Sunday Song - Una Gatita

Here's a Meg original for y'all. I'd like to thank my two cats, Amelie (la gatita) and Timoun (el gatote) for all of their inspiration, which comes in the form of mischievous attacks on my crafting material. To listen to the audio file click on the song title in the side bar.

Una gatita, una gatita
jugando con estambre
Una gatita, una gatita
No! No! No!

Un gatote, un gatote
jugando con estambre
Un gatote, un gatote,
No! No! No!

Translation:
A little cat, a little cat
playing with yarn
A little cat, a little cat
No! No! No!

A big cat, a big cat
playing with yarn,
A big cat, a big cat,
No! No! No!

I told a little story before I sang this song the first time. I was peacefully knitting my sweater when all of a sudden, a little cat jumped up on the chair, grabbed the ball of yarn, and started running away with it. I ran after her, reclaimed by yarn, and returned to knit. Then came the big cat .... you get the picture.

Hope you like it!

xo,
Meg

Let's Go Fly a Kite

The Saturday/Sunday Song is back after a little vacation. This week's hit single is:Oh, and you gotta love Chim Chim Cheree, too. Honestly, just about anything sung by Julie Andrews will be on my list!

As always, you will find my humble audio clip in the side bar, under "Songs to Sing with Children." Click on the title and the song will play directly from the blog - no need to download. Having trouble? You might be missing a plug-in. Read this post for troubleshooting.

Lyrics:
Let's go fly a kite
up to the highest height.
Let's go fly a kite
and send it soaring.
Up to the atmosphere,
up where the air is clear,
oh, let's go fly a kite.

xo,
Meg

Saturday Song - Green and Speckled Frogs

A Raffi favorite from my own childhood ...
As always, the audio is available in the side bar under "Songs to sing with children."

Start with any number and count down. In the audio file I begin with 5, but feel free to start at 50 if you have a long car ride ahead of you!

Five green and speckled frogs
sat on a speckled log,
eating some most delicious bugs (yum yum!)
One jumped into the pool,
where it was nice and cool.
Then there were four green, speckled frogs.

For hand motions:
"x green and speckled frogs"
Hold up the number of frogs with your fingers and move your hand from side to side.
"sat on a speckled log"
Touch your forearm (the log) with the fingertips of the other hand.
"Eating some most delicious bugs"
Pretend like you're eating.
"One jumped into the pool"
From forearm, the other hand "jumps" off toward the floor.
"Then there were x green speckled frogs."
Hold up hand again with new number of frogs.

Saturday Song - Tue Tue

First off on today's blogging agenda, I wanted to address some technical difficulties associated with these song clips. If the clips do not show up in your side bar under the title "Songs to Sing with Children," you are missing a plug-in that you will have to download. It might look like a green puzzle piece when you scroll over the empty space under the title. Click on it and it will guide you through the simple downloading process. If for some reason you are unable to download the plug-in, you can always listen to the files by clicking on the blue "View my Files" box in the side bar. Click once on the icon you want to listen to under "Songs for the Classroom" and the song will play - no need to download it to your computer first. Hope this helps!

And now for the big news ...In honor of the centennial celebration of the town of Creel, we were treated to a wonderful choral concert featuring a very well known children's choir from Morelia (in the south of Mexico.) It was a VERY big deal, as such concerts are rare in our little town in the sticks. We encouraged the parents at my school to bring their children. Many attended, as well as some of my students who graduated last year. Well, you won't believe what happened. The choir did a bit of a 'round the world tour, singing songs from various continents. When the director told us that they were going to sing a song from Africa, one of my students told me "Tue Tue is from Africa!" (Tue Tue is a classroom favorite.) And then the choir started singing Tue Tue!!! Words are not sufficient to describe the excitement and surprise of my students in attendance. Here's a really poor, flash-less photo to prove it:And that wasn't it! They also sang La Bamba, another favorite of my children. Wow. My children ran up to me after the concert and, with beaming little faces, told me "They sang our songs! They sang our song from Africa! And La Bamba! Those our our songs!" I thought to myself ... how interesting that they always refer to the songs as theirs. For me, this just further solidifies my believe in the importance of exposing children to different music from around the world at a tender age. The wonders of the absorbent mind allow the child to internalize everything, from language and song to movements and attitudes, and make it 100% theirs. Music from other lands is no longer strange. If they have the opportunity to try on clothing from other lands, it is no longer strange. Same goes with food. If these cultures are no longer strange, but rather interesting and exciting, so are the people who belong to the cultures. This is how to nurture compassionate, future citizens of the world. I blogged more about this idea here. So get to downloading the world music files if you haven't already. With that, I'll leave you with the song that caused all the uproar among my students - Tue Tue, a nonsense song from Ghana.

