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Home : 2007 : June : 30

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By mrs_b_from_nc

This'll be short-ish as there is a storm brewing here and I'll need to shut down soon.

I hunted at the public library for cd's to PBS cartoons - Arthur, Dragon Tales, Curious George (movie soundtrack actually). After
listening to these, I realized that they had the spirit of cooperation and caring that I wanted in my 2nd grade room last year. I made a CD to use in the classroom and printed out the lyrics.

We started slowly - the kids would follow the lyrics and listen to the song. We'd talk about it - theme/big idea, connections, why I might've chosen the song over another. Over the course

of a few days we'd listen/read a few more times. Then we'd start to sing the song, using the lyrics. I had some "nonsingers" who rarely opened their mouths and I told them they had to track with the song if they weren't going to sing. The class eventually learned the songs and didn't need the lyrics (unless they weren't singing - I never "forced" anyone to sing. I would hate to be put in that position, so I was careful!)

We sang:
The Arthur Theme Song
The Hello Song (from Dragon Tales)
Upside Down, We Are Going To Be Friends, Jungle Gym, Sharing Song, The 3 R's (all from Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson)
Schoolhouse Rock (get some math and social studies content in that way!)
Grand Old Flag
This is My Country
Proud to Be An American
This Land is Your Land

As the end of the year present, I made the kids a CD with all the songs we sang over the course of the year. They also had the lyrics for them - they kept the lyrics in a Songs folder in their desk. They brought that folder to the carpet daily for group/singing time.

I feel like the singing did build community through giving us a common meeting ground. Some of the content area songs/patriotic songs built their schema (never know what you may read on that test/EOG!) And by having the kids follow the lyrics it helped them become accustomed to reading/speaking/singing in a more fluent fashion.

Ahh! I could go on but there was a BIG crash of thunder. I'll be back later! (Maybe! These storms tend to last for HOURS when they get going!)