#31 Movement, Dance & Drama - Updated 8/6/15
- Song Choreography
- MK8 Song/Musicals Choreography
- Books
- Broom Handles
- Circles Without Chaos
- Dance Ideas
- Mathematics
- Dance Instructions (Alphabetically)
- Drama
- Folk Dance
- Holding Hands
- Choosing Partners
- Marching
- Mirroring
- General Movement Ideas
- Poems & Movement
- Posturing
- Statues
- Recorded Music
- Movement during Testing
- PROPS
- Balloons, Balls, Plates, Ribbons[For Beanbags, see #29 Melody & Rhythm]
- Broom Handles
- Flashlights
- Hoops
- Jump Bands
- Maypoles
- Parachutes
- Scarves
- Skipping, Galloping
- Streamers
- Stretchies
- Noodles
- Tinkling Poles
- Websites
- Yarn Balls
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SONG CHOREOGRPHY
ASL: Here are the sites for signs. I love these -- you just click on the letter and you get a video of how to sign the word: ASL:http://commtechlab.msu.edu/SITES/ASLWEB/browser.htm_ - Stella - Rocklin, CA
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BARE NECESSITIES Have I got a song for you! I've done it with lots of groups of boys and they love it. I will even share my "bear-like" choreography. Costume: you can wear anything, but coveralls with flannel shirts and straw hats (barefoot?), bandanas in pocket is cute and usually do-able.
Put them in lines of 8-10 boys Line One of song: Look for the (on rest - Big "cymbal-like" slap and stomp one foot firmly on the floor at the same time)
Line Two: The simple (these 4 counts they wave their hands above their heads parallel to the ground and step 4 times in place.)
Line Three: "forget about . . .etc. - I have them walk in circle to the right with elbows out and knees up-swagger - use 8 exaggerated step beats to make circle (kind of a hick version of marching?)
Line 4: "I mean the - same as Line one
Line 5: "or mother natures recipes" (big circles on tummy)
Line 6: "will bring the bare etc" Like line 3 only go left.
Line 7: "Wherever I wander" (chain gang line to right - you know,right hand on right shoulder)
Line 8: "Wherever I go" Same thing to left
Line 9: "fonder" face front hands over heart
Line 10: "of my BIG . ." hands out and up
Line 11: "the bees" extend arms straight out to sides and have boys put fingers together on each hand and show buzzing bee coming toward them until on "honey" the bee stings their bottom.
Line 12: The b. Necessities (arms sharply out and down as if they were going to join hands) of life will come to you (point both hands)
Repeat Line 12 and at the end tack on an "And me" with them using thumbs to point to themselves.
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12/09 BOOGIE WOOGIE GHOST out of the old Macmillan Share the Music that even three year olds can do. Words and music are by Nadine M. Peglar. [The movement names are from John Jacobson's Choreography dictionary]
Section A
There was a ghost on Halloween, He really made the ghostie scene.
Rock forward, back, forward, back.
He was the Boogie Woogie Ghost, He was the ghostie with the most.
Zig zag zig zag. (Place hands of bent knees, point body left, rotate on heels to right, left, right.)
And when the kiddies came around , He'd give our with a ghostly sound.
Kick right foot, left foot, right, left.(heel on ground)
He'd go "Boo-oo-oo-ooo."
Vibrate-hands up, arms bent at elbows, shake all over.
2nd Verse same sequence.
Part B
Though he really wasn't very spooky.
Fly- hands up, down, up, down.
Kids all thought that he was rather cool.
Quake-arms extended to side with thumbs up, move upper body side to side.
Even though he was a little kooky,
Flop like a scarecrow.
He was just a special ghoul.
Shrink-bend down to small squat, hands on knees; Grow-stand up extend arms.
Section A repeats with different words, same movements.
We add a grand bow at the end. --- Betty Vacek
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CAN CAN
First the children identify the musical theme: (sing) Can-Can, Canny Canny Can-Can (great lyrics!). Next, I have them do the "Can-Can" joining arms in groups of 5 or less, just doing kicking in place. I play the recorded music, but tell them they can only do the "Can-Can" when they hear the EXACT theme. FORM: Introduction (stand and wait)
1st theme: (sing) That is not the music yet, oh, that is not the music yet...
2nd theme: (sing) Ha, ha, ha, ha, that is not the music yet (shake fingers in "no, no," motion)
Transition: (sing) Think it's coming, think it's coming, ready set and here it is ...
CAN-CAN Dance: When the 1st 2 themes come back, they relax arms, regroup, and find when the music comes back, CAN-CAN Dance
Coda: (sing) Drop hands and Can-Can by yourselves back to your seat . . . The end, the end, the end, the end, the end ...... THE .... END!
My version is a "live" recording and at this point there is thunderous applause.
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07/05 COTTON EYED JOE My kids love the Cotton Eye Joe (not the one in the STM books). The music I use I think came from Christy Lane, maybe from a dance party CD. Anyway, you have 2 lines, facing partners. Here's how I call it:
Step together step (moving sideways to the right)
Step together step (moving sideways to the left) (as you move sideways, hold your hands up, palms flat, like washing windows, as you move)
Jump, clap, jump, clap, jump, clap, jump, clap (each time you jump, you are moving backwards, away from your partner)
Right arm swing (8 counts)
Left arm swing (8 counts) Face your partner. (start over again, with step together step) I do this with grades 2-5.
My sons learned it at cotillion; can also be done as a double circle. Julie Jones
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01/07 COTTON EYED JOE: I've done Cotton Eyed Joe with 4th. They LOVED it. It is so repetitive, you could probably do it with 2nd: (scattered formation)
Right foot (RF):tap forward twice. tap back twice,
Tap to far right once, bring foot across front of body & slap foot with left hand,
Tap to far right once, bring foot behind body & slap heel with left hand
Take 8 counts to turn body 180 degrees making a lasso motion overhead. (I like to clap on beats 7 & 8 because I think it helps to keep students focused & ready for the next sequence.)
REPEAT ABOVE USING LEFT FOOT.
At the end of the sequence, you are back in the original position. Continue until music stops. -- Linda Abbot
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06/02 CROCODILE ROCK - (Elton John)- by Janet Mattke, Ann Arbor, MI
Formation: Either partners facing each other in two lines/concentric circles/scattered.
Intro: 8 m. 4/4 - dancers "feel" beat and adapt to
tempo of recording Sections A & B repeat
A: (quarter notes) R step L slide R st L sl/ R st L sl R st L touch /scoop hands in direction of steps
REPEAT above in opposite direction beg. w. L ft.
(half notes) R step forward L step/ R step L touch/
L step back R step/ L step R touch/
B: Partners clap (8X)
Patsch patsch
Clap clap (own)
clap clap (partners)
clap clap (partner LH palm up, RH palm down)
C: Interlude (LA________la la la la LA___________etc)
Dancers do your own thing for 8 m.
Form is: AA BB C AA BB C AA BB C C C C.........
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10/08 DAY-O This is such a little thing but it went so well I had to share. When I asked my 5th graders to make up a motion for the "response" in "Day-O," which goes "Daylight come and me wan go home." (Silver Burdett, Making Music gr 5), a boy suggested we shake hands with a partner. So here's what we did: The students walked around during the "call" and stopped to shake hands with the nearest person on the "response." We shook hands with a different person almost every time! So, it went: walk around 8 beats, shake hands 8 beats, walk around 8 beats, shake hands 8 beats, etc. It was such a simple thing, but they loved it and they really sang out!! Anything I can do to get those 5th graders singing, I'm game!!! I bet they'll wanna do it again next week. It's a great ice breaker to help the kids get to know each other here at the beginning of the year too!
Next I put two patterns on the board for us to play instruments along with the song. I put words to the patterns too. One pattern was for the call and one for the response: Call pattern: "Come Mister Tally Man" (ta ti-ti ti-ti ta) repeat once Response: "Wan go home" (ta ta toom) repeat once. After they chanted and clapped the patterns we transferred to a few guiros (first pattern) and drums (second pattern). We took turns so everyone got to play an instrument by the end of class. --- Meredith Harley Inserra
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12/03 DECK THE HALLS (Modified from someone else’s idea)Stomp the Halls (Deck the halls)
Choose partners who stand at arms distance facing each other. Teach the following pattern:
4 steps fwd (Deck the halls with...holly)
2 partner claps (fa la la la la la)
3 rhythmic stomps (la la la)
4 steps back (tis the season...jolly)
2 claps
3 stomps
Right elbow swing (Don we now...)
2 claps
3 stomps
Left elbow swing (Troll the ancient...)
2 claps
3 stomps
Repeat for as many verses available. - Contributed by Gretchen in IL
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FROSTY THE SNOWMAN (movements)
line 1: Frosty...clap (4)
Line 2 : patsch (3+rest)
Line 3 : stomp for 3
Line 4: Turn (4)
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01/07 GOD BLESS AMERICA When I do motions for songs such as God Bless America, I basically simplify "signing." I use two sources for words: ASL (American Sign Language) and I go to another site to get words that ASL doesn't have - religious words, etc. See below for web addresses. I never sign every single word because it's too busy and too difficult - not to mention not very easy to watch from an audience. So, I simply, modify and come up with some of my own - depending on the feel of the music, etc. My rule of thumb is: keep it big, broad & moving and make it fit the feel of the music. Here's what I did for God Bless America:
GOD - Check the second site below -- Basically, it's the same as the sign for "father," but you extend down from Heaven.
BLESS -- second site- below
AMERICA -- ASL
LAND -- ASL
I = point to self
LOVE = ASL
STAND BESIDE HER = Stand straight, arms down at sides
GUIDE = ASL
NIGHT = Palms together, tilt head and lay it on top of hands
LIGHT = I used the sign for "bright"
ABOVE = point up to ceiling - straight arm
MOUNTAINS = Tips of fingers form mountain shape & move up with each beat (3 beats)
PRAIRIES = I use the motion umpires use in baseball - but slower motion
OCEANS = motion of waves -- like ASL, but just the second part of motion
FOAM = ASL for "splash"
MY = same as "I"
HOME = make roof with hands (like mountains, actually - just don't move up, up , up)
SWEET = ASL - but don't pat chin
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01/02 GREENSLEEVES
Here's one of my own invention: The Snow Flower (possibly K or 1) Movement to Vaughn-Williams' "Greensleeves"
Part I: 20 or so children7 seated on the floor curled up in a ball with their heads down during introduction (solo violin).
Part II: "On the longest night of the winter, the snow flakes flurry about as the full moon shines down." All children on stage get up and free form dance around with lots of hand and arm movements depicting snow during main Greensleeves theme.
Part III: "The snow settles back down and the North Wind begins to blow." Five or six children with blue and white scarves run around the stage and wherever they go, the other children on stage (curled up in a ball again) rise up and move arms around to show the stirring-up effect of the wind on the snow drifts during second theme.Part IV: "The North Wind ceases to blow and all is quiet and still as the Snow Flower rises up out of the snow and blossoms in full glory.
It is crystal clear, made only of ice; it is very large and very delicate and very very beautiful." One (or more if you like) child in the center of the stage (who had been one of the snowflakes earlier) rises up in imitation of a flower growing and blooming during solo violin part.
Part V: "The snow begins to fall again and the Snow Flower shatters, becoming part of the snow once again." All children who had depicted the snow earlier rise up and dance about as before during the Greensleeves theme, settling back down into a ball again as the music ends.
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01/07 HAMSTER DANCE Radio Disney Jams CD, volume 3
My 2nds LOVE this one and continue to ask for it in 3rd & 4th grades!
Stand in a circle (or several circles if needed): As music starts, do the hamster 'thing' (hands in front of mouth making a quick chewing motion as if eating).
Part A-hands on hips nod 2x to the right then 2x left, nod 2x to the right then 2x left.
Put palms up & out (left out left, right out right-don't worry if they don't actually make contact with the person on each side). While in this position, side step to the right 4x. REPEAT ABOVE
Part B-Pat legs 2x, clap 2x, left hand out (as if receiving something-2 counts),
Right hand out (same way-2 counts). Both arms up-(as if being held up)-slowly bring down-8 counts total. REPEAT ABOVE
Basically, the sections alternate. Listen for the 'clap you hands' part. I just have the students bounce in place while clapping on right side then left (2 counts each or as half notes). At the end, repeat the hamster 'thing' -- Linda Abbot
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The best hand jive I've ever heard is on Ambrose Brazelton's CD "Clap, Snap and Tap". Great for K and 1 during the first week of school -- he walks them right through it and then speeds it up to music. There are two parts to it:
Part One -- clap clap, patsch patsch, pound fists twice, switch hands and pound twice again, pound one fist into the opposite palm twice, switch hands and repeat, touch one elbow twice, switch and repeat.
Part Two -- imaginary lasso overhead four times, repeat with the other arm, hitchhike four times, repeat with the other hand, "cool wave" four times (palm extended waist high, small circles), repeat with the other hand, reach high and "catch a fly", smash the fly, throw it away, and stomp on it with one foot.
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01/02 HAPPINESS by Donovan
Happiness runs in a circular motion (Heel toe heel toe step together step hop)
Love is a little boat upon the sea (Heel toe heel toe step together step hop - other direction)
Everybody is a part of everything anyway (repeat above)
You can be happy if you let yourself be (repeat opposite direction)
Ba - ba ba ba ba...... (step back,back, back, hop and clap)
keep going with the ba - ba ba ba etc. (step forward etc.)
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12/03 JINGLE BELLS - I do a "Jingle Bell dance" with my students that they love. I credit Denise Gagne with this one although I've modified it a bit. Using the music of Jingle bells, prepare card sets with the following key words printed on them (1 word per set. I use 5 sets of 4 words): Way, fun, ride, bells. Shuffle up and place randomly on chairs in classroom. I also write these on the board. Ask kids to look at their card and memorize their word. This is the word from the song that they will have to answer to by standing up and sitting right back down every time we get to that word. BUT, (write the word sleigh/ing on the board), everyone must answer to this word by standing up, turning around once, and then sitting back down. I play thru the song a bit slowly at the piano for a practice run and to make sure everyone is "getting" it. Then I play the cd recording "a tempo" and the kids have at it! It's a great warm-up or break from whatever the class has been doing. I did this with 1st-8ths successfully.-Contributed by Gretchen in IL
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12/03 SMOKY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS CD : After we did the dance successfully with the music once, we put on wrist bells and did it again. The kids had a blast.
1. We learned this two measure ostinato by clapping and saying rhythm syllables:
ti-ti ta ti-ti ta, ta ta ta rest. (For those of you who are Orff puritans, I know the rhythm is parallel, but it seems to work)
2. Practice the ostinato 4 times without stopping.
3. Practice the ostinato with "magic lips." In my classroom, that means we clap it and mouth the syllables or words, but don't make any sound with our mouths.
4. Add clapping ostinato to the chorus portion (4 times) of the CD.
5. Students stand in a circle. Practice sideways gallop 16 beats to the right and then 16 beats to the left. 6. Put dance to the music using the form below.
Here's the form of Jingle Bells from the Smoky Mountain Christmas CD.
8 beat introduction
Chorus - clap ostinato 4 times.
Verse - sideways gallop right 16 beats. Sideways gallop left 16 beats.
Chorus - clap ostinato 4 times.
Verse - sideways gallop right 16 beats. Sideways gallop left 16 beats.
4 beat interlude - pat beat on thighs
Chorus - clap ostinato 4 times.
Verse - sideways gallop right 16 beats. Sideways gallop left 16 beats.
Chorus - clap ostinato 4 times. (with ritardando the last time)
4 beat Coda - "One horse open sleigh" Shake jazz hands (fingers open) in the air above head and then end with a bow. - Contributed by Beth Spreen
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12/03 JINGLE BELL POLKA - The directions are for the outside person beginning with Verse. Outside person start with weight on left foot .
Right foot then does heel toe ( heel to the side and then toe crossing over left foot.) heel toe.
Dashing through the snow - slide, slide, slide slide.
In a one horse open sleigh - Repeat to the left,
Or the fields we go laughing all the way. - Repeat all of the above for the next two phrases.
Chorus Jingle Bells. Patty cake game with partner.
For this part I always sing
Right,Right Right, Left,Left,Left, Both(pat my partners hands)
both, both, both mine (clap my own hands on the word "way.")
Swing around my partner now and stop back in my own place.
Repeat the above for the next Jingle bells but use:
Swing around my partner now and move to the partner on the right.
Repeat whole song with new partner.
Sanna presented this dance at a regional Kodaly conference in Fargo, North Dakota in the early eighties if I remember right. She actually taught the dance with the patty cake first without us knowing what the music was. Many recognize the rhythm.
I simplify this dance for lower grades. The first time I introduce it in a single circle.
Verse Circle to the right until "way" then Repeat to the left.
Chorus Clap own hands to rhythm of "Jingle Bells"
" Oh what fun" circle hands around each other In front waist high.
Repeat clapping and circles for last two phrases.
The next time the class meets we learn:
1 "inside circle/outside circle"
2 practice sliding around the circle with a partner,
Then reverse directions.
3 Practice patting with a partner
( Hint) Have one student tap the rhythm on his partners still hands.
Eventually your students will be ready to add the heel toe and the hand pattern. A good third grade bunch can accomplish the complete dance with changing partners. - Contributed by Jeri Langemo
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JINGLE BELL ROCK
clap (2) pat thighs(2).... twice
down-up (2).. i.e. knee bends(4 beats)
scissors kick (4)
Turn (4)
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01/02 JOHN HENRY BOOGIE I did it last year with GREAT success with grade 4/5 choir. One thing I did was to make paper cup hammers. I know this sounds strange, but try to envision... I used pvc pipe for handles. I put two sturdy cups together, cut out a hole in top and bottom so that the pipe slipped in. I spray painted the cups black first. I glued the pipe handle to the cups well with hot glue. Voila! A two-headed hammer!
I made enough of these for ALL my chorus boys- a dozen. I divided the boys 6 to a side. One boy was John Henry and one was the Boss. The other guys lined up beside each of these fellows, on either side of the stage area. All boys wore red bandanas around their necks. The boss had an engineers cap on, too. When the music started they entered from each side, moving to the music , and met in the middle. They used their hammers to act out striking something. All making the motions in unison. Their back up singers (40-50 girls (!)- did like movements behind them. They used their hammers to act as train wheels and crossed stage front , crossing each other, and circled back to their spots. They basically acted out the tale. JH gets to die on stage (very dramatic fall!)
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12/03 JOY TO THE WORLD
All sit in circle with 2 rhythm sticks each. Teach pattern:
4 taps (floor) Joy to the world..
4 taps tog (self) Lord has come...
titi ta (floor) earth re-
Some versions hold this phrase longer so just do titi titi titi ta to the end of phrase.
1 tap (floor), flip/catch, 2 taps (self) Let every (repeat) Prepare Him room...
4 taps (self)
4 taps (neighbors)
8 taps (alternating self/neighbors) - Contributed by Gretchen in IL
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10/01 MANY FLAGS IN MANY LANDS
Verse 1 "like our own red, white, and blue:" measure 13: red goes up on the word "red" and holds white goes up on the word "white" and holds blue goes up on the word "blue" and holds for two counts in measure 14. Everyone goes down together on the third beat of measure 14. "its stripes and white stars, too.
measure 17: red and white go up on the word ''stripes" and hold blue (with white star on it) goes up on the word "white" and holds
Everyone go down together on the third beat of measure 18measure 21: same as 13
Verse 2 "we shall always love the stars and stripes."
measure 8: blue up on the word "stars" and hold. red and white up on the word "stripes" and hold
Everyone hold to the third beat of measure 10 on the word true all go down.
measure 13: same as V1
measure 17: same as V1
measure 21: same as V1, take them down on the third beat of the second ending and put them back up again by color for the ending and hold until you cut the voices off.
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04/03 MARCH: I have done a "marching routine" as a part of the First Grade Flag Day Program for several years. I have 3 first grade classes and we perform on the gym floor with the audience mostly in the bleachers, but each class practices in my classroom to get the basic patterns before we put it all together. Each class stands in 3 rows (when the classes get together the rows are the same, only longer). For the program, they were on risers and held small American flags.
A- row 1 marches forward, then stops and hands move from shoulders down and out (half note beat) - row 2 marches forward, when first row is out of their way, arms move out and in from shoulders(half note beat) - row 3 marches forward, when row 2 is out of their way, arms move from shoulders up (half note beat)
B - all rows turn and march to their left using the entire space, turn and march behind their own line until they reach the place where they started. (In a small space, you need to repeat)
C- rows 1, 2, and 3 from each class do a Right Hand Star(flags are in right hands) then change to a Left Hand Star (flags still in RH). With 3 classes there are 9 stars moving at the same time, it looks great!
D - each class marches to form their own circle
C - march in large circle, flags to inside, then flags to outside (on repeat)
D- march to center, wave flags, turn and march out, wave flags (repeat)
C- each class then marched to form one letter of U S A, waved flags to beat until the end. - Contributed by Sandra Raff
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01/07 MORE WE GET TOGETHER: Form a circle holding hands.
First Phrase: Circle left.
Second Phrase: Circle right.
Third Phrase: Move inward raising hands. Move back lowering hands.
Last Phrase: Circle left. -- [This idea came from a workshop I attended years ago.] -- Nancy Jolley
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MOUSEKETEERS SONG
SECTION A: Now a cowboy needs a horse (needs a horse, needs a horse)
And a cowboy needs a hat (needs a hat, needs a hat)
And he ought to have a rope (have a rope, have a rope)
If he wants to keep a ridin'.
