”. This was one of our “tricky terms” of the day!

Check out the videos, pictures and mp3s of our yodelling experience below!

Listen to our yodelling practice today in the four's room: Using a Yodeling Voice












ONE MORE FUN HIGHLIGHT:

I'm starting a new feature for our music program that will aid teachers in providing more extensions and additional materials! It’s called the “Mystery Music Box” and it is a fun red trunk that is filled with weekly items that relate to what we are learning in class! Each week, teachers can come and “check out” the trunk from the office, bringing the items to their classroom at their leisure. This week, because we did a theme on Yodelling, the trunk contains a doily from Switzerland with a cute little Swiss couple on it, a picture of the Swiss alps, and a book on mountains. Mr. Dog, the yodeling puppet, is also in the trunk, as well as a very funny surprise that I’m positive will be the most favorite item—a DVD of a very short video of a cat yodeling “Jingle Bells”. Shhh….the kids haven’t seen these items yet! J

Week of September 10th, 2011


Spoken Word Fall Poems

We had a wonderful time reciting fall poetry today with rhythm instruments as well as a few pitched instruments! The children made sound effects for fall leaves crunching with some recycled paper that I had, along with castanets, ethnic instruments, and my psaltery!

See the lyrics below and please enjoy the video, picture and sound clips I've assembled for you today! 


Check out our new "Hello" song!




Frisky Squirrel

Oh, the frisky little squirrel
He gathers nuts and seeds.
He hides them for the winter months
So he'll have all he needs.
Refrain:
Oh, up-up-up he goes
And down-down-down he comes.
He runs around - goes up and down.
His work is never done. (repeat refrain)







September

(With lights off)


In September
Dark comes soon.
We turn on the lights
In the afternoon. (CLICK)

(Lights go on!)