Echo game – click the arrow

 

In my music classes I use a microphone. Not a real one, it’s made of wood. In actual fact it’s a short, tapered wooden leg for a stool with a wood ball screwed on the top. It almost looks like an ice cream cone. But when I say it’s my microphone, the children know exactly what I mean. Even the two year olds. I use it when we echo each other. When the microphone points to me it’s my turn. When it points into the group circle, it’s everybody’s turn together. With small groups individuals take turns. Children love the microphone. I’ve heard parents report their children practicing the “ba-bas” at home using anything that comes to hand as a microphone – a spoon, a stick or a toy.

I use the microphone to echo parts of songs, but I also use it to practice musical concepts. We echo rhythm patterns a lot. The rhythm patterns exist alongside the steady beat. Throughout the game, I keep a steady beat by tapping gently on my leg. The children can feel it with the first ba – ba, which indicates the steady beat. Sounds complicated but it’s not. Play this echo game and you’ll discover how easy it is. When I first introduce the game to very young children, I get very little response, so we do it again and again. By the end of a couple of weeks, lots of children are joining in, learning fundamental concepts via a fun game.

Have fun!

Teri sings a song called “I Can Clap My Hands” in this week’s podcast called CAKE. There are lots of other actions in the song too – tap your foot, nod your head, jump and many more. I expect you can think of your own ideas to put in the song.

Our story is called “Katie And The Cake.” We have a special guest reading it for us – my friend Jim. Katie saves up her pocket money to buy a fancy cupcake for her Mom’s birthday. She is sure her Mom will love it. Listen to the podcast to find out what happens.

Have you ever made a cake, or helped someone in your family make a cake, or some cupcakes? It is fun to do. You can pretend to make a cake with Anneliese as she sings “Let’s Make a Cake Together.” You get to add ingredients to the bowl and stir, stir, stir! I hope you have fun with this song.

This podcast is available to subscribers, who have access to four original podcasts every month, at the cost of a one-time charge of only $35. If you are not a subscriber yet, you are welcome to listen to the sample podcast free of charge. This one is called RABBITS and can be found on the main page or by clicking “samples” on the menu.

Our Herdwick lambs feature in their fourth adventure together in this week’s podcast in a story called “The Rescue.” The adventure was inspired by a true story where I read about a sheep in Wales getting stuck in a stream, unable to get out because of the weight of his sodden woolly coat.

Jared sings our first song where the rooster crows early in the morning. (In fact, it is the rooster crowing that awakens Fenton and sets off the whole Herdwick adventure.) It is a counting song, where you can count the “cock-a-doodles” for the time before the final “cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo.” This song works well with a group of children. I use a large die that each child rolls in turn, and we sing the number on the die for the time with the appropriate numbers of “cock-a-doodles.”

Anneliese sings the second song about mother animals searching for their little ones. I use this song as an opportunity to note that young animals often have a different name than the adults. Children find it amusing when they discover young goats are kids too! In the podcast, I give you an opportunity to think of your own animal (and sound) to add to the song.

This podcast is available to subscribers, who have access to four original podcasts every month, at the cost of only $35 for a whole year. If you are not a subscriber yet, you are welcome to listen to the sample podcast free of charge. This one is called RABBITS and can be found on the main page or by clicking “samples” on the menu.

In our story this week, our group of school friends goes on an ice skating field trip. Zoe is usually good at everything and expects she will find ice skating easy. Things do not go as she thinks they will.

The first song is called “Skating.” I hope the waltz dance-like feel makes you want to pretend to skate as you “push and glide” along with Anneliese who sings this song.

Our second song is called “Five Little Snowmen.” It is a counting song, starting with five and counting down until our last snowman melts away. This song can also be an action song, with children taking turns at being one of the snowmen, melting at the right time, or even being the sunshine. I will put the words and suggested actions on the Crispy Crow page for you.

The story I wrote for this podcast is called “Oliver Waits For Snow.” In this story I have used some repetitive and predictable language as Oliver tells about the things he wants to do – if only the snow would arrive. Children love to be able to anticipate some of the language in stories and say the words along with the reader.

I have also included a short activity for children just before the first song. We pretend to get ready to go outside to play in the snow, putting on snow pants, coat, boots etc., and get busy zipping and snapping. This is followed by Bethany singing the song “What Shall We Do When We Go Outside?” Children enjoy acting out the activities from the song. You may notice that Bethany sings about some of the things Oliver wants to do in the snow.  I encourage you to make up your own words. Many of the songs I compose for LISTEN TOGETHER PODCASTS encourage creative participation on the part of our listeners. The podcast just gets you started!!

The second winter song that Alex sings is about animals that hibernate in winter. I chose animals that really DO hibernate, as I always want songs and stories to be accurate. So we have frogs hopping, bats flying, snails crawling and snakes slithering around in summer and fall, and then hibernating in winter. This is fun song that I have used many times with young children from preschool age all the way up to third grade and they absolutely love pretending to be the animals and hop, slither, crawl and fly to begin each verse, and then hibernate in winter.

I really enjoyed putting this podcast together and hope you enjoy it too.

This podcast is available to subscribers, who have access to four original podcasts every month, at the cost of only $35 for a whole year. If you are not a subscriber yet, you are welcome to listen to the sample podcast free of charge. This one is called RABBITS and can be found on the main page or by clicking “samples” on the menu.