Now a cowboy needs some boots (fancy boots, fancy boots)
And a set of shiny spurs (shiny spurs, shiny spurts)
And he ought ot have a song (have a song have a song)
If he wants to keep a ridin'
SECTION B:
Oh the fence is long And the sun is hot And the Good Lord know that...ridin'...along_______. SECTION A1:
Now if a cowboy has a horse and a hat and a rope and a pair of fancy boots, shiny spurs and a song
Then there's very little else in the world that he needs if he wants to keep ridin'.....,(ridin')BR>ridin'.....along________
ENDING (Coda, if you will):
On a horse with a hat and a rope wearing boots And he's ridin' along!
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V 10/08 “MOVE IT!” (CD, VIDEO & Booklet)- Expressive Movements With Classical Music For All Ages by Peggy Lyman and John M. Feierabend
This package combines a DVD, guidebook, and audio CD to present 20 imaginative dances set to classical works from Brahms's Waltz in A-flat to Prokofiev's Romeo And Juliet. The adaptable choreography is perfect for early childhood specialists, elementary music teachers, and dance educators for use with children of all ages. The movements reflect both the form and the expressive quality of the music, embodying Feierabend's theories of music and movement development and Lyman's belief in the emotional power of gesture.
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07/05 OH SUSANNA My K's just did this at their classroom concert last week. They came up with the choreography. Here's what we did:
Every time we said knee, they picked up their leg and slapped it with one hand On the chorus: Everybody went up and down with their hands out in front (simulating riding a horse) to the beat. 2nd verse, had a few more actions: rained....hands trickle down (like in Itsy bitsy spider) dry....wiped hands around (like cleaning a board) sun so hot....looked up (like looking at the sun) and blocked the rays with our hands...one close to head and one farther away...like it is bright and hot. cry....wipe cheeks down with pointer fingers. -- Rhonda in WI
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03/03 OLD COW'S HIDE
This week I introduced my 3rds to the STM 2000 song "Old Sow's Hide" which I am using to teach phrases. This song has 3 distinct phrases: a question phrase, an answer phrase, and a refrain type phrase. During our 1st session on Mon., I simply had them listen to the song and id the various questions & answers. Then they all stood up. I played the song again asking them to sit on the question phrase, stand on the answer, and step in place on the refrain (to further help them differentiate btwn. each phrase). That was all.
But today, in reviewing the song and mvmt, in a flash, an idea came to me. I divided them up into 3 groups with each one standing at a different wall. Each group was assigned a phrase and had to come up with a movement to suit their phrase. The question/answer phrase groups chose a pose that they held (froze), the refrain group chose a mvmt that went with the beat. Each group 1st demonstrated their move for the others. Then, I played the cd, and when we got to each phrase, the corresponding group did their move. BUT, on the short instrumental interlude between verses, I had the groups rotate. That meant their phrase changed and so did their move. There are 4 verses so everyone got to each wall and then back to where they started. After the game, there were several comments like "That was fun", and "Can we do that again." -- Contributed by Gretchen in IL
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01/07 OLD TIME ROCK AND ROLL: I used "Old Time Rock & Roll" (any lively piece would do) & made up steady beat/continuous motions the students copied. The point was to cross the midline of the body-a good way to unite the 2 sides of the brain for better total brain effort & learning ability. Some of the movements included:
“Clearing the Table”: Right arm sweeping in front of the body left to right (repeat on other side)
“Clean the Window”-quick circle with palm up (alternate quickly right then left)
“John Travolta” moves-right finger points up left then down right-4x then do same on other side
“Rainbow-same as clearing the table except going overhead
“Palm Out” -as if slapping the wall in front of you. Right hand out in front of left shoulder, left hand in front of right shoulder Put hand on shoulder and stick elbow out. Stick right elbow out in front of left shoulder, repeat with left elbow in front of right shoulder. Not all moves need to cross midline. -- Linda Abbot
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10/08 OVERTURE TO WILLIAM TELL - some of the music is loud, some medium, and some quiet. We sat down on the quiet parts, stood up straight on the medium parts, and jumped around with our hands in the air for the loud parts. Be sure to tell them "Don't use your mouths -- just your bodies!" --- Nikki Febinger
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01/07 PACHELBEL CANON: I taught the word 'ostinato' in sign language. We 'spelled' out 1 letter for each note of the melody. When most students seemed comfortable with that, I asked them to move around the room taking 1 step for each note/letter. This turned out to be a riot because when my hand started to get tired I switched hands and so did most of the kids! I even tried 2 hands at once-again they copied. The BEST part: most of the students felt they needed to see me, so I started walking backwards around the room-still keeping eye contact. Before I knew it, I felt like the Pied Piper leading children around the room in a "circle mass". (If you don't want all of them to move at once, you could have 1 class spell the word, then the other. The non-spelling class could just freeze in place.) I have a CD with many different versions of the piece, so we repeated the process over several classes changing styles each time. The grand finale was a techno version-lots of bouncing in place while we waited for the melody to show up so we could sign! - Linda Abbot
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05/03 A RAM SAM SAM
Here are the movements we just made up in class yesterday, after talking about the process of making bread:
A RAM SAM SAM - we "stirred" ingredients in a big bowl w/a big stick.
Guli...etc - we PULLED our ten spread out fingers UP as if magically making the yeast rise. (we compared it to Micky casting a spell in a recently-viewed Sorceror's Apprentice) On the last "ram" of this phrase, we used our ten fingers to punch down the dough just once.
A rafi..... -we "kneaded" by pounding our fists together.
Guli...etc - we made the yeast rise as in line two. At the end, on the last "ram" we put the bread in the oven! -- Contributed by Dan Fee05/03 A RAM SAM SAM = pounding fists, alternating
Guli guli = kneading motions with hands facing one another
Arafi = tossing the invisible bread dough into the air and catching it at the end of the word (note) Contributed by Artie Almeida05/03 A RAM SAM SAM A ram Sam Sam (hands in fists, one on top of the other sideways. Hit the "top" of the fist-thumb and index-of one hand with the fist of the other sideways, then switch) Hooley gooley gooley gooley-rolling hands
Ram Sam Sam-same fist, but this time hit once, then switch
A Raffi A raffi-hands in front, fingertips of each touching, the circle arms overhead twice Hoooley gooley gooley gooley-rolling hands
Ram Sam Sam-fist stuff
I learned this from a preschool teacher I used to teach Sunday School with, so I don't know how authentic the actions are! -- Contributed by Karen Stafford
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07/05 ROCKIN’ ROBIN What we did was:
Verses: Bend knees on the beat, just boppin' basically!
Chorus: Rockin' Robin tweet tweet tweet Rockin' Robin tweet tweet tweet - we did the disco finger point up and point down diagonal
Blow....(rest of chorus) put fingers up near mouth (not to cover mouth) and pretended to play the trumpet.
Bridge: we swayed left and right on the beat on: Bless my soul we froze and crossed hands over chest on: out bopped...stood strait on:
Oriole - we swayed forward and then straight up (we were going to go back...but too scary on risers!) - Rhonda in W
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The hand jive fits nicely into this song- you could do it on the verses and something else on the chorus- or on your intro and interlude!
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01/07 SARASPONDA: Sarasponda, sarasponda, sarasponda - hand roll (hands roll around each other) Ret set set - patsch all three
Ah-do-ray-oh - shake hands in air (shaking jazz hands)
Ah-do-ray boom-day-oh - same
Ah-do-ray boom-day ret set set - shake hands, patsch (ret, set, set)
Ah-say pa-say oh - clap beat -- Susan Simandle Music Specialist
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SEVEN JUMPS
For Primary, (upper likes it too) I usually have them march to the beat until the fermata..the strings, I believe it is a guitar and violin, and then the children bend on the fermata, the first sound, and jump when it is released, once, the short tone. They march again until the second fermata where it happens twice and they bend and jump twice, and continues this way until seven jumps are completed. Primary loves this because some fermatas are longer than others and it "catches" them.
For upper primary and middle and high, etc...(lower primary loves it too). I believe this is a folk dance, and I believe I have seen it in the K- Share the Music manual. Dancers in a circle formation, or several circles, holding hands and skipping to the beat, circling either left or right. On the first fermata, all dancers stop and go down on one knee, starting on the fermata and touching knee to ground on the short tone at the end. They raise up and then skipping again, same direction, until the second fermata, and go down on one knee, then the other knee, all in time with the second tone. It continues in the same manner until all 7 "jumps" are completed. Actually there is no jumping in this version. After the knees, one elbow, then the next, then one hand, the other hand, then the head, alternating with the skipping. They are all on thefloor by the end and just love this version too.
We have the students perform each position during the fermata. They especially enjoy the 'extra long' ones.
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06/02SHUFFLE - We did this version with KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way I Like It."
Beat 1 & 2: Hop forward - rest
Beat 3 & 4: Hop backward - rest
Beat 5 - 8: Hop forward 3 steps - rest (Most of my kids do this by being on the toes of the right foot, so that the right leg is bent slightly as they hop forward)
Beat 1 & 2: Step touch to the right
Beat 3 & 4: Step touch to the left
Beat 5 - 8: Two "cha cha" steps (as in Cha Cha Slide)
Beat 1 & 2: Right foot step - left knee up
Beat 3 & 4: Left foot step - right knee up
Beat 5 - 8: Repeat Beats 1 - 4.
Here's where some of the variations come in, during this sequence. Many of the kids make a quarter turn during beats 1 - 4, then stay in place for the next 4 beats before beginning again facing a new direction. A group this afternoon was making a complete rotation plus a quarter turn, which confused me because I could never remember which wall I was supposed to be facing.
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STAR SPANGLED BANNER
From beginning, stand respectfully holding plate over heart to measure 15: red and white go up on word "stripes"
all go down on third beat of measure 18. plate over heart
measure 29: all colors up on word "flag," first beat. hold until
measure 31: sway until
measure 36: stop on first beat of word "free," hold until third beat of
measure 39 word "brave" all down together
measure 43: extend plates straight up over head by rows on the beats. row 1, 2, 3, etc. you've got 12 beats to get them all up and 13 rows, so the last two rows go together. As the last beat dies out, I give the signal and they fly them out over the gym floor.
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05/21 STAR SPANGLED BANNER
We are making a giant flag out of 8 1/2 X 11 paper- each piece of paper is part of the flag and when held up on the risers by each student, it becomes a giant flag. Also, at the "home of the brave" ending, we are going to pop bubble wrap for the sound of fireworks and throw crepe paper streamers (attached to sticks so you don't have to let go of them) to look like fireworks.
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STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER - plates up on pick up to measure 5. sway with the beat, to the left 2 counts - to the right 2 counts. alternate rows on direction of sway.
measure 13: start the up and down movement so it's random. continue to
measure 21: use the plate in the right hand to salute. continue to
measure 29: elbows out, hold plate right below chin, continue to
measure 31: extend plate above head continue to
measure 33: emphasize word "might" by pulling plate down to top of head and sticking it back up
measure 34: emphasize word "right" same way and then go into a sway left-right to repeat back to 5.
second ending: all plates snap down together on "er!" 1st beat 2nd ending.
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THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND (Gestures)
1. This: Hold your hands together, with palms up and fingers touching. Then move them apart in a sweeping gesture.
2. Land: With both palms down and hands open, make a large circle with your right hand over your left hand.
3. Is: Touch your lips with the tip of your right index finger. Then move the hand straight ahead.
4. Your: Hold your right hand with palm out and fingers together. Move the hand out toward the person being spoken to.
5. My: Touch your chest with your open right hand.
6. From: Point your left index finger up. Touch your right hand, in the "X" position, to the left index finger. Then move the right hand away
7. California: Touch your earlobe with the index finger of your right hand. Then move the hand down and into the 'Y' position.
8. To: Point the index finger of your right hand to the tip of the upright index Finger of your left hand. 9. New York: Move your right hand, in the Y" position, back and forth in the open palm of your left hand.
10. Island: Make a circle with your right hand, in the I" position, on the back of your left closed fist.
11. Redwood forest (forest)Move the elbow of your upright right arm from the back of your left wrist to the fingertips while turning the right hand back and forth.
12. Waters: Move your hands from right to leave, making the motion of waves.
13. Made: With both hands in the S' position, place your right hand on top of your left. Twist the two fists and strike them together
14. For: Touch your forehead with your right index finger. Then point the finger forward.
15. You: Gesture ahead with your right hand, palm' up.
16. Me: Move the fingertips of your bent right hand down your body
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04/03 THIS LITTLE LIGHT
1) This little light Hold index finger up and wave L. to R.
I'm thumbs to chest
Gonna let it shine jazz hands wave above head
2) Hide it under a bushel (you probably already know this)
Hide eyes then yell "NO!" on the rest
Gonna..... as before
3) This big world of ours hands in circle over head, sway L. to R. Gonna ..... as before
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04/03 THIS OLD MAN
Knick, knack - clap/dust hands (like sliding cymbals?)
Paddy whack - left hand on right shoulder, right hand on left shoulder (crossing arms) (these 4 motions are quarter note beats)
Give the dog a bone - serve the "bone" palm up (one hand only, forget the other hand)
This old man came rolling - roll hands over and over REAL FAST
Home - point back over your shoulders with both thumbs.
That is the chorus part. When I start the song with preschoolers I first show them the chorus part. That is all we do for the first lesson.
1 - Thumb "Show me 1!" tap on thumb with "1"
2 - Shoe, knock on your shoe
3 - Knee, knock on your knee
4 - FLOOR (not door), (because it's right under you) knock on floor
5 - Hive, lace fingers of both hands to gether to make a beehive. Then eat the honey out of the hive "Yum, Yum"
6 - Sticks, mallet motions
7 - I love this one, Make a sad pouty face and point up to heaven with one hand and put your other hand over your heart. Then smile big on the chorus, because this old man is watching you from heaven!
8 - Gate, hands bent at 90 degrees, open and close one "gate"
9 - Spine, find the boney ridges on your back, that is your spine
10 - My favorite, a BIG ritardando on "This old man played over again. . . "
BIG GRAND PAUSE. (twiddle thumbs, roll your eyes, tap your toe. . .)then a tempo on the chorus to the end! We always end up laughing after the grand pause. It's actually a saesura (sp?) because we stop the beat. I have to take a big loud breath so we can all come in together on the chorus. They all learn to watch me with this song.--Contributed by Jerri Shuman
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11/01 TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS -
A partridge in a pear tree.......hands palms together on top of head.
2 turtle doves........fold arms at elbows and flap
3 French hens.....one hand on top of head like a cock's comb, other hand on hip
4 calling birds...cup hands around mouth
5 golden rings.....arms over head, fingertips touching
6 geese a laying....quick squat and up again (watch out for 5th grade sound effects.)
7 swans a swimming.......crawl stroke
8 maids a milking........pretend your holding on to a cow, althernate hands up and down. (watch out for 5th grade wise guys.)
9 ladies dancing........one fingertip on top of head, turn in a circle.
10 drummers drumming.......pretend your playing a drum
11 pipers piping.......pretend you're holding and playing a recorder
12 Lords a leaping.....ONE hop.
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06/10 TURN THE GLASSES OVER
Inner circle and outer circle. Partners take hand (skaters hands and promenade CCW while singing,
I've been to Harlem (kind scuff your heels as you walk like your bragging) I've been to Dover,
I've traveled this wide world all over
Over ,Over (dishrag)
Three times over (Three times dishrag in all)
Drink all the Brandy wine( lemonade, what you have to drink- substitute these words if you can't sing brandy wine) And turn the glasses over, (This is here the gents raise their hand over the girls head and send her facing in the opposite direction. Girls are traveling CW while boys continue CCW.
Sailing east, Sailing west, Sailing over the ocean
Better watch out when the boat begins to rock or you'll lose your girl in the ocean.
(Grab the closest new partner and be ready to start again. Girls without a partner raise their hand and gents rush to meet up with them. I always try to have an extra student in the center during the game so that they rush to steal partners at the right time (like musical chairs.) --- Listee, MK8 Newsletter
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TWELVE DAYS OF VACATION song from the list and added hand signals. It worked well as a last minute addition to a school program. I had students write posters and had children hold them up in order so the studentbody would know the proper order to sing. In class I used a transparency and kept each day hidden until needed.
On the first day of vacation my mother said to me:
1. Get up it's a quarter past three. (point to wrist)
2. Have you any homework? (arms outstretched, palms up)
3. Please don't shout! (hands over ears)
4. Go clean up your room! (Thumb - like a hitchhiker)
5. No more TV! (hands together then separate - like a baseball signal)
6. Please don't hit your sister. ( Hands prayer like in front of chest).
7. When's vacation over? (Hand on forehead)
8. That's enough candy! (Hands on stomach)
9. Stop playing with your Gameboy (Arms staight out- hands in stop position)
10. Don't sit on your brother! (Bend over slightly - hands on hips)
11. Get down off the table! (Both hands - point toward floor)
12. Go stay with your grandma! (Large signal - point off into the distance with one hand)
I found the more exaggerated the signals the better.
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TURKEY IN THE STRAW-I use this to teach it that way instead of Do Your Ears Hang Low. I tell the story (true) about the one legged wild turkey that used to hang out in my backyard. he would hop from place to place always balancing on that leg. I play Turkey in the Straw on the guitar or banjo and have the kids hop on one leg. If I play fast they hop fast If I play slow they hop slow. If I stop playing they freeze. Works well and passes on an older tune.
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YANKEE DOODLE
Clapping patterns
ti ti ti ti ti ti ti ti (first line of verse) (2 times 1 is two-o a-and)
ti ti ti ti ta ta (2nd line of verse) (2 times 2 is fo-ur)
ti ti ti ti ti ti ti ti (3rd line) (2 times 3 is si-ix a-and)
ti ti ti ti ta ta (4th line) (2 times 4 is ei-eight)
(another verse takes you thru 2 (or whatever) times 8 and the refrain covers whatever times 9 thru whatever times 12.)
Pattern:
/ / / / --- c r c l
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01/07 YANKEE DOODLE: Two lines facing each other:
1) Four steps up, four back , repeat
2) Head couple goes down the middle do whatever movement they choose
3) Repeat till all have gone down the middle -- Susan C. Harris
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10/01 "YOU'RE A GRAND OLD FLAG" (You'll need one red, white, or blue plate per student. There were about 60 kids on the risers, and the stripes of color ran vertically up through group. I think we had 6 stripes total. Think in 8-beat phrases, 2-beats per measure, 4 measures per phrase. R=red / W=white / B=blue.)
ms. 1: R&W 2 shakes up and to right while B tap 2X in front of body like a tambourine
ms. 2: reverse of ms.1
ms. 3&4: repeat ms. 1&2
ms. 5-8: R,W, & B shake in a large clockwise circle in front of body from six o'clock (in front of chest)
ms. 9: R hold in front of face (keep in place)
ms. 10: W same ms.11: B same
ms.12: R, W, & B Down/Up (down to belt buckle, then straight up over head)
ms. 13-16: R, W, B Forward/Back 4X (both hands on plate, thrust out from face and back)
ms. 17-20: repeat ms. 1-4
ms. 21-24: repeat meas 5-8
ms.25-28: R, W, & B fan plate to right in front of neighbors face, Repeat to left, then right, and left again. (A real test of working cooperatively!)
ms. 29-31: hold plates in right hand and arc left to right over head for FIVE beats, stopping on "flag". Tap head with plate on beat 6 and hold up and out to right on beat 7. (I think maybe we flung the plates into the air on beat 7 on the repeat of the song.)
The easiest way to follow it is to write out all the lyrics, mark the measures with bar lines, and put the directions right over your words. (teacher only) The routine was not easy, but it was very effective when finished. Our red and blue plates were Solo brand, and the whites were something sturdy, but I don't remember what.
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YOU'RE A GRAND OL' FLAG
measure 5: plates up on pickup to measure 5. sway with the beat, to the left 2 counts - to the right 2 counts. alternate rows on direction of sway. continue to
measure 13: start the up and down movement so it's random cont. to
measure 21: pat plate over heart continue to
measure 26: on word "boast", stand slightly sideways and make a muscle arm holding plate out front until end of measure 27 on second beat of "brag"
measure 29: use the plate in the right hand to salute.
measure 32: drop plate down low and gradually bring it up to full height above head for word "flag!"
keep it extended to go right into the sway on the repeat to measure 5.
2nd ending: bring the plates up very slowly and hold until you cut off the voices.YOU’RE A GRAND OLD FLAG
You're a grand old flag present low feet apart
You're a high(feet together hands down)flyin' flag and for
Ever(salute) in peace may you wave(3-count salute)
You're the (present low feet apart)emblem of the
Land(feet together, hands down)I love the
Home(salute) of the free and the
Brave(3-count salute) Hand to heart in 4 group peel for next phrase
Every 1) heart beats 2)true neath the 3)red white and 4) blue
Where there's never(wipe like safe) a boast or brag (3 count salute)
(next phrase begging hands in 4-group peel)
But should 1) auld 2)acquaintance 3) be for 4) got keep your
Eye(salute on the grand old flag (3 count salute) --- Becky Melhus
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YOU’RE A GRAND OLD FLAG: pecentral.com See “Dances or Movement” then scroll down to the song title.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************SONGS/MUSICALS CHOREOGRAPHY
PLANK ROAD PUBLISHING: http://www.musick8.com
(Some great songs here in monthly newletters, CD's available - Kids love the music!) (Choreography for Songs in order of publication 8 (year 97-98), 10 (year 99-00) & 11(year 00-01) Note: to make this text easier to read, copy, paste and move each section marked by: [ ] to a new line. These songs are organized alphabetically
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05/21 ALLEGIANCE RAP
I used Allegience Rap for our United We Sing program and also our school dedication.
