Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Old Black Fly"

Here is another find from the local public library: "Old Black Fly" by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated by Stephen Gammell.  The melody for the book is "Buffalo Gals".   The book is organized as an alphabet book with the old black fly doing everything from eating apple pie, to stealing jelly, snoozing on a quilt, and finally "zzzzzzz-ing" his way to being swatted.

This is another nice wrap-up to a music lesson, especially if you are working on call and response songs with your students.

Vocal Timbre Practice with the Three Bears

My kindergarten language support students love a good snuggle with a stuffed animal, as witnessed in a recent music class.  We had three visitors: Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear, right out of the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".  Using stuffed animals in the lesson helped some of my shy students gain more courage to try out their low, medium, and high voices.

A special purchase of three stuffed bears was not necessary.  As most moms will attest, stuffed animals seem to mysteriously MULTIPLY in a home with children. The kids seem to receive them as gifts, win them at church picnics, and before you know it, you have a house overrun with stuffed critters!  For the bears used for this lesson, I just searched through the collection and found three of different sizes, and off to school they went.  If you don't have children of your own, try asking a mom you know...she'll probably be glad to donate some bears for you to use!

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Christmas Mice!"

Just as "Halloween Mice!" was a great book for a creative movement activity, so is the equally fun "Christmas Mice!" also by Bethany Roberts and illustrated by Doug Cushman.

"The holiday mice are back! It’s Christmas time and the four cheerful mice merrily hang stockings, string popcorn, wrap presents, and sing carols. The little mice are so caught up in their joyful preparations that they almost forget to look out for their old enemy, the cat. Happily, their Christmas spirit is so infectious that even the cat is not immune. Simple, lively verse and colorful, action-filled illustrations convey the all anticipation and goodwill that come with the Yuletide season in this delightful read-aloud." -from amazon.com

Here are my ideas for using this book in music class:

More Christmas Music Books

Included in my Caroling post were two books I use as resources for Christmas music: The Usbourne Book of Christmas Carols and Wee Sing for Christmas.  In addition to these two books, here are three more beautiful and useful books for Christmas carols from my collection.  I've had these for so long that they are really inexpensive to buy used at this point, and you know the music is going to be back in style each December!

More Differentiated Instruction for "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie"

Check out this Old Lady!

A colleague allowed me to borrow her "Old Lady" story apron, and was it ever a big hit!

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie" with Differentiated Instruction Ideas

Of all of the "Old Lady" book adaptations, this one is my personal favorite...probably because she is finally eating some delicious and edible goodies (except for when she devours the pot used for cooking!), and she reminds me of our own gluttony on the holiday of Thanksgiving! (Although, now that I am the one preparing the food for the feast, I find that I eat a less at dinner...wonder why? Must be sampling too much as I'm cooking!)

Here are some differentiated ideas on including "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie" in your music instruction:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Thank You, Thanksgiving"

When we encourage our young students to sing, a pattern often introduced first is the sol-mi pattern, soon to be followed by the sol-sol-mi-la-sol-mi pattern. "Thank You, Thanksgiving" by David Milgrim is a great book to reinforce singing in these important patterns that form a strong foundation for our young singers.

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth

Most early elementary students have a favorite tempo, and that would be FAST! Oftentimes we need to remind our young students to slow down and take it easy, and not just in the context of the music! As a fan of the art of Eric Carle, I collected many of his books for my own children's collection, but "'Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,' said the Sloth" has been overlooked at our house until now.  In the day of the sloth, he hangs out on a branch, eats, naps, and wakes up....what a lazy day! After being pestered by some other animals, the sloth gives his defense: he just likes to do things slowly, slowly, slowly.

Rachel Rambach has written a song to reinforce the need to go slowly called "Slow and In Control". Listening to this song would be a great way to introduce the concept of the slow tempo, and to lead into this book.

Here are my ideas for using this book in music class:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything"

Our first grade curriculum focuses on "voice choice" and discriminating between singing, speaking, whispering, and shouting voices. A terrific reinforcement for this concept is found in "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams, and it is seasonally appropriate for October!

"The Little Old Lady. . . is a clever reworking of the classic story of a ghostly body that appears bit by bit (see ``What's the Matter'' in Maria Leach's Whistle in the Graveyard Viking, 1974 ). The humor of the little old lady's fearless attitude and her clever solution as to what to do with the lively shoes, pants, shirt, pumpkin head, etc., that are chasing her, will enchant young audiences. The catchy refrain never falters, and the rhythmic repeated sounds made by each of the woman's pursuers are sure to appeal to children. Lloyd's brilliantly-colored, detailed folk art-style illustrations are a perfect complement to the text." -Alice Cronin, Belleville Public Library, N.J. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Here are my ideas for including this book in early-elementary music class:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Five Spooky Ghosts Playing Tricks at School"

 

Using the melody of "Six Little Ducks", Steve Metzger has written "Five Spooky Ghosts Playing Tricks at School".  Illustrations are by Marilee Harrald-Pilz.  This book is a great addition to your sing-along seasonal collection.  The pattern of the book will also remind you of "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed".

The five naughty ghosts are up to no good at school, and one by one the teacher sends them home. Finding herself alone and lonely at school, the teacher calls the parents and says "Let those ghosts go back to school!" (A likely story...!)

Here are some ideas for using this book in music class:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Skeleton Hiccups"

Do your 5 and 6-year-old students have a difficult time with the concept of "rest" in music?  Of course, with an age group that is usually very active, "rest"ing is a difficult skill!  Try using "Skeleton Hiccups" by Margery Cuyler as an extension at the end of a lesson on quarter rests. In the story, Skeleton has a pesky case of the hiccups, which he finally "scares" away.  Can you guess how? 

