Hey, Jack

Musical activities: Stand up. Turn on  Use a new large movement variation for each verse. Return to a swinging or rocking movement on the repeated line: swing, swing, swing, everybody swingin’. Alternate macrobeat and microbeat with each new verse. Change “Jack” to the children’s names. Continue a cappella. Incorporate loud, soft, fast, and slow variations. You could include a theme for the a cappella […]

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El Coqui

Musical activities: Distribute castanets. Turn on  Move to the macrobeat during the verse and the microbeat during the refrain. Use a new castanet variation at the start of each new verse. Continue a cappella. Resting tone play. Collect the castanets.

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Spring is a Poppin’

Musical activities: Crescendo activity: • Display the Crescendo Sunflowers. • Let’s start like a seed in the ground by crouching down to the floor. • Grow tall like a sunflower creating a flower crescendo using a soft to loud “whoop” sound gradually reaching to the ceiling. Repeat if necessary. • This is a crescendo. Show […]

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Noisy and Quiet

Musical activities: Stand up. Use large movement variations responding to noisy and quiet (loud and soft). Incorporate fast and slow variations, changing the tempo to reflect the speed. Ex: speedy like a cheetah, slow like a sloth, speedy like a racing car, slow like a turtle, speedy like a jet plane, slow like a traffic jam. […]

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The Wind Blew East

Musical activities: Stand up. Swoop arms up and down as you sing “Oooh! Oooh!’ following the melodic contour of the pitches used in the song. Wave arms high: The wind blew east Ooooh, Ooooh: Swoop arms high to low, following the melodic contour. Repeat 3-4 as the wind blew west. Clap, dance and sing throughout the remainder of the song. Repeat. Use a new movement for step 6. Ask the children […]

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Wee Willie Winkie

Musical activities: Distribute sticks. Turn on  Lead as usual with stick variations. Split into 2 groups. The first group will sing and play during the “Wee Willie Winkie” section. The second group will sing during the “deedle, deedle, dee” section. Resting tone play. Collect the sticks.

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Spring is a Poppin’

Musical activities: Vocal Play: • Open and shut your fists erratically, and say, “Pop!” each time using a variety of inflections. • Teacher asks a pop question. Children respond with their own pops. Recite the chant: • Here’s good news: Popping fists to macrobeat • Leaves on the tree: Wave arms above head to macrobeat […]

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Spin and Roll

Musical activities: Partner up. Turn on  Use dyad variations to feel the beat of the music before adding the balls. Distribute one ball to each pair. Roll the balls back and forth to the beat. Tap and roll to the beat. Bounce and pass to the beat. Distribute a second ball, and tap to the beat. […]

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Fire Call

Musical activities: Form two parallel lines. Briefly review dance steps before starting the song. Circle your arm above your head and sound your siren. Observe carefully to ensure the children are using healthy technique. Walk toward each other during the first line. Walk back to your place when the line repeats. Act out the verse […]

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The Wind Blew East

Musical activities: Wiggle about the room saying “woooshhhhhh” as if you are the wind. Follow the contour of the melody line with your body as you sing the opening (Oh the wind blew east…. West.. oooohh!) Move freely as you sing about the various things that could be blown into town. Incorporate visual imagery as you explore […]

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