I taped together 2 pieces of construction paper, short end to short end, and laminated them. The bottom row had red, 2nd row white, 3rd row red and 4th row white. The 3 students on the left end of the 3rd and 4th rows had a blue with white stars. ( I got 8 stars on each blue background. This only ended up 48 stars, but I didn't think anyone would be able to count that fast)
When the students held them up chest high, it was a "flag". Now I know that our flag has more than 4 stripes, but no one complained! We began the song facing the back. On each "Liberty and Justice" one row turned around and held up their color. We stood still until the last "for all" and lowered the colors out of sight. Then we repeated the process with the "Liberty and Justice" at the beginning of the 2nd verse, only this time we did not do any turning around. On the last "for all" all students raised their color over thier heads and froze.
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04/03 AUTUMN LEAVES I got out "Autumn Leaf" (in MK-8 a couple volumes back) to work on those nice descending phrases in the refrain with my little kiddles this week, and came up with several activities to leave for my sub while I go to Vegas. Hope somebody else can use them, too.
Objectives: Singing descending melodies, analyzing form, tone color of flute, rhythmic passing game, phrase length, improvised movement
1. "Listen and tell me what the song is about."
2. "Listen and show me with your hand when you hear tunes that go downward." "How many times do you hear that section?" (3)
3. Lay silk leaves numbered 1, 2 and 3 on the floor to represent the refrain. Pass out individual silk leaves to each child and have them move them from high to low as they sing each downward phrase of the refrain. While they are doing that, they should listen and see if they can tell where the flute solo comes. (Show poster)
4. Kids decide the flute part comes between refrain 2 and 3. Put poster between those leaves. Sing again, move leaves, and pantomime playing flute during the solo verse.
5. "Are there any parts we haven't talked about yet? " (Verses) "Where do they happen?" (before refrain 1 and refrain 2) I put small stuffed pumpkins in the correct places in the pattern on the floor. Label ABABCB(I know, I know C is technically A' , but hey! these are primary kids!)
6. Passing game - Children move to a seated circle, knees touching. Instead of moving their leaf down to the floor in front of themselves, they place it on the floor in front of the person on their right. It is SOOOOO nice because they can make a big arch with the leaf as they pick it up and move it over to their neighbor. Use the verse part to make sure everyone has a leaf.
On the flute solo, they stand and do a "leaf dance", but they have to be sure to be back in their spot, sitting, by the end of the solo (I gave a warning) to be ready to pass for the last refrain. At the end we gently threw the leaves up and let them just float down. Neat! - Contributed by Judith A Schneider
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04/02 BLARNEY
m. 1 & 2...cast is standing in triangle shape center stage, hands clasped behind back.
m. 3...RF scrapes heel forward, scrape toe backward, plant foot. Three movements on 3 beats.
m. 4...LF scrapes heel forward, scrape toe backward, plant foot. Three movements on 3 beats.
m. 5...both hands across body at waist, pointing to Blarney
m. 6...head nods on beat 2 and 3
m. 7...hug self
m. 8...point to audience with pointer finger, then to self with thumb, three movements on 3 beats m. 9...clasp hand together under chin
m. 10...both hands across body at waist, pointing to Blarney.
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11/03 BLITZEN’S BOOGIE We had reindeer for each name-and we pointed at them duringyou know Dasher and Dancer, etc. Then we hand pointed at Blitzen. On "He's a boogie woogie reindeer... we pointed a finger and turned in a circle shaking our finger. On "Boogies all day" we jazz handed up and around in a circle arms up and then down to our sides. - Contributed by Heather Augustine09/03 BLIZTEN’S BOOGIE
Opening positions: all standing on floor (could easily be done on risers)
DASHER - patsch 1X and quickly stand up straight again PRANCER - cross-hand patsch 1X and stand up
COMET - high "cool" snap and freeze DO YOU.... - shimmy hands down 4 bt.
BLITZEN... - 8 knee bounces aimed slightly left, hands on knees, flat back, heads up (repeat to right 8 bt.)
BOOGIE WOOGIE... - aim L pointer finger up and left, R pointer finger down and right. Jive back and forth 4 beats, then freeze on bts 5-8
DAY.. - twist down 4 and up 3 beats (Repeat Refrain)
SOME... - hands up left similar to Boogie Woogie above, but flop L pointer down and forward to mark the beat for 8 bt.
SEASON.... - repeat to right
BOOGIES..... - twist down 4 and up 4 PULLS... - sleigh reins (pull/release/pull/release) 8 bt.
SOME.... - "fine" hands (similar to Boogie Woogie above but jiggle wide jazz hands 4 left, then 4 right. MOVES.... - both hands fisted in front of body at waist level; circle fists in a parallel motion for 8 bt. (All the students will know how to do this, and our high school students said it's not rude or obsene, so I'm using it.
BOOGIES... -twist down 4 and up 4.
RHYTHM HE'S GOT - patsch rhythm of words. Throw hands upward into high wide jazz hands on beats 5-8 as music slides. Hold pose at top until Refrain starts over with the patsch. (coda) - repeat Refrain moves to fit lyrics Do you know BLITZEN? - wiggle wide jazz hands high over heads
YEAH! - pull hands and arms down and freeze in random "cool" poses -- Contributed by Connie Herbon12/03 BLITZEN’S BOOGIE We snap with one hand on the hip in the beginning...looking very cool.
1-4 On Dasher, we throw down our right hand to the side.
5-8 On Prancer, we throw down our left hand to the side.
1-2 On Comet, we throw our right hand up on our right side.
3-4 On Donner, we throw our left hand up on our right side.
5-8 On Do you, do you...we come down with our hands in a very cool fashion.
1-8 X2 On Blitzen, we start stepping side to side with snaps on 2 and 4.
1-4 On He's a boogie Woogie reindeer. we twist down and back up.
5-8 We throw both hands down to the side and freeze.
1-8 Finally we do a box pivot step starting on day.
We put on right foot out on 1 (day) and pivot on 2, then on beat 3, step to the left, pivot on 4, then on beat 5 step another quarter turn and pivot on 6, and on beat 7 step one more quarter turn to the left and pivot on 8 and you end up facing front. With this box step, I tell them their left foot is stuck to the floor and with their right foot, they are squishing spiders. We say, "Step, squish, step, squish, step, squish, step, squish." My 2nd graders do this very well with a little practice! - Contributed by Kristin LukowBLITZEN'S BOOGIE: I picked 7 reindeer to stand in front.(backs to audience) As each reindeer name is called out that child will spin around and make a pose. We had lots of fun in class practicing different poses. While they are doing that the rest of the students will point to the left and right to the beat of the names. For the "But Do you, do you know" everyone will put their hands out faced up. For"Blitzen "they move their hands front and back and sway to the right,,,then on the next "Do you know.."they do this to the left..then on "He's a boogie, woogie" they do this leaning back. One student (Blitzen will dance in front during this part). Wow..it's really hard to write movements! That's all I have so far. I have to figure out what to do in the middle now!
BLITZEN'S BOOGIE: Start out with both hands snapping to left, to right, etc.When you get to ,"He's a boogie woogie reindeer...." hold hands with index finger pointing at toes and shift weight back and forth from one leg to the other, bending the knee out on the unweighted leg. The shoulder and the hip come up on the un-weighted leg side, shoulder and hip down on the weighted leg side, and you're pointing at your foot with the pointer finger. On the second page I have an individual in antlers and a brown "Blitzen" tee dance across the front of the stage and continue to dance until the end. The choir goes back to the snap at top of second page and then to the point at foot unweight one leg move at the "He boogies a lot..." I just watched the kids while we did this and picked several to try out that looked like they were really getting into it to be "Blitzen."
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04/03 BORN TO MAKE MUSIC: kids not singing - Have you tried having them sing just "We were" at the beg. of each line and then being quiet for the rest of the line? Do it several times and then tell them they can sing the rest of the words IF they remember to sing "We were". Repeat till successful.I use left foot to the side: count one, two, three, four right foot to the side: count one, two, three, four step on the right foot count one, raise left knee count two step on the left foot count three, raise the right knee count four hip right, hip left, hip right, clap: count one, two, three four The above is what I'm doing as I face the kids. They will be doing it backwards which is really forwards by starting on their right foot. I've had to learn to step left and say right, etc. Believe me, it hasn't been easy. This is four measures and fits in the two interludes and we do it at the end so the last clap comes with the last sing a song, clap!
I keep it simple as I do it with first and second graders. On the into and each interlude we do kind of a step-touch thing in place alternating feet. Our hand follow our feet. When right foot goes to the side the right hand goes to the side, kind of using a pointing finger thing. The left hand follows the left foot. On Born to Make music, we rock our arms (sort of like rocking a baby, then on the word music take arms and stretch them away from body a waist height and make a circle away from body. On Born to sing a song, start with same rocking motion, on sing a song, right hand goes up towards ceiling on sing, and left hand goes up on song. Same motions as beginning for the next Born to make music, On If you like....along, make motions with arms, first right then left like gathering a crowd. Sing out High, jazz hands up and to the right, sing out low, jazz hands down and to the left, Sing it in the middle, right hand in front of body, follow with left hand, waist height, (kind of like doing the swinm), palms are facing the floor, and anywhere you go, turn palms up and spread arms to side. Born to make music, born to sing a song, as before. then TURN a quarter turn, and start with the step touch and continuefor second time through. (I keep the motions the same even thought the words are a little different), Turn another quarter turn for third time, and quarter turn for born to sing a song (towards end), then the last quarter turn for slow born to sing a song. (Motions are still the same, just slow them down).
On last song, keep hand up high and slowly bring them down as you bend your knees. Put hands on knees. We shake them a little on the way down. On last short sing a song, stand up and put hands on hips. On Yeah..kids make their own motion and freeze, they usually put hands out away from body or up over their heads, or some other creative thing. I space the kids equally using the square tiles on my floor and tell them they must stay in that square for the whole dance. They do a great job of that and it looks really neat.
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06/06 DIP AN EGG: Here's a quick lesson I did with my 5 K classes that went very well. I used the this song (MK8 10:4, http://www.musick8.com/) which reviews colors. We read the names of the colors from the board and sang the song as an echo. Then I passed out the shaker eggs and each child held up their egg when we sang their color. I only had to change one color from the original song to match my eggs. Also, we did a variety of movements using the eggs to make it fun. Some classes were even able to practice passing the eggs around the circle to prepare for other passing games I like to do. The kids enjoyed it and it was a fun song to do the week before Easter. -- Carol Trott
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I did this song with my Ks today too!! I love that song!! We add boomwhackers on the "Dip, dip, dip, dip, dip...." where the melody stays on one note. It's an F as I recall, but there's a C in the harmony, so I let them play F and C together to the rhythm. I use cut out paper eggs that my bigger kids decorated one year and I laminated them. I give them out and when the Ks hear their color they stand and sing the echo. -- Meredith Harley Inserra ---
We sang the song once, then handed out scarves (they match the colors). When a color was sung about dipping, that scarf person could move to a new spot in the room- some walked, some tip toed, some skipped, etc. everyone could wave their scarf in place during the chorus. Fun and easy! (Kindergarten) -- Kristi Keast
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06/09 "DISCOVERY" vol.14-1 We sort of leaned forward one direction and popped open jazz hands next to our eyes at the beginning, then leaned the other way. We tried to make the beginning sound like we were sharing a big secret! --- Linda Z from Florida
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07/05 EDUCATION ROCKS: http://www.musick8.com/html/ideadisplay.tpl?ibid=3501/02 EDUCATION ROCKS (9:1)
When I last performed this piece I had a couple of high school girls choreograph the song for my 5-6th graders (or a small group of them at least). I can't completely reconstruct the dance on paper, but some cool things they did were:
--rolling their hands on the long "it roooooooollllllssss" part (think of the "roll it up, roll it up" part in patty cake)
--posing on the floor and other levels miming reading a book or writing
--dancing with partners where one stood behind the other and then leaned to the sides in opposite directions on different counts of the beat.
--big pose on the end in which some of them looked like they were frozen in dance moves and others looked like they were doing homework with books and back packs.05/21 EDUCATION ROCKS: The kids had a BLAST with it, and I highly recommend it - - but you've already chosen it, so that was just for free. If any of these directions don't make any sense to you, feel free to ask again and I'll try to do better.
One of the classes got itself together, both girls and boys, and created their own dance, came to me and asked if they could do it. Sitting in rank-and-file chairs (borrowed from Kindergarten for sight-line purposes), heads resting on hands, pantomiming classwork, they changed heads from one side/hand to another with each phrase on the first verse.
One the second verse, they changed hands AND switched crossed legs back and forth with every phrase. On the refrain, they stood up, mimed *talking* (with their hands) the talks, did a march-step for *walking* the walks, punched right hand *up* for *rocks*, and rolled their fist word *Information* (which THEY sang), they jumped complete half-turns back and forth so that each changed from 1 to 0 and back and forth repeatedly. Their half-turn jumps were completely random during the parts with the word *Information* repeat that's what you call the ending), and ending with the smaller of the two (and she is quite small) jumping up in the taller girl's arm as they flung their alternate arms out. Killer. AND the sections MAINTAINED THEIR PARTS.
(You may safely assume that my classes do not always exhibit complete integrity when it comes to staying on parts. . .)
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NEVER STOP LEARNING: Sung straight up, solo by a young student who sings a lot of pop stuff elsewhere, but has never completely distinguished himself within the music program at school because of several various problems relating to behavior and cooperation. This was a perfect part for him - - range dead-on, short, very moving. In the second half of his solo (I let him do both) several other students walked
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EVERLASTING FRUITCAKE (11:2)(Plank Road Publishing, wwwmusick8.com MK8 magazine). 12/07 We did it this year and I used 7 kids, a real fruitcake (which held up amazingly well through 2 practices, a dress rehearsal, and the concert), a toy lawn mower, a toy car, a bag (the "sack" that went to Norway), and a clipboard for the delivery person at the end. The kids passed the fruitcake according to the lyrics - Henry gave it to Martha, then to Freddy, etc. They did a good job of making faces, pushing it away, etc. I just let them act, and they did very well. When the football lyrics came up, one boy hiked the fruitcake to another one, who then threw it about 6-7 feet to another student. The audience loved this, and so did the kids! -- Cindy Glass12/07 I had fifth graders do this piece in a Christmas concert several years ago and we had our very outgoing principal come out with a buzz saw and safety glasses on at some point in the song.....I don't recall when exactly. It was hilarious. --- Mary Carlisle
12/07 I borrowed a UPS uniform and had a kid make a delivery of said fruitcake. --- Cynthia Coulson, NBCT 2004
12/07 I have done it twice, once years ago with a fake fruitcake that a parent made. Big and colorful and able to be seen from way back in the audience. This year we used a dollar store fruitcake. (which I do not advise actually eating!) We just pass it around as the lyrics say. At the end, I had a student bring it to someone in the audience. He brought it to the principal during the afternoon concert and to his little brother at night. It's a very cute song, but has a lot of words, so make sure they start practicing early! Oh, and both times I used it with 4th grade. --- Mary Honegger
We are having six soloists divide up and sing the verses. (Rest of choirs will sing the chorus) While the soloists are singing the verses, other students will be acting out the words to the song:
Paragraph 1 - One person holds fruitcake while another holds up a reward sign (looking hopeful, pointing to sign....any takers?)
Paragraph 2 - 1st 2 people give fruitcake to "Henry" who passes to "Martha" who passes it to "Freddy" who takes it back to original two. Much dismay in expression!
Paragraph 4 - 2 new people make face at "kaput"...one drops fruitcake on other's foot....owww!
Paragraph 5 - 2 new people put fruitcake in bag marked with "Norway", take it to 'postman'; as they turn to go back, postman hurries behind them, taps them on shoulder and gives back the fruitcake. (Slap forehead...'oh, no' expression)
Paragraph 6 - 4 people....3 mime actions of words, 4th one brings fruitcake from behind back and shows "no scars"
Paragraph 7 - 2 people...one holds fruitcake and slaps on a "Teflon sticker"while the other pulls from behind back a football and holds as if really heavy.
Ending - The UPS man coming up to last soloist to say last lines.
We tried to use as many students as possible to give more an opportunity to have a special part. (We figure we have parts for 22 people counting the soloists) We're going for pure "corn", using the hillbilly accents and all!Hope it works....no, we haven't actually acted it out yet!!!!!!! Ha! We may be making some adaptations real soon!! This is one of the kid's favorites, along with "Season of Celebration" and "A Time for Peace".
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EV'RYONE DESERVES A HOME Five “ballerinas”
Three on one side of stage in the wings, two on the other. First verse, three soloists have the stage. They fade back into the crowd.
Chorus sings the second verse. As chorus begins to sing,
Everyone deserves a home
Tallest girl in center back. (She was tall and a bit stocky)
Two med tall girls turn to face their entrance wing, lunge and bend outwards, bringing inner arm
overhead in graceful arc, palm facing the ceiling.
Two shorter girls grab hands in front of the center girl and arabesque.
Everyone deserves a place to belong
They pirouette back into a single file line, all hands extended above, palms curved gently inward. Looks like they all melted into one person to audience. With windows and doors
Two front girls (shorter one) slide down and outward into one leg extended, on bent back behind ( could do splits, but I didn’t want any injuries)
While two center girls lunge outward again but keep back erect, arms in an “L” (upstage arm being the stem of the L); girl in back stays in her pirouette stance
And ceilings and floors
The two on the floor bring legs together and “spin” to face the center, pull knees up to chin, bow head, arms wrap knees; the two middle girls turn to face center and arabesque quickly, pull back while the center back girl gracefully steps and bends forward, sweeping arms up to pull herself back to standing position with arms out to side shoulder height; Oh, everyone deserves a home,
The floor girls push up from floor with downstage arm, bringing upstage arm in a fist from breast to ceiling, arching back and eyes following hand, and lower in sync,
The middle girls sweep downstage arm toward audience to spin around to face them, lifting outer leg point toward audience and down, Center back girl slow pirouette,
A home…a home
All are standing facing each other, upstage arms reaching toward each other, downstage arms at a thirty degree lowered angle, while slowly walking backwards back off into the wings they entered from.
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FORTE PIANO Forte = clenched fists on hips, stern look on face (furrowed brow)
Piano = clasp hands in front of you, one hand on top of the other, "prim and proper" look on face
Fortissimo = arms up over the head, straight, going out slightly (like a 'V')
Pianissimo = cup hands to mouth like a megaphone
Big Crescendo = palms together, backs of hands facing up and down (not side to side), open like a crocodile mouth. - Contributed by Stephanie Menefee
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GUACAMOLE I had a couple girls do a little Mexican hat dance - their hands touching palms together while walking around the hat in one direction, then after 8 counts or so they switch direction and hands. Also, I had kids bring in their own maracas to play while we sang. I had about 4 kids with maracas! - During the movement section my kids are doing the Macarena - RaeAnna Goss
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11/01 HOW THE PENGUINS SAVED CHRISTMAS (Musical) - I stacked boxes in different shapes, threw sheets over them to look like icebergs. Used trash bags for penguin suits, white collars and little red Christmas bows. The emperor had a sparkling top hat, gold waist coat and had a candy cane from the dollar store. I had the emperor and others march in from a side door up to the stage. Had one group seated on the steps of the stage, then stood to play their kazoos. I thought it was very easy to do and fun. Another: My penguins wore large black trash bags, too. I got lots of help from this list when I did this 2 years ago. What really made the costumes great was that insisted that they wore black socks on their hands and yellow or orange socks on their feet. I bought several pair at the Goodwill store for about a quarter a pair.
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HOLA AMIGOS 12/07 (Plank Road Publishing, MK8 magazine 12:1). I do a little greeting game I got & modified from this list eons ago. After learning the song, walk randomly as you sing it. At end of song find a person to do & say this hand jive with: "pat pat, clap clap, who are you?" (ti ti , ti ti ta ta ta rest) (each person answers name), then, "pat pat, clap clap too-dle-oo!" (wave goodbye). Sing and walk again. Find new partner, do as many times as you wish. The pat pat is on own knees, the clap clap is own hands, who are you and too-dle-oo are claps on partners hands . --- Dianne Park
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11/01 HOW THE PENGUINS SAVED CHRISTMAS(Musical) - I've done this twice with great success. In the past I've done it with one class, but I'm doing it this year with my 5th grades. Favorite songs will be Who Can the Stranger Be?, and Shout! Next will be Who, Me? Emphasize that Remember is hardest - it's short, but VERY slow and they'll have to LISTEN. Costumes - black sweats with white construction-paper bibs. Red construction-paper ties or Dad's Christmas tie. Emperor Penguin has a LARGE yellow or orange bow tie
Set - stack boxes/tables/chairs and cover with white sheets (make sure ownership is indicated on the sheet so it gets back home) I changed one scene - instead of clapping flippers, the Wise Old Emperor Penguin hits Santa on the head with the icicle.
One reindeer doesn't have a line - I added "Here, Santa, I found your hat11/01 HOW THE PENGUINS SAVED CHRISTMAS (Musical) - Our art teacher made the COOLEST set. She had all of the students from second grade make penguins. They attached the penguins to rulers. Then we took huge pieces of styrafoam and cut them into large ice forms. We took the penguins and arranged them in the ice. Then hung the ice from the top of the band shells with fishing line. It looked so fantastic. Another easy costume idea is to take a black 12x18 sheet of construction paper, cut out large oval, add a white oval in the middle and top with crepe paper red bow. Attach a yarn string to the top and hang around the student's necks. I made the pattern and gave them out to moms to make. Cute and easy.
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11/01 HEART OF AMERICA (11:3)
The art teacher took black poster board and folded it in half and fashioned cut the head shape out. Then we glued three edges together and then added the eyes and beak. It's a little hard to write out without actually seeing it. We also took white bulletin board paper and made the white areaof the body for the kids to wear over their black outfits. This held a dual purpose because after the show, YSU's mascots - Pete and Penny- stayed afterwards and the kids could use these as autograph paper for them to sign. If anyone's confused e-mail me with your snail mail address and I'll try to get a pattern drawn out so that this makes more sense.
