Friday, November 9, 2012

Veteran's Day

Welcome back to More with Music!

Veteran's day is this weekend and today's song post is a song about Veteran's day.

Whether you are for or against war, we are all very fortunate to have people serving in the military willing to protect us and our country.

I wrote this song below so students could say, "Thank You" to any and all veterans for their service.  In some of the classrooms, we incorporate sign language for the word, "Thank you" and the students sign every time we sing/hear that phrase.


As always, thanks for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Pumpkin Pie!


Welcome back to More with Music!

Today's song post is about one of my favorite foods that I usually see at Thanksgiving dinner:  pumpkin pie!

I have been having a lot of fun with this song this past week and the students have really enjoyed it as well!

Since I've been singing this song all week, I have found it to be a great song to practice sequencing skills.  After introducing this song, you can ask questions like, "What happened first?", "What happened next?", etc..  You can also find pictures to represent each step in the sequence of this song and students can work to sequence the pictures in the correct order.



Isn't it catchy?  I have had this song in my head every afternoon this week!  :)

I hope your week has been a good one. 
Be sure to stop by tomorrow to hear a song for Veteran's day!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Songs for Turkey Day!










Welcome back to More with Music!

Today I'm posting the songs I use the most as we prepare for turkey day.  The coolest part is that two of them are free if you would like to download them and use them too!

The first song I love to use is actually one by Hap Palmer. It talks about things we are thankful for. I created pictures to represent each answer in the song and in sessions, ask students to tell me what they are thankful for.

<a href="http://morewithmusic.bandcamp.com/track/i-am-thankful">I am Thankful by More with Music</a>

The next song I like to use is Ted the Turkey. Ted is a turkey who is running away for the dreaded Thanksgiving Day! I love to use this song because I get so many creative answers when we ask the question, "Where should Ted hide?" For some students, I have picture cards for them to choose a place for the turkey to hide (i.e. house, car, barn, truck, bale of hay,etc..).
<a href="http://morewithmusic.bandcamp.com/track/ted-the-turkey">Ted the Turkey by More with Music</a>

The Pilgrims and the Indians is another song I use mainly with the high school-aged students.
Many times the middle school students like it too though!
It is a song that very simply tells the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians and the first Thanksgiving. I created picture cards to help tell the story and the song can be sequenced with the pictures, (in terms of the Pilgrims coming from Europe to America, the ship they traveled on, etc..).


And finally, the last song for today's post is The Turkey Flew.
I wrote this song based on an idea from a children's book. 
In the story, the turkey falls out of the oven and the family has to "make do" with the food they have left for their feast.
I sing this song and then use this song to teach the food/dish names for Thanksgiving dinner. 
I ask students what they would eat for Thanksgiving and have picture cards to represent the different foods mentioned in the song.



So, that's it for today! Whew! 
What songs do you like to use for a Thanksgiving theme or Turkey theme?

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Back to School Batch, part 7

Welcome back to More with Music!

Today's post is the final post for my Back to School Batch series.

If you've missed any of the 7 songs included in this series, you can find them under the label, Back to School Batch, or just keep scrolling down under this post.

The song I'm posting today is about the shape of a circle.   Many teachers and therapists everywhere go over shapes practically all year long.  It takes a lot of teaching, reviewing, and application of using and interacting with shapes in order for many of our special learners to understand their similarities and differences.

Basically, a circle is a shape.  We know that it is round.  It doesn't have corners or sides, like other shapes we see.  So, I wrote this song to reinforce all those attributes of a circle.

I've used this song in many different ways.
First, you can use the song and students can draw/trace circles.
You can have students sit in a circle and all have maracas or egg shakers.  Students can shake to the beat, and when you think they're ready, you could try having them shake for three beats, then pass to friend on their right.
You can use a parachute and while all students are holding onto the parachute, everyone can move in a circle (this might be a good warm up to get everyone focusing on following directions, working together,etc..).
Also, it's very easy to hand out scarves and have students move their scarves in circular motions.

What other activities would you incorporate with this song?




Stay tuned for more song posts here on More with Music!  
Have a great weekend!