Tue tue barima tue tue
Tue tue barima tue tue
Abofroda, ama dawa dawa tue tue
Abofroda, ama dawa dawa tue tue
Barima tue tue .... tue tue.

Consider adding two claps after the first and second lines. This song can also be sung in a round.

Peace,
Meg

The Song Part 3 - Doña Cigueña

Last weekend I was traveling, and yesterday I was, well, I guess I just forgot! So here you have it ... another song to sing with your children. The audio file is available in the side bar - just click once on the title to listen.

Pssst! Don't forget to sign up for the Miniature Object Swap by the end of today!


Doña Cigueña, pico colorado,
una patita se ha quebrado.
Por eso camino con mucho cuidado,
un pie al suelo y el otro levantado.

Translation:
Madame Stork, colorful beak,
she has broken a leg.
She follows this path with much care,
one foot on the ground and the other raised.

Obviously the translation is not so catchy. This song is an "active" one. I call on a child, and then begin singing the song. While I'm singing, the child hops on one foot behind the children seated in a circle, and when the song is finished, he returns to his spot. I usually call on three or so children in one sitting, then move on to the next song. This way, they know that not everyone will get a turn. Although the song is cute, I can't imagine repeating it upwards of twenty times!

By the way, it would be prudent to have a grace and courtesy lesson on how to hop on one foot around the group! This is a fun lesson to give.

Saturday Song - Sur le Pont d'Avignon

Sur le Pont d'Avignon - On the Bridge of AvignonHearkening back to my days studying abroad in France, I present to you one of our classroom favorites:

Refrain
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse tout en rond.

verses
Les messieurs (mesdames) vont comme ci,
et puis, vont comme ca.

Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
l'on y danse tout en rond.

I didn't include the translation in the audio file (which you can access by clicking on the title in the "Songs to Sing with Children" box in the side bar,) but here it is in case you're interested:

On the bridge of Avignon
we all dance there, we all dance there
On the bridge of Avignon,
we all dance there in a ring.

The gentlemen (ladies) go this way,
and then, go that way.

We accompany this song with motions. The children stand in a circle and we all hold hands, swaying slightly during the refrain. During the verses, when it says messieurs, the boys bow when we sing "comme ci" and "comme ca." The girls curtsy when we sing "comme ci," "comme ca."

Curious about this famous bridge? Check out this Wikipedia article.

Have a great weekend!

Meg

Announcing the Saturday Song!

Okay, even though today is Friday, I couldn't wait one more day to post this! I had to choose Saturday because of the pretty alliteration. The Friday Song doesn't do it for me. From now on, every Saturday I will be posting an audio recording of a song that I sing with my children in the classroom along with the lyrics and explanations of any movements that accompany the song. The audio files are embarrassingly simple - it's just me singing a cappella. I would have accompanied myself with guitar, but my computer microphone isn't up to the challenge. Many of the songs you might already recognize, but please listen to the song before you write it off, as many of the English versions also have Spanish and/or French translations as part of the audio clip. Also, pardon the foreign lyrics, as they will be missing any accents or other letters that aren't easily available on my keyboard. I'm lazy. :)

To access the files, go to the side bar and you will find a box.net widget that is called "Songs to Sing With Children." Click once on the song title and the song will play directly from the blog - no need to download it, since you will only be listening in order to learn the song yourself. If you really want to download it, right click on the song title.


Today's Song:

It Rained A Mist / Llovio Ayer

It rained a mist, it rained a mist
It rained all over the _______, the _______,
It rained all over the _______.

Llovio ayer, llovio ayer
llovio por toda la/el ______, la/el ________,
Llovio por toda la/el ______.

The sample I give in the audio clip uses school/escuela. The Spanish translation is not exact, as the exact translation doesn't rhyme. The Spanish means "It rained yesterday."

We begin by singing the "school" version, then the children can raise their hands and suggest a place/thing that is rained on. For example, you would continue with "it rained all over the car/house/plants/trees/flowers, etc. for the other verses, whatever the children suggest.

Also, I want to make a plug for "The Garden Song (Inch by Inch)" which I have also posted in the "Songs to Sing with Children" box. This is a great time of year to be talking about botany, doing experiments with seeds and plants, and planting in your classroom garden (or indoor herbs/flowers if you aren't lucky enough to have outdoor space.) The Garden Song is perfect for this time of year.