Intro: Bounce knees
1. Grapevine 3 steps and a clap to the left and then to the right (repeat)
2. 3 steps back snap on 4th beat/ repeat forward (repeat)
3. step /turn/ step /clap to left then to right (repeat)
4. now your at the chorus. Sing through tapping heart on 'heart and then saluting on America. Repeat above
Four beat circle, stamp stamp lean cupping ear to the right
Repeat cupping ear to the left (repeat this)
repeat #4 chorus
repeat #1 and #2 ending with 'the heart (hand to heart and up in a fist.
Very effective... We're going to adapt this a bit for riser choreography.10/01 "HEART OF AMERICA" (11:3) - Four rows of kids on the risers. I used four step risers. The top row stayed on the top. The next row moved down to the second step from the bottom. The next row stood on the floor right in front of the risers and the bottom row knelt/sat on the floor. All the kids had an American flag held in their right hand. Flags start out at their side, out of sight. The motions are started by the top row and move on down the rows every 4 beats. Row 4 is the top row. Row 1 is sitting on the floor.
On the introduction, the kids get in position and snap their fingers on the beat. When the singing starts, the flag routine starts.
I am counting the beats when the singing starts (we) Get up each morning......
Beat 1--4: Row 4: hold flag so it is hanging down in front of your chest. (The stars on the flag will be on the kid's left side of his chest and the stick will be vertical) Hold this position for 16 beats--until next movement.
Beat 5-8: Row 3: hold flag so it is hanging down in front of your chest. Hold this position until next mvt. occurs.
Beat 9-12 Row 2: hold flag so it is hanging down in front of your chest. Hold this position until next mvt. occurs.
Beat 13-16 Row 1: hold flag so it is hanging down in front of your chest Hold this position until next mvt. occurs.
Beat 17-20 Row 4: Hold flag so the stick is vertical. The flag will be on your right side, but don't extend your arm. Hold this position until next movement occurs.
Beat 21-24 Row 3: Hold flag so the stick is vertical
Beat 25-28 Row 2: Hold flag so the stick is vertical
Beat 29-32 Row 1: Hold flag so the stick is vertical
On "We're living in the heart, in the heart of America"---Swish the flag to the right on the first "heart" and to the left on the second "heart". On the syllable "mer", the flags are held vertical on their right side. On the syllable "ca", they extend their arms so the flags are held high.
SECOND VERSE; ( We) live in a land......
Beat 1-4 Row 4: Make an arc with the flag from right to left and hold this position for 16 beats
Beat 5-8 Row 3: Make an arc with the flag from right to left and hold this position until next mvt. occurs
Beat 9-12 Row 2: Make an arc with the flag from right to left and hold this position until next mvt. occurs
Beat 13-16 Row 1: Make an arc with the flag from right to left and hold this position until next mvt. occurs
Beat 17-32 All rows make arcs from side to side every 4 beats on "We're living in the heart, in the heart of America", repeat the movement done earlier
On the musical interlude where there is a STOMP STOMP. We swished the flags on the stomp stomp. On "Listen to the heart beat", the flags are held vertical on right side (arms are not extended)
On the first "America". The flags make an arc from right to left, the other way on the second "America" and back on the third "America".
On the very last "The heart", the flags are held vertical on "the" and extend upward on the word "Heart"12/03 HEART OF AMERICA:
My group is doing very simple riser movement to part of this song. I think I got most (if not all) of the ideas from MK8!
On the refrain: right hand keeps beat on chest for 4 beats (we're livin' in the heart, in the heart of) right hand makes 2 beat salute - forehead on beat 1, out at angle to right on beat 2 (America) 2 beat rest, hand at side. - repeat above 3 more times
In interlude: first 4 beats: hold right hand cupped behind ear, leaning a little to the right rhythmically 2 beat : stomp feet -- 2 beats: clasp flat hands, pulse a "heartbeat" over chest two times -- repeat as above, but this time to the left -- repeat
It's repetitive and simple, but is very effective. We performed this for a school assembly last Friday on the spur of the moment, and everyone loved it. Good luck! - Contributed by Becky Luce in NH/VT04/02 HEART OF AMERICA (11:3)
Intro(clap on beat above heads)16 counts
Left together step touch, right together step touch(twice)
Singing starts(stop moving sing to audience in stand-by position)
On the "We're living in the heart" part(refrain) I have them do step turn left, step turn right
On the interlude: Left together step touch, right together step touch(twice)
2nd verse stop and sing to audience
Step turns on We're livin' part
Stop stomp, stomp Listen to the heartbeat(4x)
Step turns on We're livin' part
Left together step touch, right together step touch(3x)
The(hands at shoulder-elbows bent)
Heart(hands up in a V)freeze.
PS Our stomp, stomps made my CD boom box skip and after it did it once-I whispered-Let's clap instead, they did and carried on to the end that way-good performers. -04/02 HEART OF AMERICA (11:3) - Intro: Clap to the beat
"We get up each morning and greet our new day"-- wave with RH
"We know that we're free to be living our way"--both thumbs pointing back to self
"We're free to be saying what we want to say": -- Rt index finger rolling out from mouth
"We're happy we're living in our USA" -- Salute with RH on the words USAChorus: RH pats chest over heart on each word "heart" and salutes on "American"
clap with beat in interlude
"We live in a land where our dreams can come true" -- hands in front, palms up, fanning out in opposite directions on "land"
"A country with choices for me and for you" -- thumbs back to oneself on "me" and index fingers pointing out to audienc on "you"
"We know that our freedom will always shine through" -- hands fan in opposite directions over head on the word "shine"
"We're happy to live with the red, white and blue" -- salute on RW&B
Chorus-- same as before
Bridge -- clap, clap on stomps (because cd skips) "listen to the heartbeat" --pat 2 Xs over heart on "heart beat"
Ending -- as each group sings "America" -- hands clasped together and circle once in front of body waist high (sign language for America)
Final -- "The Heart!" -- R fist in the air on "heart"
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HOLA AMIGOS: Just wanted to say "thanks" for Hola Amigos (12/1) and say how much fun we've had w/it in gr. k and 1. We "put the steady beat in our knees" for the whole song AND "wave" on each "hola", alternating waving hands and do other student-suggested mvts on "Amigos" (give yourself a hug, jump, clap, turn around, etc.) Sort of by magic, it's "Look mom! I'm dancin'!" There is an incredible amount of smiling going on while we sing this. We all need that right now.
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IT STARTS WITH ME (11:3) - l stand with back towards audience]
[mm.3 Hands straight up into air]
[mm. 5 Right hand down 12345678 Left hand down 12345678]
[mm. 9 Slowly face front 12345678 "Starburst" with hands 12345678]
[(palms out, cross hands in front of chest and move in a circle until back at your side)]
(The following assumes that you have standard choral risers - three rows with one row on the floor)
[mm.13 -28 Row 1&3 sway right while Rows 2&4 sway left]
[CHORUS: mm. 29 Half starburst with right hand 1234 Half starburst with left hand 1234]
[Hands across chest (like "love") 12345678 mm. 33 Half starburst with right hand 1234]
[Half starburst with left hand 1234; Hands across chest (like "love") 1234]
[Hands slowly down to sides 12345678]
[mm. 43 Right hand gesture to audience 12345678 Left hand gesture to audience 12345678]
[Both hands gesture towards seft (like your bring something to you) 12345678]
[mm. 51 Starburst 12345678 Reverse starburst 12345678]
[Hands slowly out and down 12345678]
V[Repeat choreography for chorus; At the end, on each "It starts with me", point to self with thumbs[mm. 76 hands palm out, at sides on final "ME!" gesture into air]
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LEND A HELPING HAND: Eight boy/girl partners and Gnorm.
During intro, dancers enthusiastically come down from risers, clapping and “running” in time to the music to form an inverted “V” from audience’s viewpoint. (Two couple form the point, then next two couples further out, etc. Gnorm is alone in the center of the V.(At first, Gnorm does the same moves as the couples.)Lend a helping hand, make a difference in our plans Stand and bounce, sweep left hand to left right arm straight aligned to right lef, body turning to r in a ¾ profile, 8 cts.
Repeat other direction.
Me and you… step, touch, step, touch, Bending both arms, point to self, then audience, then lean back to back with partner, hold until we can do when stand erect, feet spread, sweeping both arms up from low to high.
Step, touch L, repeat R during, “Come on”, “Pitch in”, etc. beckoning hugely to audience with first the left arm, then the right.
Lend a helping hand…
Grapevine left, sweep hand left as above, right hand on hip,
Grapevine right, right hand pointing on each beat to audience from left to right, left hand on hip Step, touch, step touch, Bend arms and point to self, then audience, then hold right arm up in “Victory” or “Peace” sign (to signify the number TWO)
During bridge, the “V” collapses every two counts into a straight line, with Gnorm fading backwards into the line’s center.
Remember that you…
Arms link around each other’s waists, and sway left, right, etc.
Move back into “V”. Couple repeat grapevine section while Gnorm freestyles in the center.
During final “Come On, pitch in” segment, dancers run back to their place on the risers, finish song with the chorus. -- Contributed by Melanie Roewe
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04/02 LIGHTEN UP (12:1) - (For program idea, see #39 Program Ideas A-M)
m.1-24...soloist is downstage center with the soli group beside him. At m. 11, soli group has hands under chin and leans left as they sing. At m. 19, soli group has hands under chin and leans right as they sing.
At m. 21, 1/2 the group leans left, 1/2 leans right (away from each other). Then they join the cast.
m. 25..jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, slight bend to the left
m. 26...jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, slight bend to the right
m. 27...fists at waist (2nd verse, hold belly and pretend to laugh)
m. 28...shake left pointer finger at audience (2nd verse, continue above movement)
m. 29-30...jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, standing straight
m.31...cast freezes with hands at sides
m. 34...cast freezes with hands at sides
m. 38...LH down, palms to audience, jazz hands
m. 39...RH down, palms to audience, jazz hands
m. 40...both hands point to head
m. 42...all make face
m. 43...use hands to pretend to talk
m. 44...LH down, palms to audience, jazz hands
m. 45...RH down, palms to audience, jazz hands
m. 46...hands to sides, freeze
m. 50...jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, slight bend to the left
m. 51...jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, slight bend to the right
m. 52...fists at waist
m. 53...shake left pointer finger at audience
m. 54...jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, standing straight m. 55...use pointer fingers to trace smile near mouth
m. 56...hands to sides, freeze
ON THE REPEAT FROM M. 25-34, I AM NOT CHOREOGRAPHING. THE KIDS WILL DO WHAT THEY WANT, WITHIN REASON! AT M. 34-CODA, THEY WILL FOLLOW ABOVE DIRECTIONS.
m. 60...hands to sides, freeze
m. 62...jazz hands up at chin with thumbs on jaw, standing straight
m. 63...use pointer fingers to trace smile near mouth
m. 64...hands to sides, freeze
m. 66...jazz hands at face
m. 67...LH down, palms to audience, jazz hands, on beat 1 ...RH down, palms to audience, jazz hands,
on beat 3 m. 68...LH back to face, on beat 1 ...RH back to face on beat 3
m. 70...hands at mouth ala megaphone; on the 'raspberry', hands open to jazz hands at jaw again.
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01/07 LITTLE SNOWFLAKE: (8:2) - A little snowflake...= start with jazz hands above your head and slowly bring them down while wiggling your fingers (like it's snowing).
At first... = Make an s shape with jazz hands and start above your head and work your way down.
Then started... = traveling arms, start at your chest and work your way up
It should...= do a drowning motion, by squatting down (pinch your nose with one hand and put the other hand, with pointer finger pointing up,above your head).
The warmer...= as you come up from the squatting position, put your hand on your forehead as if you’re hot.
But I can tell ...= use pointer finger and shake back and forth (as if saying "No, No").
It was.. = travel arms, start at your chest and work your way up.
Didn’t have...= hands to your side with bent arms and palms up.
In the... = open jazz hands above your head.
The Little snowflake decided...= do the twist.
It didn’t...= hands to your side with bent arms and palms up
But it took... = fold arms at your chest.
It skipped...= do a clap burst on the word “jumped”
In a rhythmic display = open jazz hands, do a zig-zag motion left side to right side.
It danced a waltz... = turn 360 in 8cts, scoop the air while you do this.
It was... = put right hand on your stomach and your left hand out to your side with bent arm, palm face outward. Step touch to your left 2x’s and switch hand position and step touch to your right 2x’s. This move in like a single Tango move. If you dip you should and scoop it up as you do this, it helps to give it more spice.
Didn’t have...= hands to your side with bent arms and palms up.
In the Air = open jazz hands above your head.
Instrumental break: 32cts 16cts movement:
Arm movements: bent arms and open jazz hands.
Move hands in and out and the criss-cross them in front of you (fingers point downward).
Step touch to the left for 8 cts and step touch for 8cts to the right.
16cts movement: Stand still and do traveling arms work your way up for 4cts and work your way back down for 4cts.
Do the single tango dance move to you’re your left for 4ct and 4cts to your right.
The Little snowflake... = opera hands
It sang... = Arch right hand and arm out and down
Autumn = Arch right hand and arm out and down
Spring = do a burst with both hands at your chest.
It sang of... = make a shiver motion
And sounded...= cross both hands on chest and look like your proud.
It was singing = clap hands above your head to the rhythm on the la la la’s.
It was flying = travel arms going up
It was dancing = single tango to the left (second time come back to the right)
It was singing = clap above your head.
In the….. = travel arms up for 2cts, tango for 2cts, clap for 3cts above your head, break hands apart on the word “air”. -- Tami Mangusso
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A LITTLE GREEN (8:4) - This little dance REALLY works well for "A LIttle Green" (Music K8 8/4). This fits the dance section of the song, which is sort of like an unsung second verse.
Dance formation is one or more lines. Each student needs to stand next to their partner (so it's a couple dance.)
beats 1-4....everyone claps four steady beats
beats 5-8....everyone "sideways gallops" (sashays...how you pronounce it, NOT how you spell it!!) to the LEFT.
beats 9-12.....everyone claps four steady beats
beats 13-16.....sideways gallop to the RIGHT (so you're back where you started)
beats 17-24.......partners hook elbows and skip to the LEFT for 8 beats.
beats 25-32....partners hook elbows and skip to the RIGHT for 8 beats.
beats 33-40....person on the LEFT kneels on one knee....other person skips around them for 8 beats.
beats 41-48......person on the RIGHT kneels on one knee....other person skips around them for 8 beats
I did this today with fourth grade and they LOVED it. Lots of smiles.......performed it for their teachers, etc. We hope to take it out to the playground soon, with a boombox, more room, sunshine, etc. You can vary this, of course.........the hooking elbow section could be something like "join right hands or both hands and skip around in a circle for eight counts." The section following that (one kneels and one skips) can be tweaked by having the kneeling person raise one hand in the air...looks cool....and/or the person skipping at that point could hold that hand as they skip. The "Little Green" song is perfect for this since it's in 6/8 and all the skipping in the dance makes it feel very 6/8ish. You could easily add some "fancy footwork" in the clapping section to make it look more Irish/Riverdance-like.
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06/10 LITTLE OL' COWBOY (MusicK8 #18-5) I put together some moves for Little Old Cowboy for our upcoming Westward Movement program, and it's so darn adorable I have to share! We sit on the front edge of the stage, so their legs are dangling in front.
("I know....")2 pats (own knees) 2 pats (to the left) 2 pats (own knees) 2 pats (to the right)
("sittin' by...)2 pats, 2 claps, arm move (like "do si do" stacked arms, flap up your hands to meet using 4 beats down/up/down/up)
("I know...") 2 pats (own) 2 pats (left) 2 pats (own) 2 pats (right) 2 pats, 2 claps, PAT (on the word "moon")
("He's singing...")Taking off cowboy hat and placing it on your heart, just sway back and forth on "yippee yi" part On "yodelay hee hoo" place it back on your head
Next "yippee yi" part, swirl your hand like a rah rah cheerleader first right hand, then left up in the air at a diagonal.
Pat pat clap clap PAT ("singin to the little old moon")
When they pat to their left or right, they pat one of their own legs and one of their neighbors. Optional patty-cake in between the verses--my kids seem to like the one where you go high/low with opposite hands, then clap together partner hands. At the very end, "yee hah" we tip our hats out front. Of course, they keep suggesting we throw our hats up but I haven't indulged that yet! --- Stacie Devaney
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12/07 MASTERS IN THIS HALL: I used the CD accompaniment. We darkened the stage and turned around backward. (I had 3 rows on the risers so you might have to adjust if you have more.) Each student had a candle. They were facing the back. I made sure I was off stage for this beginning part so as not to interfere with the effect. In the intro there are 3 distinct entrances by the pennywhistle. Row one turned around and "lit" their candle as they turned on the first pennywhistle entrance. Row two on the second, row three on the third. Instead of singing at ms.5 I had a flute play it as a solo an octave higher. At 21 the rhythm starts and the dancer entered. The lights came up here also and I came to stand in front of the choir. The dancer left the stage as we sang verse 1. I omitted the words for verse 2 and had the flute and dancer do that verse. On verse 3 the dancer continued as we sang. She did a wonderful job of interpreting all the mood changes at the end. I also had the flute play pt. 1 at ms. 53. I did this with 3rd graders and it was a HUGE hit!! -- Susie Will
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06/06 MUSIC IS ALWAYS THERE 16:3
Measures 1-4: Bounce energetically
Measure 5: Beat 1-2: tiny slide/sashay to right, Clap on beat 3 and beat 4
Measure 6: Beat 1-2: tiny slide/sashay to left, Clap on beat 3 and beat 4
Measure 7-8: reapeat 5-6
Measure 9: Clap on beats 2 and 4.
Measure 10: clap and 2, play imaginary drum on 3-4
Measure 11: Hand to ear on Beat 1. Beats 3-4: tap foot (use whole body, >large movement with leg.)
Measure 12: Jazz shimmer going up for beats 1-2, Beats 3-4" Pat legs.
Measure 13-14: Repeat Sashay step From Measures 5-6.
Measure 15-18: Slow March and beats 1 and 3. Opposite arm from stepping >is at a 90 degree angle at chest level.
Measures 19-20: Sashay steps from measures 5-6. >Measure 21: right hand out in front, >Measure 22L Left hand out.
Measure 23: right hand up, jazz hand
Measure 24: Left hand , jazz
Measure 25: "joy" Burst both hands to the left, high in air, look up. >"Strife" pull hands, head, and body down into a dramatic covered position
Measure 26: Open pop hands above head.
Measure 27: Open hands in front of you.
Measure 28: "for me" point to self" and then begin the sashay step from measure 5-6 Repeat all.
Coda: Repeat measure 21-29.
Measure 42-43: clap
Measure 44: beat 1: point both fingers up, Beat 2: point right, Beat 3: point left, Beat 4: point down.
Measure 45: open arms in front of you.
Measure 46: Open again. "For me": point to self and freeze in a strong attitude. - Deanna Peters
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MY PERSONAL CODE (11:3)
[m. 1-13 stand still while solo sings][mm. 16 bend with hands on knees, pulse middle 1 2 3 4 pulse shoulder rt. 1 2 3 4][pulse shoulder lft. 1 2 3 4 pulse middle 1 2 3 4 ][mm. 20 stand 1 2 3 4 half of group pulse with should towards middle 1 2 3 4][other half pulse towards middle 1 2 3 4 face front 1 2 3 4 ][(the follow assumes that you have standard choral risers - 3 rows plus one on the floor)] [mm. 24 Rows 3 & 4 turn left][mm. 26 Rows 1 & 2 turn right if you add 2nd part, they turn when they sing their words][mm. 28 Sway back and forth on the beat][mm. 24 (repeat) Rows 3&4 face front][mm. 26(repeat) Rows 1&2 face front][mm. 28(repeat) Sway back and forth on the beat][mm. 34 Clap on beats 2 & 4][mm. 44 pulse shoulder rt. 1 2 3 4 pulse shoulder lft. 1 2 3 4 pulse middle 1 2 3 4][mm. 49 - end Clap on beats 2&4]
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05/21 NORTHERN LIGHTS
I ordered those mini flashlights with fiber optic strings hanging from them-from Oriental Trading(they also carry cheap batteries too) and we did a pattern for the intelude of Northern lights. When you turn the flashlights, the optic things change colors from red to blue to yellow. It was spectacular.
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05/21 OH, HOW LOVELY IS THE EVENING
First, you need three circles, one inside the other. The center circle will, of course, be the smallest. They start first. While singing the phrase "Oh, how lovely is the evening, is the evening..." they hold hands and circle left using a forward waltz step. (LRL, RLR, etc...) On the second phrase, "When the bells are sweetly ringing, sweetly ringing",......reverse direction using RLR, LRL, etc. On " Ding, dong, ding, dong....." they stop, face center, and swing joined arms in to center on 'ding', out on 'dong', etc. Each circle does the same choreography, but will start on their entrance. There should be one entrance per phrase. If your kids can't waltz, they can walk the steady beat, but the circle movement is much more flowing and pronounced if you use the waltz step.
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02/03 PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE
I introduced the song by reading the story in the MK8 magazine (ya know, in the back where they give descriptions and teaching ideas for each song). It describes how Teresa J.'s friend gave her the last cookie on a day when she was so busy working that she skipped lunch.