He looks in the mirror and sees himself...soooo scary! (and perfect for the Halloween season!)

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Five Little Bats Flying in the Night"

Here is another re-write of "Six Little Ducks" just in time for Halloween! Steve Metzger is the author and Laura Bryant is the illustrator of "Five Little Bats Flying in the Night", a cute book to sing with your early childhood students. In the story,  "rambunctious bats get into all sorts of trouble as their mother tries to protect them from one mishap after another. An inventive approach to counting and rhymes, Metzger and Bryant show that, despite life's risks, mother has to "let those little bats fly, fly, fly!"

Here are my ideas for use in music class:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat"

That little old lady sure does like to eat, doesn't she?  If you are a fan, you may want to introduce the original song "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" before delving into the many seasonal "old lady" books.

For the spooky season, Lucille Colandro has written "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!" This is a good reinforcement of sequence and cumulative songs. Most kids just love Halloween and everything associated with the holiday, so this song and book will make them very excited!

Here are my ideas for using this book in your music class:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "The Runaway Pumpkin"

'Round and 'round
across the ground
makin' a thumpin'
bumpin' sound
came that
thumpety
bumpety
thumpin'
bumpin'
round and roll-y
RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!

You can tell by this rhythmic recurring theme in "The Runaway Pumpkin" by Kevin Lewis that this is a story very well-suited for music!

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"

There are many book versions of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" out there; I included this one illustrated by Pam Adams just because it's the one I own.  It is a nice big size to share in class and includes die-cut holes in the pages to see each animal swallowed.

This is a great book and song to include early in the school year, because there is a variety of different "Old Lady" holiday variations to include throughout the year.

Here are my ideas for incorporating "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" in your music class:

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "We're Going on a Leaf Hunt"

Happy first day of fall!  While I'm personally not looking forward to raking all of the leaves that will soon be falling at my house, I don't mind an autumn-themed music lesson centered around a fun book for my early childhood students.  Patterned after "We're Going on a Bear Hunt", this book by Steve Metzger is a great introduction to the fall season for your youngest students. "We're Going on a Leaf Hunt" lends itself well to many musical extensions.

Do you have access to an Ellison die-cutter? If so, you can use it to cut out the various colored leaves you will need for this lesson.  If not, you can develop your own leaf pattern; I recommend using google image.

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "Rock it, Sock it, Number Line"





"Rock it, Sock it,
Number Line!
Numbers and Veggies-
Party Time!"

"Rock it, Sock it, Number Line" by Bill Martin, Jr. and Michael Sampson has been on my son's book shelf since it was lovingly given to him by his preschool teacher back in 2007. This is a very silly book about veggies partying in the garden until they are finally made into vegetable soup. 

My very youngest group of special needs students work hard learning to count to ten.  To help with this skill, we use a song called "The Numbers Jump" (on a very old CD that I cannot find a link for online), and also Rachel Rambach's song "Counting Time", which we use constantly and adapt for the seasons and holidays.  "Rock it, Sock it, Number Line" is the newest "weapon" in my "arsenal" of supplements to help my students master counting to ten!  I recently adapted it for music class with great sucess!  Here is what I did:

Children's Literature for Christian Music Ed: "One More River"

Joan Paley has adapted and beautifully illustrated the spiritual "One More River" in this book suitable for use in a Christian early childhood setting or Sunday school.

With our young students, this lengthy song going to be too challenging to sing all the way through.  Approach it as a call-and-response song, with the teacher as leader singing the verses (call) and the students always singing "There's one more river to cross." (response)

It will be useful to play a recording of "One More River" as the children are coming to class, or perhaps during their playtime.  As a teacher in a Christian school, or Sunday school, collect CDs of Bible songs, hymns, and children's Christian music for use in your classroom.  Hearing the music often will help them get the tune in their ear even before you introduce the song. And since there are so many great hymns out there, the children will be exposed to the music even if you don't get a chance to teach it directly.

Children's Literature for Music Ed: "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Apples"

Here is a well-known counting tune ("Ten Little Indians" or "Michael Finnigan") re-written by Matt Ringler for a fall apple harvest theme. "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Apples" is nice and calming for the last five minutes of your class when you want your students to be winding down.

This book is appropriate for your students in Preschool, Kindergarten, and First grade, and fits in nicely with a fall/apple/harvest theme.  The counting repetitions are also going to be helpful for use with your special needs students.

The two children in the story-song are apple picking with their parents and grandfather, and while Mom and Dad are preparing an apple pie, Grandpa and the kids go back outside for some fall fun: jumping in leaves and playing ball. When the pie is finished, the entire family enjoys eating freshly baked apple pie.

Here are some of my ideas for incorporating this book in your music class:

Children's Literature: "Punk Farm"

A while back I introduced "Punk Farm on Tour", and now I'm happy to share that my copy of  "Punk Farm" has arrived and is ready for use in my music classes!  And if my own children are any indication, my students are really going to enjoy this one!

While "Punk Farm on Tour" was a remake of "The Wheels on the Bus", this book is an updated version of "Old MacDonald", written by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.  In the story, we meet the band as a innoculous group of farm animals, but when Farmer Joe goes back to the farmhouse for the evening...look out!  These animals are ready to rock a packed house in the barn!

Here are some of my ideas for incorporating the book in music classes for young children: