Marvelous Music Makers: "Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes"

A CD that has been enjoyed by my students is "Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes".  I love that many of the songs focus on following directions (a vital skill!) and are still very fun.  Many musical skills and objectives for young students and special needs students are addressed in this CD as well. 

Here are some of our favorite songs from this collection:



The Sneezing Song incorporates the vocal exploration of "sneezing" and the listening skills to "sneeze" at the right places in the song.
Hands Are For Clapping is great practice for keeping a steady beat by clapping, snapping, slapping knees and even brushing teeth!

I Took A Bath In A Washing Machine is great for making rhythm patterns of clapping, patting, and stomping and including the creative movement of the "washing machine".

Alabama, Mississippi is a "get up and dance" song in my classes. It has great practice for steady beat clapping, differentiating dynamics, and shaking out some excess energy in my students!

Poison Ivy is another following directions reinforcer. This time students need to scratch wherever the poison ivy strikes: knees, arms, etc.

The Hi Dee Ho Man is a terrific song to practice echoing and steady beat.

Silly Dance Contest is a lot like playing "Freeze Dance", but Jim gives the students a little more direction, such as dancing fast, dancing slow, hopping up and down, and shrinking down low to the ground.

Step Back Sally is one that I use for my life skills student's practice in walking backwards to the beat of the music.  Simple, but they really enjoy it!

Simone's Song (The Parrot Song) is a natural for practicing echoing, and my students make up their own motions to go with the parrot's phrases.

Spaghetti Legs is another fun song for creative movement, this time we pretend that our bodies, part by part, are turned to spaghetti.  Wiggly!

The Banana Song is fun because of the fast tempo and repetition of "banana, banana, banana".  We play maracas or shakers for this one.

Leaky Umbrella is great for direction following and keeping the beat of the song on all of the body parts mentioned.

May There Always Be Sunshine is one of my "winding down" songs for the end of class.  I like to utilize scarves or ribbons to accentuate the creative movements of the students for this song.