Next, I pulled out 5 peanut butter chocolate cookies that I made (ooh, aah, they were so excited to see them). I made the cookies twice as big as normal. I gave one cookie (put it on a napkin) to only 1 STUDENT in each group of 5-6 students and told them not to eat it, but to listen to the song and decide what they might do with that cookie. Without fail, we didn't even get halfway through the song, all of the classes were breaking the cookies into smaller pieces to share with their group.If you ever do "You Gave Me Your Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie", 10/5, here's an easy prop to use in the song:-get the cardboard pizza wheels from a pizza place. They will probably donate them. -have the kids color choc. chips on the brown cardboard side w/ brown and/or black markers/crayons. -the cardboard is about the same color as a cookie, so it's easy. You don't need to color the main cookie part! -have them cut little indentations/irregularities around the outside of the pizza wheel.
Now they can use these in the song. There is a "cookie dance" section in the middle of the song where they can move them and "dance with them." Today, I was telling the kids how their "cookies" were making some unnecessary noise as they accidentally rubbed against their shirts. Then I had them all show us the sound....and was amazed at how cool it actually sounded. So...now, during the introduction and once between verses, we're rubbing the cookies against our shirts for a little movement and cool sound!Hey! It works! It's easy! They cannot break! They're cheap! -- Contributed by Dan FeePEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE - Get some 12 in cardboard pizza rounds (the thing under a pizza...not sure what it's called!). I got mine free from a pizza place...two times. Have the kids color black/brown choc chips on them....rough up the edges a bit w/scissors. Use them as props in the song...I think there's a dance section in the middle. I did this two times at different schools w/a FOOD concert theme. Lots of fun...went well and looked good. There is a picture of my kids w/these on a MK8...not sure what issue. I think it was on the back cover...maybe year 10. -- Dan Fee We did riser choreography. We made cookies out of brown construction paper with black "chips"glued on randomly. We also had the words glued on the back. This is very simple stuff, I think we created it a few years ago when I had a particularly slow group.
Cookie Dance
Hold cookie up, move cookie to the right 2, left 2, right 2, left 2, (bouncing on the sides)
Up 2, down 2, up 2, down 2, (wiggle cookie a bit at top and bottom)
Make a big circle from bottom and around for 8
Make same circle going the other way for 8 Up 2, down 2, up 2, down 2, (wiggle cookie a bit at top and bottom)move cookie to the right 2, left 2, right 2, left 2, (bounce on sides) -- Julia Long
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12/03 PENGUIN POLKA Here's an easy "penguin dance" for the dance section: (formation: partners stand side-by-side, all couples facing same direction and plenty of space to waddle / all movement done ala-penguin position, heels close together / toes turned out / flippers at sides with hands sticking out) Beats 1-4: 8 waddles forward, Beats 5-8: 8-waddle turn to R, ending up facing opposite from original direction, Repeat as needed. For variety, change degrees of turns. - Contributed by Connie Herbon12/09 PENGUIN POLKA: I just had kids stand with straight legs and arms with toes and flippers out (ala penguin) and then we all we did was:
One and - lean right
waddle - lean right
waddle - lean left
Do the Penguin- knee bend and up
Polka - knee bend and up
We kept it really simple.--- Beth Jahn
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PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE RAP - I got a small plastic flag for each of my students. We are clapping on 2 and 4 during the intro and then only on 4 when "Liberty and Justice" starts. During the pledge part, we are holding our flag in the air and our hand on our hearts. Then when it repeats "one nation under God" we point our flag up, go left then right on "indivisible." Up again on Liberty, wave on "for all." On the final "for all" the flag is in the air and hand on heart, on "for" flag comes down, on "all" flag goes up and right hand goes to forehead in a salute.PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE: I gave each kid a small American flag in a stick (available for free from our local American Veterans Association). They stood w/their right hand on their heart and their flag in their left hand....very still...during the first part where they just recite the pledge.Then during the second part, where there is an echo, I had them reach out their flag (big movement) to the audience as a signal that they should repeat each phrase. It worked great. We did tell the audience about it beforehand so they knew what to expect. During the interlude between the first and second times though the pledge, we raised our flags up real high (left, right, left right...etc.....moving to half notes)Also, at the end, after the audience says the last "for all"....we raised the flags straight up real fast and froze.
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PENGUIN POLKA (10:2) (formation: partners stand side-by-side, all couples facing same direction and plenty of space to waddle / all movement done ala-penguin position, heels close together / toes turned out / flippers at sides with hands sticking out) Beats 1-4: 8 waddles forward, Beats 5-8: 8-waddle turn to R, ending up facing opposite from original direction, Repeat as needed. For variety, change degrees of turns. I also have a complete classroom performance activity for the book LITTLE PENGUIN'S TALE by Audrey Wood, Scholastic Inc. My third graders even did it one year with student readers on a concert - it takes about 10 minutes. It includes short, easy songs and a gooney bird band, with several of the songs accompanied by students on autoharps. If you have the book and are interested in more information, contact me personally. It's too long for the list. Connie HerbonI did a very simple dance with 3rd graders. I have them walking penguin like forward 8 counts, turn to the left using four counts. Forward 8 again, turn left again four counts and so on until they make a box. Then you can go forward 8 counts and turn 4 counts to the right and continue until you make a box or the song ends.
PENGUIN POLKA 1 and 2 and with arms straight down at the side, but fingers out squat down on 1 and back up on 2. Waddle waddle - we swayed back and forth still in penguin positon. Polka=clap 2X Repeat this but on the line polka polka dot clap each syllable.---Tracy http://www.musicbulletinboards.net
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12/09 SCARIN’ ALIVE My students love dancing to "Scarin' Alive" from K-8 Vol. 11. They ask for it every year. Here are the steps:
Introduction - Extend arms up in the air to L,R,L,L, on the beat, then R,L,R,R.../ Well, you can tell../ - Hustle 4 steps forward, point to head and 3rd eye (middle of forehead)-4 beats.
Hustle 4 steps back, then thumbs up acting cool 4 beats.
/I can wail, I can moan.../ - Step R, together, Step R, together while scarecrow arms up, down, up, down. Repeat going left.
/I am the ghost whose scaring the most.../ - Grapevine R to 4 counts, then put jazz hands in air toward L, R, L, R ("scaring alive").
Repeat to L.
On "I, I, I" - point toe forward, back, forward, back, forward and pivot one-quarter turn, and step and pivot again so facing opposite direction.
Repeat and end up facing front. (Kindergarten point to self with alternating thumbs.)
/A-live /Hands up in air-ghostly positions!
Repeat all - change motions on hustle part to fit words.
Improvise the end. --- Betty Vacek
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10/04 REACH OUT - Vol. 13:2. The motions are all sustained and calm.
Measure #5: R hand crosses in front of body to the left
#7-8: Bring both arms straight out in front of the body slowly.
#9: L hand crosses in front of body to the R
#10: R hand crosses in front of body to L
#11-12: R hand on top of left and arch both hands forward, pass your face, and end up with arms straight in front.
#13 body facing changes to left slightly
#15: body facing to right of center slightly
#17: face front
#19 R hand reaches straight out and holds there
#21: L hand joins the right hand straight out.
This all repeats on verse 2. -- Deanna Peters
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RESPONSIBLE (11:2) -[mm. 1 Looking down nod 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 snap up "Responsible"]
[mm.5 Dip kness and shrug shoulder on beats 1&3 Alternate right / left]
[mm. 13 Make a 'no' gesture by crossing hands in front of body 1 2 3 4]
[ Throwing motion with both hands - like making a basket 1 2 3 4]
[mm.15 Thumbs point to self 1 2 3 4 snap arms down to side with stiff hands on 1]
[mm. 17 Rt arm across chest 1 2 Left arm across chest 3 4 Arms out (Touch down!) 1 2 Nod 3 4]
[mm. 19 Rt arm down 1 2 Lt arm down 3 4 motion to audience 1 2 Nod 3 4]
[mm. 21 One side of group turn to middle on 1]
[mm. 22 Other side of group turn to middle on 1]
[mm.23 Just 2 middle rows clasp hands in arm wrestle motion on 3 (every one else nod)]
[mm.24 All look to audience 1234 Nod on each word "Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah" mm.25 Face forward on 1 Repeat - same as beginning until mm.13]
[mm. 13 (repeat) Point to audience with rt. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Point to audience with lt. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8]
[mm. 17 - 25 = same as before mm. 29 dip knees on "what" ]
[mm. 33-36 Stand still and sing ]
[mm.37 Same as mm. 17-25]
[mm.44 Face front on 1]
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10/04 RIGHT NOW - Vol. 10 No. 1
For the first 3 measures I just let them free dance or just wait to start.
Right Now = hands in a "I don’t know" pose. Palms facing up level with your shoulders and elbows bent. On the word "now" bring hands towards the middle with all fingers pointing downwards (fingers should be together)
Right na na na na now = on the word "right" hands in the "I don’t know pose" and on the na na na now part cross your arms to make an X with fingers pointing down and alternate your hands up and down ( move with the music)
Woh = we call it “Wax on” make circles counter clock wise with palms facing outward. Right Now. Right na na na na now= do the same movements as before Yeah= Raise the roof. Palms facing up bend your arms so that your hands are at your shoulders and pulse hands up and down Right now.
Right na na na na now= movements as before Ooh= “Wax off” make circles clockwise with palms facing out.
Right now. Right na na na na now= movements as before During measures 11 through 16= we start to sway side to side while step touching with our feet. We also clap on 2 and 4. Every time we get to the words “right now” we do the movements as explained before.
Measures 16 - 22 repeat the Right Now movements
Measure 22 starts the slow lyrical part “Angelically”
Live life right now = Start with hands at your waist level and slowly raise your hands to your sides, shoulder level Live in each moment, live each day. = continue to raise hands slowly above your head in a arch motion.
Time does not wait = Do a burst (finger shaped in an “o” and flick open), then start to slowly arch hands to your side, at shoulder level.
Live in each moment while you may= continue to slowly move your hands to your side at waist level Repeat all moves starting from the beginning (D.S. Al Coda) Enjoy! -- Tami Mangusso
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ROCKHOPPER 11:3
BH = both hands AF = arms folded held out in front (Indian style) N = quick jerky nod of head down) [I live south of the equator and I don't need a translator (BH point to floor on *south then BH held flat in front of body, swing slightly out to side and back as in ref style 'safe')]
['cause I *make my feelings *very c*lear (swing pointed finger down (as if shaking)3x stopping on *):]
[I'm a bird in fact a robin, not a sparrow or a robin (thumbs point to own chest; body sways left and right)]
[ and I don't fly thru the atmosphere (one hand 'flies' out and above head)]
[Chorus: (on M. 13 (downbeat) one arms lands firmly in front of body parallel with shoulders then)I really like to hop from rock to rock and.. (on 'like', 'rock', & 'rock' with other hand-fingers touching each other they 'hop' on extended other arm)]
[I can fly underwater yeah, (hands form wings and 'fly' at waist and below)]
[ Rockhopper Showstopper Krill eatin' waterfowl (AF, N on "Rockerhopper", "Showstopper", & "Krill eating waterfowl) ]
[(on following guitar rif, kids play an imaginary lead guitar complete with head shaking, swaying, etc.,)]
[I've got eyes (pt.to eyes) so red and glowing and my hair is spiked and flowing (BH with fingers spread on either side of head)]
[I've got yellow tassels 'neath my crown (wiggle spread fingers) (Pt. to self with thumbs and sway upper body left then right every 2 beats on *)]
[Like most *birds I build a *nest and I'm *different from the *rest]
[ Cause I *build it right here *on the (on 'ground' pt. with BH to floor and halt body from movement) ground.][Chorus]
[(with both arms, create a 'shelf' for chin and rest chin) Other penguins might be pensive but I'm (on 'really,' hold arms vertical next to body with hands in fists) really quite aggressive (swing pointed finger down (as if shaking) 3x stopping on *)]
[:I'm a *noise bird and *that's for sure] [I'm a fearless kind of creature, (shake one fist)]
[ Rather small (use hands with forefinger and thumb extended to indicate small) but packed with features (flat hands held vertical in front of face, move in circular motion out to sides]
[ Guaran *teed to help me *feel *secure On each of the 3 * do: 1) one arm parallel with shoulders held out in front, hand flat 2) other arm firmly comes to rest on top of other 3) nod head firmly]
[Chorus: (4 x) see earlier Chorus then add a nod. on "I'm a *rockhopper, *oh y*eah" (point thumbs to self, sway body from side to side)]
[ On last 'yeah' one hand points up (arm over head) and one hand points to floor and freeze!!]
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05/30 ROCKIN' SCALE We've had good luck this year using "Rockin' Scale" (MK8, vol.12-1 Network) in 3rd grade for tuning and voice development, so my 3rds and 4ths helped me add some movements to fit the ascending/descending melodic pattern. For the concert performance, we added a bit of dramatization that pretty much matches the pictures printed on the song page. For instrumental background, find a comfortable tempo on a keyboard rock track and add chords on the keyboard or guitar. Once the students got used to doing it with the rock beat, they were happy to do it unaccompanied and seemed to hear the track in their heads.
m.1: lean over slightly and step 4 beats
m.2: patsch 4 bt. rhythm pattern of choice on thighs
m.3: play "keyboard" to right/left/right/left (or opposite)
m.4: cont. keyboard motion but change to sweeping action
m.5: two large swimming motions R, then L
m.6: frame face with hands and pose
m.7: cont. posing but add large "combing" action over head, R__L__
m.8: R hand point down over own head 3X
m.9: (But just for now...) same as m. 8 but other hand
m.10: same as m.7 but do eyebrows instead of hair
m.11: fists under chin in a pouting pose
m.12: similar to m.5 but fists
m.13: same as m.4 but use pointers instead of whole hand
m.14: same as m. 3
m.15:"gorilla" pose (whole body slumps in dejection, arms hanging down in front)
m.16: R hand on R knee, L hand on aching back
m. 17: slowly straighten as if painful to do so
m. 18: big sigh after last note (When we performed this, I just played this last descending pattern, getting slower as we got to the end. The sigh was just added by the singers as we prepared to perform and made a simple and natural ending.)
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RULES FOR LIVING (11:4) - Laugh (facial expression as if ready to laugh with hands (palms face away from face, fingers outstretched)]
[Smile:(Index fingers draw a smile out and away from lips)]
[Eat: (Alternating hands mimic eating)]
[Work and play: (fists clenched, arms bent at elbow and held upright)]
[Well today (hands with palms up held out to side)] [Say nice things (as if making a point with index finger - 3x on beats 1,3,1)]
[Read (form book with hands)]
[Rest (Hands held tog. as a pillow, rest head)]
[Wash your hands.. (Rub hands tog. reversing motion with each action on beats 1, 3)]
[Face (hold hands with palms out to frame face)]
[Do your homework (mimc writing)]
[Help as 'Say nice things' 2x]
[Be clean in body and dress (use fingers outstretched, palms face in, bring hands down over body, indicating clothing)]
[Be kind and friendly (see Say nice things) 3x]
[Never leave a (hands flat, palms down, criss cross 2 times each direction)]
[Mess (pt. to floor with both index fingers)]
[Share, Give (hands outstretched)] [Turn your Tv off alot (on 'off,' mimc pressing remote] Note: toward the end of the song, we use hug "Dad," "Mom," and for the last: "them both alot!"
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SPRING, SPRING, SPRING (11:4) - 1st Tweets....Hands on hips, everyone is facing to the right but heads are facing me; as they sing "tweet", they lean in toward me bending at the hips and bopping their heads in rhythm to the tweets
2nd Tweets...Same thing as above but in the measure of brass echo, we turn and face the other direction
3rd Tweets...Hands at waist level with palms down; first "tweedle-dee" swish to the left with hands and hips, second "tweedle-dee" back the other way
4th Tweets...pointer fingers up and point them up and down to the rhythm (tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweety)
5th Tweets...Left hand point across the front of your body to the far side and as you say "tweety, tweety, tweety" bring your hand and arm across like your spanning the audience kinda ala "Go Grease Lightning"
6th Tweets...Hands like in the 3rd tweets and bounce up and down kinda like bouncing a ball with attitude
7th Tweets...as the music goes up "Twee---ee--ee--eet" hands are down on the left side and with each "eee" they come up and across the body together until they are finally up above your head Last section...Hands are above your head...on the 1st short "tweet tweet", bring left arm down first and then right arm (this is real fast and we've had to practice this to make sure we'll all together), then the next short "tweet tweet" bring arms back up left then right real quick and then on "tweeee (we do the trill, sorta)" we wave our arms down in front of us kind of like Wayne's World when they do the scooby doo second ending and on the final "tweet-tweet" we bop our heads Throughout the song, we do simple motions like come along, time to sing, in the trees, hear them, in the breeze....etc.SPRING, SPRING, SPRING - We just did this as our closer for a concert titled "The Nature of Weather".It was with 1st and 2nd grades.I followed the lyrics- when it says"hear them singing in the breeze"we would put a hand to our ear on the beat= right left right left.
"tweet tweet tweet they flap around" - moved hands like a bird's beak- then flopped arms like wings
During the middle section with those great jazz licks- I assigned different groups of kids to imitate playing the different groups of instruments. We had a trumpet section, a trombone section and a sax section, and the way the music bounces around- it gave some fun visual interest- but I still had kids able to concentrate on singing their phrase correctly. That middle section was the hardest for my 1's to learn. On spring spring spring, we moved a hand to our faces- jazz hands style- on that syncopated rhythm-
left -right -left, and the very last time we froze on that pose.
On the introduction- with all those great tom-tom sounds, we stood in place, but did a movement, like jogging in place, but not lifting the feet- so it was really all knee action. It wasn't my best choreography, but it worked out ok for this class pretty well.
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01/02 T REX IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (8:1) (Make a T with hands each time "T"-rex is mentioned:
There’s a T. Rex in the neighborhood. (point over shoulder)
There’s a T. Rex doin’ what he should, for a T. Rex. (hands out, palms up)
Eating is his thing. Yeah, the T. Rex. (freeze, both hands to mouth)
That’s why he’s the king. (hands form crown on head)
Why is he here?(hands out and up as ?) This isn’t good. (hands prone, shake)
What’s he doin’ in our time and In our neighborhood? (arms stretch out, palms facing each other )
Don’t stick around. That would be bad. (hands up in "stop" position)
If you try to fight with him, you’ll only make him mad. (fists in front of chest)
How is he here? (hands as ?) This isn’t right. (shake pointer finger)
He should be extinct (thumb over shoulder) by now
Instead of trying to bite.
(on word bite, open hands reach in front of body and make a sudden fist)
Don’t try to think. (index finger to head) Just get away. (Hands in running mode)
Run as fast as you can run, or you might be his prey.
(on 'you,' point to audience; on 'prey,' hands open, fingers up out in front of body)
chorus as before
(When sounds stop suddenly, all kids freeze)01/02 T-REX (8:1) - Make a big "T" with both arms and an "X" with both arms as those letters are sung. Following immediately with 2 snaps. On "in the neighborhood," swing both arms in front of the body in a clockwise circle, (begin at 6 o'clock) and ending by sweeping arms to the left. Repeat going counterclockwise and sweeping arms to the right. This takes you up through "There's a", at which time you're back to the letters. All arms need to move in the same direction for effect and for safety, but instead of using the directions above, I say things like "circle hands toward closet."
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10/05 THIS IS AMERICA (Flag routine):
First half of song: Sing normally with hands behind back holding two small American Flags.
Interlude: Boy scouts march up to front with American Flag
"This is" - both hands come out "America" - left hand swoops from right to left in a big circle
"America" - right hand swoops from left to right in a big circle (repeat)
"A land of courage, faith and honor" - slowly move hands up and over head
"A land of true equality" - slowly move hands down
"Hope" - left hand shoots up over head
"Pride" - right hand shoots up over head
"A land of Unity." - flags above head make tiny circles
"A Land of Liberty" - hands slowly come down
"Hope" - left hand shoots up over head
"Pride" - right hand shoots up over head
"A land of Unity." - flags above head make tiny circles
"A Land......" - Arms spread out to a V
"Of......." - Arms cross over head to an X "Liberty" - shake flags
"This is" - hands down "America" - Left hand up
"America" - Right hand up and shake flags - RaeAnna Goss
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02/04 THREE BABY GROUNDHOGS 14:3 We're doing "Three Baby Groundhogs" from MK8 volume 12 - 3. I made the mistake of trying to just sing along with the CD the first time. Too many words. During my second class, instead of copying the words or music for each child, I made an overhead of simple symbols for each line of the two verses. Here is an example of the first verse, I don't have it at home and think I missed a couple lines... They all laugh at my drawing of the mouse and bear.
3 house shape
two eyes simple mouse face
3 word "floor" with arrow under it
3 word "more"
First we clapped the little 'ti-ti-ti-tah' that recurs. Then I just sang through the lines once with them, looking at the pictures. I said the little spoken part with them with actions, not pictures (1,2,3 fingers, put hands together under chin with elbows out for 'so cute' line, and hands on hip with attitude for "Who's that...")
Now, with just one practice, they can sing along with the CD successfully. It has a great beat and will be a favorite, K-3, I know, even though Feb. 2 is gone. - Contributed by Linda Z in FL
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11/01 "TURKEY TANGO" (8:2) is one of those songs that people still comment on - even after 3 years! I had the entire first grade dressed up like turkeys with the main turkey entering at the tango music part with a rose in his mouth. They printed this picture in the MK-8 mag a year ago at Christmas time!!!
I made those ball - shaped costumes (if you have a mom that sews, they are quite easy). The pattern is widely available at the moment, as it is Halloween time (yeah!). I made them with hospital sheets dyed brown (cheap!). Of course I had to make 2 million of them for the entire first grade, and I would certainly lend you some, but they will be WWWAAAAYYYY too small for your kids. We stuffed them with newspaper for the proper plumpness. For the tail, I made a turkey tail out of poster board and spray painted layers of color. I just safety pinned them to the shoulders and the bottom... I don't like masks that cover the singing face, so we left that as is. They were great. Oh yes, the main turkey wore a tux over his plump body. The place roared when he entered! A REALLY GREAT SONG!
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TURKEY WOOGIE: 13:3
L foot to side X2
R foot to side X2
L foot to front, rock forward
Rock back on
Hop X3 while making turkey wings w/arms
Repeat sequence over, and over, and over - Contributed by Priscilla
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04/02 UNITED WE SING (3:1)
Intro: - after the 16 note beginning, and during the rest of the intro- we: Step to the right 8 counts (in a step-together, step together fashion)
Clap on #8 Step left 8 counts- Clap on #8
Step back 8 counts-Clap on #8
Step forward 8 counts- Clap on #8
Then sing verse and at chorus- more choreography:
Wiggle fingers over head.
"La, la , la , la"
Sweep left hand from low waist in arch across body and ending over head with the right hand staying there too.
"United In Song" Wave both extended arms over head, left right, left.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Bringing both hands down together in front to knees slowly as you sing, ending body bent forward.
"United In Music" Shoulder dance (Raise up on each beat- right left, right, left)
"La, la, la ,la" Scissor hands on each beat starting low in front of waist and gradually getting higher above head. "This world can't go wrong"
Then sing the verse without moves.
Chorus moves repeat again.
During interlude, we did a little Calypso move where they alternated arms, first right arm across in front of chest and left arm flings up straight and perpendicular with a fist,resting on the other arms fist, then switch sides and reverse other hands. About 8 beats.
Next few beats we did a spinning roll of hands and the right arm flings up to the right, then reverse hands and arms again.
Next beats we just spun our hands leaning forward and then back, forward back. I called it "roll, back, roll, back.
We did this until the chorus came back in and repeated the chorus moves.
Big ending: On final "United we sing" we grabbed each other's hands and thrust them yup (United together) on the final "SING"!
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UPSTANDING CITIZEN - Part I:
m.13: L hand on hip, shake R pointer 4X. R arm straight down at side on "up"/ L arm down on "stand"/ straighten shoulders & heads at *attention* on "citizen." (I'm finding that my girls are willing to *shoot* their L hip out in the beginning pose and the boys are more comfortable with the shoulder straightening/soldier-type pose, although this may change as they become more comfortable with the flow of all the movements.)
m.17: R hand on hip, shake L pointer 4X. R arm out, palm up on "out"/ L arm same on "in"/ point & bring thumbs to chest on "life."
m.21: Fold arms across chest and shake (nod) head 6X. Cross heart with R pointer (down-down) on "do."
m.25: R hand over heart on "character" / R pointer straight up beside head on "integrity" / scout salute on "honor / R arm & pointer aim out & up at slight angle on "through."
m.29: same as m.13
Part II:
m.13: Aim bodies slightly R, hands on bent knees, flat back, heads forward, and pulse beat with bent knees 8X.
m.17: Same to L but only 7X. Stand straight on beat 8.
m.21: Fists on hips, nod head 8X.
m.25: Turn slightly R & shoot arms down at sides on REST, adding a tiny stomp with R foot & giving a bit of *attitude* with the head, and keeping head turned forward. Maintain this pose throughout the phrase.
m.29: same as m.13 of Part II
m.44: Step R (TINY steps)/touch L, Step L/touch R (repeat)
m.48: Step R/touch L, Step L/touch R /sweep both arms up with palms up
(PU) for one measure/down with palms down for one measure
m.52: Step R/touch L, Step L/touch R (repeat)
m.56: R hand out, PU, up for 2 measure / L hand out, PU, and a little higher for 2 measures
m.60: R hand out, PU, a little higher for 2 measures / L hand out for ONE measure, then thumbs to "self"
m.64: Both arms out and high, PU, gradually bringing down for the 4 measures that "life" is held out m.68: 4-step turn to R
m. 70: 4 shoulder "pulls" (jerks?)
m. 71: 1 final shoulder "pull", then random "freeze" poses on "Momma!"
My choreography was a little different : the kids had bracelets made out of pipecleaners in which there were narrow lengths of crepe paper . They had in each hand an eight inch piece of sprinkler pipe (you could use lummi sticks instead) which they tapped together twice (above their heads )any time the word "upstanding" was used and then quickly dropped their hands down. On the word "outstanding" they moved their hands from a crossed waist level position to make a fan shape ie up and out. On "mother told me" they used their right stick and shook as if lecturing someone. On "up, up, up up standing" they began tapping at waist level until they had their sticks above their head.
on "Yes she told me" they tapped on the "yes".
There were other actions but I can't remember them. I do remember that the ideas came from the kids and looked spectacular because of the bracelets and the sounds that the PVC pipe made. It looked really great when the two different verses were being sung against each other. It ended with the children on the left (facing the audience) stepped out with their right shoulder and right foot and those on the right stepped out with the left foot and right shoulder making an ending pose. The kids are still reminding me what fun it was to do. I really prefer having the kids’ ideas and maybe adding a few of my own that they haven't thought of. - Connie Herbon
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01/03 WE ARE THANKFUL:
1st vs. Pat knees ta rest ta rest
2d vs. Hitchhike thumb over alternate shoulders (ta ta)
3d. vs. Alternate hands (in "Stop" motion) ta rest
4th vs. Rest clap rest clap
Thankful for the things we: have - hands outstretched palms up
are - thumbs point to self
be - thumbs over shoulder (future)
Oh........ (For each ta, hands alternate up and down, palms down, wrists loose)
Thankful! (clap ti-ti)
End clap ti-ti rest rest ti-tiWE ARE THANKFUL - Girls and boys put hands on hips and bend knees on opposing beats, girls go down on 1 and 3, boys on 2 and 4. They look like little pistons...it is so cute. (I drew a G on one hand and a B on the other so they could see when they go...it works.)
Then...hold hands in front of body with elbows out...like "opera style" with heels together - This is for "We are thankful..."
(My students came up with these...)
"Have" - hand flat out front - freeze until the next move
"Are" - hands touch chest - "
"Do" - point out to audience - "
"Be" - thumbs to chest - "
"Oh...." - Arms sway over head on half notes.
On "thankful" hands on hips and stomp your foot!
Then...repeat.
I have my 3rd graders singing the first part and the high notes on "Oh." My 4th graders are singing the echo and the low notes on "Oh." - Contributed by Kristin Lukow
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WE'RE GONNA BE ALRIGHT (10:2) - Intro: I tell the kids they're on a TV dance show. Make up your own APPROPRIATE dance move! If it's not something they could do in front of mom and dad or grandma and grandpa, DON"T DO IT!!!! (Same in between verses)
["Hey, hey..." hip hop wave (both arms waving back and forth over head ]
["Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" hitch-hiker thumb=right hand on first two yeahs, left on second two.]
[Repeat for next two Heys and yeahs, except on second set of "Yeah's," right hand once, left hand once. ]
[On third yeah, the thumbs start at the waist, come up together and then move out from each other at the same time, all very quickly.]
[First verse: "We're gonna be alright" thumbs to self, rock back two beats, forward two beats (this stays the same for all "we're gonna be alrights"]
["Puttin' one foot..." right foot taps ground four times, starting in the front and moving toward the right side (almost in the pattern of an arc) to the beat. (repeat thumbs and rocking)]
["Takin' it one day..." make number one sign with right pointer, bounce to the beat from left to right.(repeat thumbs to self)]
["Puttin one foot..." same as before, but with left foot. ["We're gonna be alright, we're gonna be just fine!" smae thumbs to self, but on "Just fine," make to ok sign with both hands (unless you have a student from Peru!!!!)]
[CHORUS: (Now, this is the fun part they all LOVE) Use the claps just as written "hey, hey," hands with palms down, moving from the elbows, which stay touching the sides. Arms move right on first hey, left on second hey]
["yeah, yeah, yeah" keep arms the same, right -left -right, wiggling hips in the same direction of the arms, bending at the knees and moving downward (but not too much)(This is the kids favorite move--you know "shake you bon-bon!!!!") ]
[Claps again, as written."we're gonna be," turn top part of the body (from the waist) to the right, thumbs swing up to self. Switch, turning to left side for the other "we're gonna be"]
[Repeat claps and hey, hey yeah, yeah yeah.]
["We're gonna be" right hand up in the air (jazz hand) stays there," gonna be" left hand up, jazz hand. ]
["just fine!" starburst (keep jazz hands and bring them down to the sidesquickly)]
[The rest of the moves stay pretty much the same for the rest of the song, except where the words change in the second verse.]
["Keeping our eyes on where we're going" point pointer straight out, left hand a little more to the front than the right.
IMPORTANT--THUMBS STAY IN AND ARE TO THE SIDE!!! NO SHOTGUNS!!!! ( I about died when the kids started making shooting noises!) This moves from left to right just like the "one day" from the first verse.]
["Nothing is gonna" shake head no and "flick" hands, from the wrist (kind of like a sloppy cut-off signal)"stop us now" of, course the good ole stop sign with the right hand (as in, "stop in the name of luv)
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01/07 WE’RE READY (MK8 magazine, vol. 16 #1) Plank Road Publishing: http://www.musick8.com/ 'm doing this song with K - 2nd and we love it too. We all echo the recording at the beginning. On "Hey, Hey" we wave one hand high in the air. On "Yeah, Yeah" we wave the other. On "Are you ready?" We put both hands out front with palms up. On "I am ready." We put our hands on our chest. Repeat. On "We have a lot to learn" we point to our brains. On "We have a lot to do" we make muscle man arms in front. Then I think there is a repeat. The 2nd verse has know and think. We point to one side of our brain and then the other. The rest is repeat. I love this song and it will be a keeper as an opening for years in my classroom! -- Kristin Lukow ~ Nebraska
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WHAT DID DELAWARE? (12:1) All of my students are loving it. I've come up with a square dance routine to do during the musical interlude:
(each move takes about 8 beats)
Circle left
Circle right
Swing your partner
Swing your corner
Head couples to the center and back
Side couples to the center and back
R & L Grand then Promenade Home (16 beats)06/30 WHAT DID DELAWARE Here's the choreography my 4ths did in their May 7th concert. There were about 45 recorder players on risers behind the actual dancers, who were paired up in two lines across the front of the stage. Movements on verses 1,2,4,& 5 were pretty free and just common actions to fit the words. Verse 3 is where we did the actual dance.
Verse 1: "what"- random shrugs; "ask" - dancers face partners & shrug
"wore" - RH, palm-up, rakes down upper body. Alt.with LH
Verse 2: "why" - cross arms & nod head RR/LL with questioning look
"ask" & "tell" - same as v.1
"Hawaya" - alt. RH / LH to head in imitation phone motion
Verse 3: (Dancers only. Recorders play.)
m.5-12: Wide jazz hands (WJH) up and to right 4X/left 4X / right 4X / left 4X while pulsing knees
m.13-16: WJH up 4X / down 4X
m.17-20: Paddle-wheel turn L for 8 bt. (8-step pivot on L foot, L arm angled down, R arm angled up like airplane wings)
m.21-28: Right WJH polish R (4bt) with L hand on L hip) Repeat to L, R, L (4X each) m.29-32: Polish WJH fwd 8bt., pushing tush out behind
m.33-36: repeat L paddle-wheel turn
Verse 4: RH to brow and pull head across 4bt. (repeat LH, RH, LH) RH point across audience 4bt.
(repeat LH, RH, LH) Verse 5:(Dancers drop to one knee)
Recorder players hold instruments across in front of body with one hand at each end for movement: On "hoed" hold recorder like a hoe and chop downward, pulling back on "land." Cont. same to tell."
Coda: "ask" - big shrug
"What....did....Del...a..ware?" - hands on hips
"What did Delaware?" - hands down, palms out, but shoulders up in questioning motion. Random pose on "Huh?" (We used "Eh?")
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WOULD YA, WOULDYA BE MY VALENTINE (9:3)
Patschen, patschen, clap clap hands cross twice in front of waist (ala "Grease") and then twice more with opposite hand on top
(all of this is repeated)
B Section (great for teaching form!)
A Valentine would be so fine with chocolate hearts and candy Stand still and draw large heart in front of body with both hands starting at top center of heart. You must plan your movement so that you finish your heart by the end of the phrase.
A card for me a card for you point to "audience" three times point to self three times
Wouldn't that be so sweet and dandy Starburst hands high, gradually coming down to side of body The song then returns to the "A" section and you repeat the grapevine step.WOULD YA, WOULDYA BE MY VALENTINE (9:3) Since my school is focusing on brain-based research this year, we are doing all that we can to encourage students to cross the midpoint. Therefore, I try to choreograph with that in mind. (Plank Road 10:3 or 4?)
(A Section) Wouldja, wouldja, wouldja, Step R, L steps behind, step R (grapevine step) , touch L & clap Couldja, couldja, couldja, Step L, R steps behind, step L(grapevine step), touch R & clap
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YANKEE DOODLE SANTA
March as they begin to sing
M. 13, stop marching on beat one
M. 17, three point salute on Un-cle-Sam (hand to head, hand straight out, hand slap thigh)
M. 19 (dressed) full sell up both hands for two measures then full sell down two measures on word "blue" a full sell up(meaning to "sell" the song) is palms up, slowly raising them above head a full sell down is just the opposite
M. 23, R. Hand slowly up for two measures
M. 25, hands on heart
M. 27 (spreading) start both hands at middle and "spread" them out for 4 meas.
M. 31, hands grab "reins" and pulse knees down on beat one of each measure for 4 measures
M. 35, Rhand out, lunge with r. knee on "Santa's"
M. 37, bring rhand in to stand tall.
On the quiet section at 39, both hands on knees, slightly bent as if whispering this section as a secret. v M. 49, same three point salute as beginning and dressed as beginning
M. 55 , choralelike -- I have them assume an "opera" post facing right, on M. 59, switch hands and direction for another "opera" post
M. 63, same as before
M. 67, rh down, clap on beat four of M. 70
M. 71, lh down, clap on beat four of M. 74
M. 75, rhand up, M. 76 one hand up (joins rhand in a Y above their head)
M. 77, rhand down, M 78, lhand down "boy" full sell up, on last two beats, pull hands into fists behind head and back in a Y above head.01/02 YANKEE DOODLE SANTA - When the lyrics begin we are marching in place, with elbows bent (swinging back and forth) and hands in a fist shape. "Uncle Sam" = ON the "un" part of uncle, they stop marching in place. The they are putting our hands out as is done in the well known "Uncle Sam" pictures.
"Dressed all in red, white and blue" = We are taking both hands and scanning the middle section of our bodies from chest until the fingertips point to the floor - palms facing out. (Arms will be spread out in an outreached position by the time we sing the word "blue.")
"Oh, he's..." At this point we begin marching in place again - same as in the beginning.
On the word "Hero" the students stop marching and salute for the duration of the word "he-ro."
"Yankee Doodle came to town to ride upon the reindeer" They will have their hands on their head resembling reindeer antlers. They love this. As they sing this line they also bob up and down as if riding on the reindeer.
On the jazzy section they take their shaky "jazz" hands and hold them on each side of their heads first to the right side for "He's----Santa."
Then they move to the left side for "He's Yankee Doodle through and through."
Repeat the marching and uncle Sam motion, and dressed all in red, white and blue.
Repeat the hero section. This time for "Yankee Doodle came to town to ride upon the reindeer" the students look like they are holding onto the reins instead of making the antler gestures.
The rest of the song we march in place.
When we sing the last "Santa's our Yankee Doodle Boy" we stop marching. Right hands move out to the right on the word "San-tas." Left hand moves out to the left on repeat of the word "San-ta's."
Then on the word "boy," the students make quick fists move both hands above their heads and bring them down throughout the duration of the word boy.
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10/04 YOU GAVE ME YOUR PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE - I made cookies out of brown poster board and drew black chocolate chips on them - traced around the top of a large margarine container,.
Until the "dance break," the students hold their cookies behind their back. Right before the dance break begins, the students bring bring the cookies in front and hold them at waist height - holding with both hands.
Two steps to the right Two steps to the left
One step right One step left
Rock 2, 3, 4 (feet planted - rock R, rock L, rock R, rock L) Repeat
"You gave me your..." - stop movement "peanut butter chocolate chip cookie" - hold cookie in right hand overhead and wave back and forth
"now I know that it's all true" - slowly bring cookie all the way down "real friend would sacrifice a cookie like that" - hold cookie in front with both hands and rock R, L, R, L, R, L, R
"you're a real friend..." straight arms holding cookie in front - go on
"you're" "to me" - hold cookie to chest on "me"
"real friend would sacrifice a cookie like that" - hold cookie in right hand overhead and wave back and forth
"you're a real friend..." - cookie in right hand, straight arm in front
"me" - cookie on chest CRUNCH - pretend to bite cookie -- Tina Morgan
BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************BOOKS
John Jacobson's set of 4: Gotta Sing Gotta Dance has great choreography moves which can be used for songs. (You can get through Popplers)
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12/09 I highly recommend Anne Green Gilbert's incredible book, "Creative Dance for All Ages". Very, very clear ideas for teaching all aspects of creative movement to any age level, and very fun and effective with kids! ------------------------
10/02 I bought MUSICBOOK O (Magnamusic, 1976; Ed. by Tossi Aaron) from Lyon's Music Catalog. Very inexpensive, softcover. Wonderful source!!! Every song is accomp. by a simple but engaging game covering everything from pulse/beat, pitch, rhythm, form, to dynamics. Circle, partner, snake, and line activities. LOADS of activities! Even has musical activities to do without singing: playing instruments, vocal exploration, movement exploration, mirroring, etc... The activities/games are all approp. for K-2; some of the songs too diff. for K but work with the teacher singing part/all alone. All songs can be sung by 1st/2nds.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************CIRCLES WITHOUT CHAOS
0/16 WHO'S NEXT? I have always had trouble getting the little ones to go around the circle in the same direction. In the past, I have physically taken their shoulders and turned them the correct way. And today -- voila! -- I said, "Sandy is the line leader. Everyone make a train and follow Sandy." Lo and behold, a miracle occurred, and EVERY SINGLE KINDERGARTENER went the correct direction. Wow. How did I not figure this out in the last ten years? ---- Nikki Febinger
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10/08 BEND THE ELBOWS! - What I find helpful, not just with Ks but with all, is to remind them to have elbows bent with their hands up and then they join hands. Visually it is lovely but most importantly, it keeps the shape of the circle much better. The kids have better control over the circle as a whole. --- Kathleen Bragle
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06/06 Doug got the group in a circle simply by standing up and putting his hands out like he was ready for someone to come up and take his hands. We all just got up and joined him! -- Rhonda in WI
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SONG: We sing Make a circle big and round, big and round, big and round. Make a circle big and round. All join hands. To the tune of London Bridges. They can usually make the circle by the time the song is done.
This would not work for the arches game but what I do when we're square dancing and having trouble with partners I let them choose a partner, boy or girl, doesn't matter , then give them a color red or blue which takes the place of boys or girls in the directions. We never have enough of each gender for two sets which I try to have going at the same time. I don't like to have a lot of kids sitting out, makes for problems on the sidelines. I only do that if I'm teaching several new calls. I only teach through the fourth grade thank goodness, but they seem to act like 6th graders more and more!!
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SONG: To get the class to sit in a circle I simply start singing the song:
"Such a making of a circle I never did see..." For smoother transitions it also works to makeup simple songs (using mi, so &la) giving them instructions. They'll love it. I promise.
e e e e e e q e e e q q e e e e e
g f e c c c c c c e c e g f e f d d d
Such a making of a circle I never did see, such a making of a
e q e e e q q e e e e e e e q e e e q q e e
d d d f d f a g f e c c c c c c e c e g f e
circle I never did see, such a making of a circle you never did see, such a
e e e e e q e q q q
f d d d d g f e c c
making of a circle, you can't catch me.
I don't know where this song comes from, but it works for me. In case your not familiar with the above format here's an explanation: The top row is the timing: q - Quarter e - Eighth The second are the note names, followed by the words.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************CIRCLE & PLAY PARTY GAMES
10/08 Here are some of teachers’ favorites:
Charlie Over the Ocean
Bow Wow Wow
Cobbler Cobbler
Lost the Farmer's Dairy Key
Chicken on a Fencepost
Cut the Cake
Old King Glory
Bluebird Bluebird
Wallflowers
Button You Must Wander
Killy Kranky
Turn the Glasses Over (dance)
The Amidon's Noble Duke of York (Virginia Reel)
Fjaskern
Jump Jim Joe
Little Shoemaker
JUMP JOHN JOE - inner and outer circle, students facing each other.
Every time we sing - Jump, Jump, Jump John Joe - they jump in rhythm. Take a little turn as around you go - students turn in place Hop a little, shake a little, stomp just so - students follow directions of song 1, 2 3 and away we go - clap, clap, clap partner, step to the right
---- (circles will go in opposite directions...everyone gets a new partner.)BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************CURRICULUM RESOURCES
FAVORITES: Popcorn (2) ,Mexican Mixer (3) ,La Raspa (2), 12th Street Rag (4) , Sliding (2), but we put it with one of the Irish dances, California Strut (2), ***Pata, Pata (3)*** Kids LOVE especially when we double time it; Christy Lane and teach Wild Wild West, Mambo, and Livin LaVita Loco. (probably didn't spell that one right) She uses cleaned up words and our 4th grades love it. Once they learn a dance in lower grades, we use it for warm- ups in upper grades.
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My predecessor ordered Phyllis Weikart's Rhythmically moving series (4 videos, 9 CDs, and a book). I have used several dances with great success with second graders (Limbo Rock, Fjaskern, and The Little Shoemaker). The kids love it! ------------------------
My favorite dance book of folk dances, is called "Chimes of Dunkirk" by the New England Dance Masters. Comes with CD. My kids LOVE Alabama Gals (by kids I mean anyone from grade 2-college)!
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7/01 . I have been teaching in "Music City" for eleven years. Using this concept has been a lot of fun and often helps me maintain a sense of humor The kids and staff call my classroom Music City rather than the Music Room. I have velcro numbers to create a floor circle (more accurately a"horseshoe"). Instead of "assigned seating" the students have an "address". When we move on the circle, we call it walking/moving on the sidewalk. Sometimes I have had a sign on the door "You are now leaving Music City. Drive carefully". During the winter I add "watch for ice'. In the hall over the entrance door, a sign says "You are entering Music City". I tell the kids I am the Mayor and they are all citizens. I also joke about being the dog catcher. There are many more analogies that are fun to use. Some years I do more than others but it is always "Music City" and when the announcements go in the daily bulletin, the room is referred to that way.
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I have a lot of fun with the kids about their "houses" where they "live" in Music City. If someone is getting into their neighbors space, I might say something like, "stay out of your neighbor's tulips". When assigned places are changed for whatever reason, "The moving van was here". If a kid gets on the wrong spot, I tease them about going into their neighbor's house and eating ice cream.
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Here's an outline of my dance unit i do with fourth grade every yr. it varies from time to time depending mostly on how many lessons i have to work with in a given semester. usually i use most of the spring semester.
The basic sketch of the semester is: folk dances, ballroom dances, and popular dances.
Begin with an overview with the kids explaining where we're headed and the outline. talk about dancing with partners. rules of ettiquette: boys usually ask. must always say "please" and be a gentleman. girls' job is to smile and say "yes" no matter who he is. i tell my girls they must wait until he has asked them politely to be their partner. if he simply points and says "please" they are to look innocent and stand there as if they don't understand. "i'm sorry. are you talking to me?"
After dancing: gentleman never leaves her standing on the dance floor and says "see ya" but rather escorts her to her seat or back to her friends. or if he likes her and wants to spend more time with her, he might take her over to the punch table.
Explain the no tolerance policy re. rudeness or refusal to participate. IMPORTANT: have some consequences ready to go and begin immediately cracking down the first day you have boy-girl partners. one free warning and 10 seconds (count rhythmically) to comply before consequences kick in. My rule: if a student refuses to participate one day, it's handled in-house. next time it happens with same child, we involve parents. another good trick is to have an acceptable and unacceptable chart so the kids know from the beginning what to expect. a small token reward is good for those who follow the chart and a consequence for those who don't. tell them about the Cake Walk. this will get them on your side right away. tell them to ask the fifth graders how much fun it was since they did it last year. this makes the new kids feel like they're part of a standing tradition.
Folk Dances: away and home turf beginning with dances from other countries.
--Le Branle (France): lyrics and tune (6/8 time)
dan-sez le / bran-le le / bran-le le / bran-le /
d-- d-r / m-- m-m / r-- r-r / m-- m-- /
dan-sez le / bran-le de / pe-tit Li-mou- / sine //
d-- d-r / m-- m-m / r-d r-m / d-- zzz //
the moves: form circle.
all move counterclockwise in a side-step to the beat.
step-together-step-together... while singing (no recording)
keep moving around the circle and singing the whole time!
second time through song: all touch their own heads while moving and singing.
third time: reach out and touch neighbor's head
fourth: touch own shoulders
fifth: neighbor's shoulders
sixth: own waist
seventh: neighbor's waist
Etc. moving down body: thighs, knees, ankles, and finally feet
of course at the end no one is really singing or moving to the side very well, but that's part of the fun.
--El Baille de los Pajaritos (Mexico): "chicken dance"
--La Raspa (Mex): scissor step with partner then link arms and swing
--Square Dances (USA): boy-girl partners. good intro. to couple dancing. non-romantic and fun. Tthe recordings: small 33 1/3 records bought in 1981 from folk dance workshop. The Lloyd Shaw Foundation, Inc.
Ballroom Dances:
--Tango: as taught to me by good friend who has taken ballroom lessons
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The PE teacher and I join classes together and combine our skills. I reinforce steady beat, tempo, time signatures etc. She reinforces proper body movement skills as well as direction of movement.
Some of the things we have done are:
Line Dancing
Square Dancing
Folk Dancing - Virginia Reel etc...
Aerobics
Jump bands - these are big elastic bands you hook around your ankles and the ankles of a partner. The enders jump and the kids in the middle jump, all to the beat of whatever music we choose. My calves are hard as rock when we are done with this unit!
Tinikling - We have not done this yet, but are planning on it!
Basketballs to the beat - This is one of their favorites! We use Jock Jams music and make up routines. Parachute
Scarves - creative movement and juggling.
Stomp activities
We make up all our own routines, start slow and let the kids progress as far as they can take it! Our 5th and 6th graders get very good are wear us out!
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It is important to teach about body parts in the preschool. She begins a lesson with "Show me your [name of body part]," then progresses to "What do we call this part?" and "How do you move or use this part?" (Come to think of it, that's pretty close to the Montessori sequence of "This is. . .," "Show me. . .," and "What is it?" Marline's lessons center on the concept of movement within one's own space. To define an area, you can use hoops or you can use circles drawn with chalk. You can deal with such variables as high/low and fast/slow. Appropriate songs include "Head Nodder," "Where isThumbkin?" "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands," "Let Everyone Clap Hands With Me," "Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes," "Allouetta," "The Hokey Pokey," "Did You Ever See a Lassie?" and "Here We Go Looby Loo." Marline also suggests playing "Mirror" and "Follow the Leader," with alternation between standing and sitting.
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I love to play music on the piano and have the kids move to them. They love this and often request it. I've been using classical pieces from Elsa Findlay's book on Dalcrose. There's a nice piece for marching, one by Prokofiev for running, Schumann's Wild Horseman for galloping, a Sicilienne for skipping, Schumann's "March Militaire" for hopping and jumping. It has Londonderry Air which I've had them plant their feet and do flowing non locomotor movements to and a Chopin waltz that I've been having them do step, step, step, pose. This has become my favorite solution for the laryngitis music teaching problem. I play sensitively and the children are responding in the character of what they hear.
I have a mime routine that I do with icons on the felt board:
ghost, black cat, jack-o-lantern, ghost
black cat, ghost, jack-o-lantern, ghost
ghost, black cat, jack-o-lantern, black cat
ghost, black cat, jack-o-lantern, ghost
You get the idea. That is what I do for teaching ta, ti-ti, and ti-bi-ti-bi. In December I can do red stocking for ti-ti-bi, snowman for ti-ti, Christmas present for ti-bi-ti-bi, Christmas tree for ti-bi-ti, Gee, I can't remember what ta was. After they've done it with icons for a while I put up a note head for each syllable in the icon word. Then I change each one to its symbolic representation. Then I hand out instruments with metals for ta, woods for titi, and drums for ti-bi-ti-bi. This is all mimed. I use to wear a clown suit while doing it. Kids love this.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
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06/16 SCATTER DANCES: I took "La Raspa" and turned it into a scatter dance: Find a partner A section - the normal switching feed 3X followed by 2 quick claps B section - elbow swing partner, though halfway through I shout "find another partner"I also found "Los Machetes" on YouTube and combined a few of the ideas I saw. We used rhythm sticks instead of machetes, of course! A - with rhythm sticks on shoulders step RLR, step LRL, etc 16X total (the step rhythm is eighth with quarter) all the while looking for a partner B - with partner click sticks together 4X (swipe left, right, left, right) turn around of bent knees. Do this a total of 4X C - no partner needed for this part. Click sticks to quarter note pattern: in front, under left leg, front, under right leg, front, behind, front, front. Do this a total of 4X The original videos had the dancers moving in lines or circles or both, sometimes with partners.
See Kinderpolka on youtube - I use Denise Gagne's version which is slow enough
"What did Delaware, boys, what did Delaware?" -- facing random directions, walk forward 8 steps "What did Delaware, boys, what did Delaware?" -- walk backwards CAREFULLY 8 steps "What did Delaware, boys, what did Delaware?" -- look for a potential partner (we make the forked finger 'watch me' sign here) and walk forward 8 steps to meet them "I tell you now as a personal friend" -- clap own hands twice, pat legs on 'personal friend' "what did Delaware?" -- do a right elbow swing for THREE beats and then cast off in the direction you are facing. Endless fun! We're all tired at the end of it. ---- Nikki Febinger
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01/16 YOUNGER STUDENTS: Set up 4 couples like a square dance, joining hands to "sashay/gallop." Label each couple as North, South, East, and West.What'll we do with the baby-o North and South gallop to middle
What'll we do with the baby-o North and South gallop "home."
What'll we do with the baby-o East and West gallop to middle
If she won't go to sleepy-o? East and West gallop "home."
Verses: act out motions.More Difficult:
Same thing, except that the couples are not across from each other. They're on either side of an imaginary or real median line so they can gallop twice as far without bumping into each other.2nd grade LOVES this. I use the "Hush-a-bye/All the Pretty little horses" as an introduction, and then break into this raucous song as a "surprise." Add an easy Orff arrangement. Bordun on quarter notes for refrain and slower bordun on half notes for verses.
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01/03 BAT DANCE We actually use the "disco Bat" approach. Hope this makes sense.
Walking around town...- point 4 times with each hand
Everywhere you look... - fingers in a V across eyes R & L
Hanging up... - point up LRLRL
Bats are takin over... hands spread come down
That's a fact. - Shrug matter of factly
I am so inspired... - sunburst L hand/R hand
see those bats go flyin - make bat by crossing thumbs and fly
Makes me want to spread... - sunburst "spreading wings" with both hands the gravity defyin' - hands complete circle and "defy gravity" to straight up.
And do a bat dance... - a la Saturday Night Fever point disco.
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CHA-CHA - Four steps to the right
Four steps to the left
Take it back (4 steps back)
Jump one time
Stomp right foot (hold four counts)
Stomp left foot (hold four counts)
Cha cha (which, as I learned it is a jazz square, two times)
Turn it out swing with left foot to a new direction
When they say "charlie brown" that is hopping from one foot to the other
Reverse it jump and turn around
Criss cross - jump and criss cross your legs.CHA CHA: The notes to the steps to cha cha slide are on the web site chistylane.com under christy's teaching notes. There are also many other dance steps like the Mabo #5 and the wild wild West! Christy also has cds with these songs on them with the bad words cut out...like the wild wild west.
CHA CHA: I bought a CD that is called Cha Cha Slide Featuring Casper on M.O.B. records. IO bought it from Camelot Records.
I use the Cha-Cha Slide for a reward. Playing Chalk Talk (what a wonderful suggestion from someone out there) they can have last 3 min with Cha Cha Slide if I have fewer than 10 points on my side. What a motivator. I've had to tell a few kids that they could not dance in a suggestive manner on the parts mentioned and they get my point. I used to say something like, "Would you like you mother to see what you are doing?'' Doesn't work any more! Now I insert the principal's name or grandmother in that statement. That cleans it up. My sweet innocents are often lost too in the stampede. I'm glad my kids were of the previous generation and that moving to the country allowed them to grow up as sweet, innocent children. I blame parents and media....
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5/01 THE CHICKEN DANCE : "Little Bird Dance" in STM, Grade 1 is a good source for a recording of "The Chicken Dance". It's a cute version for little ones. However, in our part of the country, children go to weddings and festivals where they participate in the chicken dance, and the traditional movements are in a different order that the ones in the text.
A Section:
Beats 1-4: "Chicken beak" hands open and close four times;
Beats 5-8: flap "wings" four times;
Beats 9-12 twist hips, bending knees to go downward and back upwardwithin four beats;
Beats 13-16: Clap four times
B Section: Join hands to form a "snake" and move through the room, following the leader.
(STM suggests for the B Section to flap "wings" and make a pathway through shared space, which works much better with 1st graders! We addthe snake in later years since this is the way it's done at "grown-up"events around here.)
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CHRISTMAS TURKEY DANCE: Formation: Children form a single circle. Face into the centre of the circle Gonna eat my Turkey, gobble motion 4 times with hands; gonna eat my Turkey flap elbows Gonna gobble it up, twist down; Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! 4 claps Repeat this part 3 times
Verse: Step to the beat in the circle; Got to get away, got to go real fast; Don't want Christmas Eve, to be my very last
Turn and go in the opposite direction:
Got to get away, far away from here I don't want to be the reason for your Christmas cheer!
Dance repeats
For more information visit my web site www.christmasconcert.com
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10/02 CRAWDAD SONG: Contributed by Gretchen in IL
I came up with a cute little dance I'm planning for my 5ths to do with the Crawdad song. We're in our Civil War unit and will be learning Dixie this week. I needed something else to fill out my plans that related to the south, could be used to reinforce a little lesson on meter, and got the kids up and moving. Well, here's what I came up with...
Formation: 2 parallel lines with partners at a slight distance but facing each other. Hc=(head couple)
Hc X X X X X X X X X X
Hc X X X X X X X X X X
8 cts: 4 steps forward, 4 claps.
8 cts: (Hc)4 steps forward, sashay down line (others) stay in place for 4 cts, then side step L 2x to move line up.
4 cts: All turn self around in circle (Hc turns too and simply joins the back of each of their lines)
4 cts: All clap in place.
Repeat with new Head couple on each verse. Here's a breakdown of the Refrain with the counts. Verses follow the same pattern:
8 cts: You get a line & I'll get a pole honey.
8 cts: You get a line & I'll get a pole babe.
8 cts: You get a line & I'll get a pole. We'll go fishin in the crawdad hole
4 cts: Honey, baby
4 cts: Mine.
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01/02 COLOR DANCE; The song Color Dance comes from a book Come On Everybody Let's Sing by Lois Birkenshaw. Publisher: Gordon V. Thompson Music, Toronto, Canada A Division of Canada Publishing Corporation 29 Birch Avenue, Toronto , Ontario, Canada M4V 1E2
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FLOWER DANCE: Line up 3 chairs. Make two lines of students, facing the chairs, with an aisle in the middle. 3 students sit in the 3 chairs. The person in the center chair holds a flower (or other item-can be a valentine for Valentine day, a stuffed Santa at Xmas time, etc.) As the music plays (should be lively & danceable) the center person HANDS the item (lets say a flower) to one of the students seated beside her. That student keeps the flower and the center person dances down the aisle with the other person. (I show them how to hold hands and sashay) The one who is left holding the flower immediately moves to the center seat. The next two people in line step forward and take the seats on either side of the center. The center person hands the flower to one of them, and dances down with the other. The fun part is, sometimes there will be a boy in the center of two girls and he will have to decide who to give the flower to and who to dance with. Sometimes its a girl with two boys to choose from. The kids just love this because its sort of random and they never know who is going to be next to them . Some of them get confused and give the flower to their friend, thinking that will be their partner, but then have to dance with the other person! Kids laugh and have so much fun with this. Keep the music lively. They will beg to do it all period! ---- Dianne Park
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FUN LESSON I do with my kids before a break or when we just need this type of lesson. I have the John Jacobson movement CD's and Kids Dance Party. I use mostly "Conga in the Kitchen" and "Around the World" by J J. We start in Cleveland, OH (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) and do the twist or YMCA depending on my mood. Then we fly to the islands and do the Conga. Then we fly to Hawaii and do the Hula. We fly to the far east and do "Kung fu Kicks." Up to Russia for "Russian Kicks" over to Israel for the Circle Dance. By now we have worked up a pretty good sweat! It is great for working off the Christmas cookies! If we have time we may Polka. Then we use JJ "Flying on a cloud" to settle and get home. I use a map and we follow our path. It is a great energizing lesson and everyone eventually gets caught up in it and they participate enthusiastically. Even my 5th graders got into it!
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01/07 HAMSTER DANCE came on a separate CD (note the P in the spelling) that I found on Amazon. Electric Slide, Chicken Dance, YMCA, and many more came on a Dance Favorites from one of the traveling vendors who leave book displays at schools. I've also seen them at Wal-Mart. Cha-Cha Slide I had was a tape a students made for me. By now it is probably on one of the dance CDs. -- Ardith J. Roddy
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HAMSTER DANCE - The directions say - "face your partner and look at them as if they are the funniest looking hamster that you have ever seen!" (THAT gets my kids going as you can well imagine!). The music gives you the cue to begin:
Hands on the hips:
Nod to the right(1,2)
Nod to the left (3,4)
Nod to the right (5,6)
Nod to the left(7,8)
(On 7, I say "hands together" - reach across and join your hands with your partner)
step together, step together (1,2,3,4) (right)
step together, step together (5,6,7,8) (left)
REPEAT (to the right, to the left)
patsch, patsch, clap, clap(1,2,3,4)
clap, clap (your partner's hands together)5,6
reach across right hands(7) reach across left hands(8)
With hands crossed and joined, jump in a circle for 8 beats
REPEAT from patsch, patsch, clap, clap (1,2,3,4)etc.
The kids were having trouble with the crossing hands part(they were doing a high five routine and it was complicating things) so I had them practice reaching across with right hands and shaking hands. Then they did the same with their left hands. We did it slowly and they got the correct way to "join" hands and that seemed to take care of things.
The CD I got from Amazon.com It's in school but it is simply called "The Hamster Dance" by (I think) Hampton and the Hamsters. I could have that wrong. As I said there are parts where the music and the dance directions don't jive so I have had to make some small adjustments, but the KIDS LOVE IT ! I do have the formal directions and some person's name who sent in the dance to what I think is a P.E. site and I will post that tomorrow. I don't want anyone to think that I am the author of this! GREAT FUN ! I have been told by some parents that their child had gotten up from the dinner table to demonstrate the dance! Wild!HAMSTER DANCE: It's on one of the Radio Disney Jams CD, volume 3. I found it at Borders.And here are the instructions for the dance. http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/ViewLesson.asp?ID=2098
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04/02 HORA: step R hop R step L hop L step R L crosses behind step R hop R L up R up L up04/02 Although it might not be the "correct" sequence, here's how I learned it and taught it for years. It works. It's a 6-beat sequence against an 8-beat phrase.
Bt. 1 - step L
Bt. 2 - R step behind L
Bt. 3 - step L
Bt. 4 - hop on L while kicking R across body
Bt. 5 - step R
Bt. 6 - hop on R while kicking L across body (weight in now on R and sequence repeats)
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HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN TONIGHT Formation: Two lines -- can face each other or can both face the front. If facing each other, the claps are done to face-off partners hands, if facing the front, the claps are done by self.
Part 1
4 steps back
4 steps forward
right heel touch(in front) and back
left heel touch(in front) and back
bend knees twice -- clap, clap
--Repeat whole sequence--
Part 2
step right together right touch
step left together left touch
Polka step RLR
Polka step LRL
Pat legs twice
Clap twice
---Repeat sequence--Music is found on old LP "Dances Without Partners" Good Music, very lively.I call it like this:
Back 2 3 4
Front 2 3 4
heel back, heel back
bend, bend, clap, clap
repeat
side step side touch
side step side touch right left right
left right left
pat pat clap clap
repeat
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02/04 HIP HOP: I have used Kriss Kross "Jump" and "I Missed the Bus" with 4th-6th grade. What we did is listen to the songs and tally up (good math correlation) the times we heard the title during the song. It ends up being a fun way for them to listen to their music and keeps them motivated and busy. You could have small prizes or something for the students that get the exact number. What I always did was listen myself several times before class to make sure I got the same number each time. - Contributed by Tamela Cook
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HUSTLE - There are a million versions of the hustle like most other dances. I took what I remembered from my youth and what i'd seen in Sat. Night Fever and simplified it still keeping the "groove" of the dance. hint: don't mention this particular movie to the kids. it's not at all appropriate for them (parts of it are too lude for me to stomach). heaven forbid they should all rush out to rent it just to see the hustle scene. last yr. i had a class dress disco-style and perform this on the spring program. the aud. went wild,clapping along and cheering. my students and friends inform me that they know different moves too. this is a simplified version that works well with my kids. Music: You Should Be Dancin' by the BeeGees
intro: (8ms.)
wait and just get a feel for the beat. you can hear the bass guitar giving you the beat. (4ms.)
three steps forward, clap (right on the beat)
three steps back, clap
three forward, clap
three back, clap (4ms.)
three to the left, clap (second step crosses behind left foot)
three to the right, clap (second step crosses behind right foot)
three left, clap
three right, clap kick step: (2ms./4 kicks=8bts.)
(facing slightly left) four diagonal front kicks with right foot.
here's how: kick out diag., put it back slightly behind--not parallel to left foot
-------(add quick left-foot step after putting right back-opt.) still keeping both feet pointing slightly diag. to the left.like this:
kick, put back. kick, put back. kick, put back. kick, put back.
twist: (2ms./4 twists=8bts)
with right foot slightly back (after finishing the kick step), twist four times to the beat on the balls of your feet
(like in the twist dance): twist rt./left, rt/left, rt/left, rt/left
four disco arms: (2ms./4 points up,down=8bts.)
right hand on hip. point with left finger over head diag. left
then down diag. right. do four up/downs.
change step: (2ms.)
right foot tap forward (2bts.), tap back (2bts), tap forward (1bt.), turn on
right foot to face left wall (1bt.), wait last two beats. get ready to begin again facing the new direction.
"call" the chg. step out to the kids like this: "forward--back--forward, turn,
ready go," or something like that so they are ready to repeat the dance.
repeat entire dance, have fun!
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10/08 I’S THE BYE: (Get a partner, then go stand in a class circle next to your partner) I’s the b’y that build the boat, I’s the b’y that sails her (boys walk 4 steps to the middle, bow, walk 4 steps back) I’s the b’y that catches the fish, and takes them home to ‘Lizer. (girls walk 4 steps to the middle, curtsy, walk 4 steps back)
Hip your partner, Sally Tibbo, Hip your partner, Sally Brown (bump Right hips with your partner, bump Left hips with your partner)
Fogo, Twillingate, Morton’s Harbour, All around the circle. (Swing your partner with your right arm 4 beats, (turn back-to back with partner to face your “corner”), swing your corner with your left arm for 4 beats and restart game with your corner -who is your new partner) --- Annie Nilsson, K-5 music teacher, Chugiak, Alaska11/08 I’S THE BYE: (Get a partner, then go stand in a class circle next to your partner) I’s the b’y that build the boat, I’s the b’y that sails her (boys walk 4 steps to the middle, bow, walk 4 steps back)
I’s the b’y that catches the fish, and takes them home to ‘Lizer. (girls walk 4 steps to the middle, curtsy, walk 4 steps back)
Hip your partner, Sally Tibbo, Hip your partner, Sally Brown (bump Right hips with your partner, bump Left hips with your partner)
Fogo, Twillingate, Morton’s Harbour, All around the circle. (Swing your partner with your right arm 4 beats, (turn back-to back with partner to face your “corner”), swing your corner with your left arm for 4 beats and restart game with your corner -who is your new partner) --- Annie Nilsson, K-5 music teacher, Chugiak, Alaska
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IRISH WASHERWOMAN: I adapted it from "Parachute Activities with Folk Dance Music": http://www.musicmotion.com/ Music: Irish Washerwoman (AB form)Activity:
Part A circle right 16 beats, circle left 16 beats (skipping/dancing to the music)
Part B make an umbrella & have 2 students opposite from each other change places underneath, dancing a jig from one side to the other. (I let the older students work with their partner & choreograph their dance). Repeat with next pair of students.
I chose 2 students to be the 1st ones to change on Part B, & then went around the parachute in order so the students knew who was going to be next. I used it with 1st - 5th grades. -- Contributed by Dale Mize
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01/03 JOHNNY APPLESEED: I made up a dance for "The Ballad of Johnny Appleseed" yesterday. I tried it with my second grade classes. It took them a little bit to get the do-si-do right, but then they "took off" on it! Begin by pairing boy/girl couples with the boys ACROSS from the girls forming two long lines.
Verse : 4X Walk forward four beats (bow/dip on 4), back four beats
Refrain : Do-si-do forward 8 beats, move round your partner RIGHT SHOULDERS passing (left shoulders will pass on the way back); -- backward 8 beats
move forward 4 beats with hand outstretched, take partners' hand turn around and walk back 4 beats to place. Begin again. For repeated chorus at end: repeat patterns twice; "That's All!" - bow/curtsy to partner Contributed by Joni Kotche
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07/05 LINE DANCES: My Achey Brakey Heart Bus Stop Hustle Electric Slide
My kids really enjoy 12th Street Rag from "Dances in a Line".
My kids loves to do these line dances I got off some Dance CD's. Cotton Eye Joe, Virginia Reel, and more. I am not sure what dances are American but there are some terrific Dance CD's and Videos that teach the steps. "All time Favaorites" Everybody Dance" and more. I picked mine up from www.christmasconcert.com
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LOCOMOTOR: Being a dance teacher, I used this today for locomotor, non-locomotor movement.
Intro - chill, do whatever
Walkin' around town - step in place 3, clap on 4
I am so inspired - when sitting, big sway; when standing, step left, rt.
behind, step rt., left touch
And do a bat dance - shape arms in bat "W", raise shoulders to "flap"
Movin' around - fists together in front, make circle
Break - step left, rt. behind, step rt., left touch and clap
Intro - chill
repeat
--- Contributed by Tess Hoffman
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07/05 MEXICAN HAT DANCE - I had my class get into a circle. They did the kick step that is associated with the dance on the A section. On the B section, they took two steps to the left and two steps to the right. on the C section, they joined hands and danced around in the circle. That way, you don't have partners and everyone can join in. I saw it done that way at an ethnic festival last summer. Cheryl Elder
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LINE DANCE: I do a line dance unit and open the unit with Teresa Jennings "Line Dance." Music K-8 (vol.4/3 page 40) You do have to purchase it separately from the MK-8 magazine. I take that dance and transfer it to other current country songs...It works well with John Michael Montgomery's "Sold-Grundy County Auction" You can adjust it here and there and make it work. I then teach several other line dances that I learned from one of our 3rd grade teachers. The kids love to line dance even if their favorite type of music is rap or rock or whatever!
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LOS MACHETES is a fun dance. We used rhythm sticks as "machetes." You can find the music on iTunes. It's ABC form. All students are in 2 lines. Begin by facing front. I always had my students first face their partner then turn to face the front.
A section: Click sticks overhead on the beat while walking forward 16 counts.
Click sticks overhead on the beat while walking backwards - face partner on beat 16.
B section: Walk forward 3 counts, click partners sticks on beat 4.
Walk backward 3 counts, click sticks together on beat 4.
Repeat.
Still facing partner click sticks one time in front (beat 1), click under right knee (beat 2), click in front (beat 3), click under left knee (beat 4), click in front (beat 5), click behind the back (beat 6), click in front ti-ti ta (beats 7 & 8).
C section: Partners touch right sticks (held higher than head but in front - make sense?) and walk in circle for 8 beats (or skip - looks better but I don't teach it that way. Some kids just automatically do it.) Switch - partners touch left sticks together & walk in circle in other direction.
Repeat but on the last rotation have the students get ready to face the front again to begin the A section. ---- Tina Morgan
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“MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE?” I teach my students that they need to ask their partner to dance, not just grab someone. So they say, "May I have this dance?" and all respond, while in music class with "Yes, you may." The girls always look at me when I tell them to say the first half because some still think that the boy always has to ask. This way all the students are learning their manners! ----- THANK YOU: Another point that Peter always made was at the end, the children should say, "Thank you for being my partner!" and they shake hands. I have to remind my darlings though that this should be a sincere, quiet statement to the other person - no sing song sounds or loud voices - just plain old good manners. ---- Kathleen Bragle,
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07/05 O KWAANZA 13:2 I had the kids move only on the refrain. On "Kwan-zaa", my students moved their head/shoulders to the left on "Kwan" and clapped on "zaa". Then, they moved the same way on the next "Kwanzaa" but to the right. On the short "Kwanzaa" (the 4th one in the refrain), we patted our lap twice while singing the words "Kwanzaa". The rest of the song we sang without movement except at the end where we patted our lap twice and clapped once while singing the words "Harembee". - Steve
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07/11 OLD BRASS WAGON is an easy one - Pair up in partners standing next to each other in a big circle.
1. Circle to the left
2. Circle to the right
3. In and Out (whole circle takes baby steps in for first 2 phrases then out for last 2)
4. Swing O Swing (partners lock elbows and WALK around each other)
5. Do Si Do
6. Promenade Home (return to circle - move to left)
SONG is at: http://www.christmasconcert.com/Samples/Files/GamesRound.pdf
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04/03 OLD DAN TUCKER: Start with two lines facing each other, but the student partners are standing next to each other, not across from each other (we'll call that person your "corner" for now)(if you do it in small sqaures of two sets of partners, it really would be your corner)
Verse: 1st two meas: Step-slide, Step-slide (to the west)(these are half note steps because it's a very fast 4 time signature - really more like cut time)
2nd two meas: Step-slide, Step-slide (to the east)
3rd two meas: (let go of your partner) Forward, two, three, clap (3 steps forward on strong beat, clap both of your hands with your "corner's" hands - "high 10")
4th two meas: Back, two, three-turn, clap ("high 10" your partner)
Refrain: 1st two meas: Right elbow swing with your partner (only once around)
2nd two meas: Left elbow swing with your partner
3rd two meas: Right elbow swing with your corner (person across from you in this case)
4th two meas: Hand clapping pattern with your partner, pat-pat-clap(own)-clap-snap-snap-high 10
I really wanted this last part to be with the person across, and I wanted it to be: pat-clap(own)-right-clap-left-clap-both (high 10) But I as the head "folk" had to change it because it was just too fast for them and they haven't had enough hand jive experience in their once a week time with me. The beauty of making up your own stuff! It may take a while at first but once you get a feel for your kids and their capabilities, dances start to come pretty easily.-- Contributed by Pam Moser
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06/06 OLD JOE CLARK We're doing a circle type dance where, on the verse, they do the partner square dance move, arms linked. Then on the chorus, the boys go first, 3 steps into the circle then clap (on Clark) and back out, clap on 4th step. Then girls do the second half of the chorus same way. They seem to enjoy it and I make a big thing when some of the boys especially can predict their "part" is coming. With the little kids, 1st and 2nd, I have one kid 'weave' during the chorus and who they stop by is the next 'weaver' (instead of swinging arm dance) Stacie
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PATTY CAKE POLKA - The form is AABB (A and B are each 8 bars) Formation: circle mixer, with one partner facing in, the other facing out.
A: beats 1-8:
Hold both hands with partner. With the foot that is leading clockwise, do heel, toe, heel, toe, then slip clockwise three times.
beats 9-16: Repeat in other direction (counter-clockwise).
B: beats 1-2: Clap partners right hand 3 times. (Jin-gle bells...)
beats 3-4: Clap partners left hand 3 times. (...Jin-gle bells...)
beats 5-6: Clap both partners hands 3 times. (...Jin-gle all the...)
beats 7-8: Clap your own knees 3 times. (...Way)
beats 9-16: Turn right elbow with partner.
For the second B, the person facing the inside of the circle move clockwise to the next partner. Now, I've never tried to write directions to a dance before, so I hope you can decipher these. Hope you can sneak this one in sometime before Christmas. My kids already knew it, but were thrilled when I said, "Oops, I forgot the record, but I know how we can do it anyway!" and started singing "Jingle Bells".
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PAW PAW PATCH: Formation: Students form 2 lines facing each other, with boys in one line, girls in the other. Use 8 couples per set.
Verse 1: The girl at the head of the line (lead girl) skips down the outside of the girls' line, up and out side of the boys' line, and back to her place.
Verse2: Then she leads the boys' line down the outside of the girls' line and back to their place.
Verse 3: All students face the head of the line. The lead boy leads the boys in a counterclockwise circle (left), and the lead girl leads the girls in a clockwise circle (right). As the lead couple approaches the spot where the end of the line was located, they form an arch with their arms. The other couples join hands at the arch, go through the arch, and walk to the head of the line. The new lead girl or boy begins the dance again. My kids love this dance! -- Anne Lyon
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SEVEN JUMPS - Game: It's a folk dance from Germany and the way I learned it, there are no jumps. I got my recording (a small lp) from Lloyd Shaw Foundation Inc. (1981). Here's how I was taught in a folk-dance workshop: Hold hands throughout (until last time)
Circle right for 8 beats (7 steps and reverse dir. on 8)
Turn and circle left 8 beats (7steps and turn to face center on 8)
1st time: lift and hold right knee (I do not mean hold with your hands or anything. just lift it and hold it in that position until the music signals you to stop.)
Turn and circle right again.
Turn and circle left again.
2nd time: right knee first then left knee (lift and hold until the music signals on the recording). circle....
3rd time: rt. knee, left knee, right knee touches the ground. circle...
4th time: (previous moves plus)...left knee touches ground...
5th: ......right elbow touches ground...
6th: .....left elbow touches ground...
7th: .....(with both elbows on floor) cover head tornado-drill style (hold)...
Circle right, circle left (as before)
All step to the center then quickly back out again while raising and bursting apart hands ("bursting flower").05/21 SEVEN JUMPS Many cultures have versions of this dance...the Norwegian one is actually a flirtation dance. BUT it can also be done using the afore-mentioned movements to the song "The bear went over the mountain".. ..doing the moves on "To see what he could see" and then repeating them however many times you need. It is a fun lesson, especially when combined with "Going on a Bear Hunt" and the picture book that goes with the Jerry Garcia tape of "Teddy Bear's Picnic".
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02/02 SHREK DANCE - Singing starts:
Beats 1-8 Turn right heel L&R 8 counts
Beats 9-16 Turn left heel L&R 8 counts
Beats 17-24 Take four slow steps forward
Beats 25-32 Take four slow steps back to place
Beats 33-40 Do the twist for eight beats
Beats 41-48 Grapevine to the right 4 counts. On the count of four, turn body 1/2 turn so that you are facing the opposite wall. Grapevine left four counts.
Beats 49-56 Grapevine to the right 4 counts. On the count of four, turn body 1/2 turn so that you are facing the opposite wall. Grapevine left four counts. (This will take you back to where you started)
Repeat
There is a break where I have the students freeze right before the words "Then I saw her face" They then come in on beat one right on the word "face". This only happens about every other time throughout the song. [Can someone explain to me something from the Shrek dance? What does the very beginning mean: turn right heelL&R8 counts; turn left heel L&R 8 counts?]
I wasn't sure about this either, so we've been tapping our toes back and forth on each side. Nearly the entire school here knows this dance now, lol. I think we'll use it on the program with the K and 1st graders. The parents LOVED it when we did the Boogie Walk from Greg and Steve on the Christmas concert. Up until I got here, the concerts were all singing and bor-ing! I think they were pleasantly surprised to see something different for once!
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SIMPLE GIFTS - http://www.redgrammer.com/index.php/simple-gifts10/12 SIMPLE GIFTS: Move in circle 8 steps to the right on" 'Tis a gift to be simple tis a gift to be free, 'tis a gift to come round where we want to be", circle left 8 on ..."and when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'twill be in the valley of love and delight." face into circle...raise arms & walk in 4 steps on "when true simplicity is gained", lower arms, bending as you go backwards 4 steps on "to bow & to bend we shan't be ashamed" , Turn in your own space 8 steps slowly on " to turn turn will be our delight, for by turning turning we come down right."---- Diane Park
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10/12 SQUARE DANCE A good dance for all age levels is "Chimes of Dunkirk"-the first dance in the book of the same name from the Amidons. It uses a long ways set and has about 4 easy moves. Instead of a full turn, I teach my students to do a half turn and back up into their partners spot the first time, then on the 2nd half turn they end up back on their own side. If students have difficulty with "sashay" then explain "it's like the shuffle in basketball" and kids will usually get it. Another easy to learn dance that everyone seems to love is "Sasha" from "Sashay the Donut" (Amidons). I also teach students to "honor your partner" at the beginning and end of every dance-to help prevent head bumps I tell them to look their partner straight in the eyes for the entire bow. Don't forget to politely applaud the band (even if it's on a CD)! Good manners are always in style. I have used "Get Ready to Square Dance" with much success, but I love the music and spirit from the Amidon's CD's. ----- Becky in Michigan
A fun source, in addition to those mentioned by the Amidons, would be Marion Rose's "red book" called Step Lively. It has wonderful multicultural folk dances, for all grades, and in the back has an easy beginning square dance, with calls.This has folk dances plus square dance. ---- Julie Jones in Williamsburg, VA
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12/11 SQUARE DANCE HISTORY: There are some very clear explanations at these 2 sites: http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/sq/Square_Dance
http://www.save-squaredancing.com/history.htm
There are some basic explanations for kids at - http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/sq/Square_Dance
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THE STROLL (Motown) - This dance is done in a line. Arms will swing naturally by the side.
Count Directions:
1 R ft step R
2 L ft step behind R ft
3 R ft step R
4 L ft touch next to R ft
5 L ft step L
6 R ft step behind L ft
7 L ft step L
8 R ft touch next to L ft
(Occasionally snap fingers on b. 4 & 8)
That's what it says--I know there's more to it--I've seen it done with turns, etc.
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12/08 TURKEY IN THE STRAW: (Longways set = two lines of people facing each other with an alley between,)
FORWARD AND BACK - each line takes four steps forward toward the other line, then four steps back to starting place. Often repeated - i.e. do it twice in a row. In some dances you hold hands with the others in the same line as you when you do this, but it's not required. The set dances I know almost all start with one or two "forward and back" moves. To be really fancy, the second one can be 8 steps forward and turn around, so you switch places with your partner. If you do this though, after some turns and things you'll usually do another forward and back and then 8 forward to return to your starting place (Bridges of Athlone is one dance that I know of that does this)
WITH THE PARTNER: After forward and back, (I've also heard it called "advance and retire") you can do some kind of turn or interaction with your partner – right and left elbow swings, do-si-dos, two hand swings, etc. One turn should usually take 8 beats, so you can plan how many moves, etc. you want to do based on how many beats are in each section of the music.
UP AND DOWN THE LINE: After the turns, you usually end with the top pair sashaying between the lines and back - usually eight or sixteen beats one way depending on the music and the length of your set. When they get back to the top, they cast off - each leads his or her line around the outside of the set. When the leaders get to the bottom of the set, they usually make an arch and the second people in each line become the leaders and lead their lines through the arch and back to their places (actually one place down from where they were before) and they become the top pair for the next time through. When everyone is back in place and the music gets to the right spot, start over with forward and back.
SIMPLE VERSION: Formation is a longways set (for an easy 1st grade longways set, I just assigned them a number, either 1 or 2, then had the 1's get in a line facing me, and then had the 2s get in a line facing me, then I had the lines turn sideways to face each other...voila!) Verse: forward 4 steps, backward 4 steps, repeat (16 beats
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02/04 TURN THE GLASSES OVER (I’ve Been to Harlem)
mm. 1-4 Walk counterclockwise
mm. 5 Face Partner, hands still crossed and joined, raise arms, turn away from each other under arch made by crossed hands. Turn under three times.
mm. 9-16 Drop hands, inside partners walk clockwise, outside partners walk counter clockwise.
mm. 17 Stop and face new partner" - Contributed by Leigh
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12/07 FAVORITE DANCES: "Chimes of Dunkirk", "Sasha", "Seven Jumps", and "Limbo” [My students] love Fjaskern, Blueberry Quadrille (which I use with a simple reel and the kids hold scarves to make a bridge and bend over and go together two by two under the scarves - they beg for this one!) They both are on CD #2 of the Phyllis Weikert collection: Rhythmically Moving. Seven jumps (also Weikert).....I have a movement cd that I use with K and PreK called Kids in Motion and it's wonderful. They love "Animal Action" and "Beanbag Boogie".
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WHAT DID DELAWARE: (each move takes about 8 beats)
Circle left
Circle right
Swing your partner
Swing your corner
Head couples to the center and back
Side couples to the center and back
R & L Grand then Promenade Home (16 beats)
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WILD TURKEY is an enjoyable trio dance that has nothing whatever to do with Thanksgiving, but is fun to do then or any other time of the year. Sanna learned it from Karlene Manwaring of Salt Lake City, and has also adapted it for St. Patrick’s Day as ?The Paddy O’Furniture Jig.? Formation: Groups of threes, side by side, all facing counterclockwise (CCW) around the circle. The middle person in each trio is the ?turkey? or the ?leprechaun.?
Music: For Wild Turkey, any 4/4 or 2/4 cheery music with a good beat and an AABB or ABCD form. Sanna uses ?Virginia Reel? on her CD#2, More Folk Dance Music for Kids & Teachers.. When celebrating St. Pat’s, use any upbeat Irish reel (4/4, 2/4) or jig (6/8). Sanna uses ?Siege of Carrick,? also on her CD#2.
Dance Pattern
I. Promenade
16 beats: Joining inside hands, all walk forward 16 steps.
II. Circles 8 beats: Each group of three circles to the left in 8 steps.
8 beats: Trios circle to the right in 8 steps.
III. Stars 8 beats: Each trio forms a right-hand star and walks clockwise in 8 steps.
8 beats: Each trio forms a left-hand star and walks counterclockwise in 8 steps.
IV. The turkey/leprechaun takes off
16 beats: Still facing forward, the inside and outside people in each trio raise their joined hands to make a bridge or an arch. The ?turkey? or ?leprechaun? goes through the arch and around one person (usually the right-hand or outside person), then through and around the other person, then through once more, going forward, to become the center person of the group ahead.
NOTE: Make sure everyone has a chance to be the turkey or leprechaun. --- Martha Stanley
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VIRGINIA REEL VIRGINIA REEL - I use The Irish Washerwoman. We also skip the reel part at first. The verse and refrain each have 4 groups of 8 beats. For each 8 counts:
1. up and back
2. right arm turn
3. left arm turn
4. both hand around to the left
5. dos-a-dos right shoulder
6. head couple sashey down for 4 and back for 4
7. and 8. - last 16 counts - cast off and make the bridge --- Sandi in IdahoVIRGINIA REEL recording: any old-time square dance music/bluegrass form two parallel contra lines, boys in one and girls in the other. Everyone face your partner (the boy/girl across from you in the other line) start music:
*two steps forward and honor your partner (boys: bow, girls: curtey); two steps back.
*Right hand round: grasp partner's right hand and switch spots with them in line.
*Left hand back home: grasp their left hand and swing 'em back to their original spot. *head couple sashay down and back: couple closest to the band (stereo) grasp both hands and side-gallop down the length of the contra lines and back again while the others clap the beat.
(I say, "let's give 'em some claps" to remind the others to clap. Now's also a perfect time to throw in some, "woo-hoo's")
*The reel: everyone in line holds left hand out flat (tucked by their sides so their arms aren't sticking out into the middle) as if getting ready to shake hands with someone. head couple grasps eachother's right hand and turns around forward together. let go of partner. head couple then reaches out and grasps left hands with first kid in waiting line (boy reels girl line; girl reels the boy line) like so: right hand turn with partner, left hand turn with 1st stranger, right hand with partner, left hand with 2nd stranger, right with partner, left with 3rd stranger, etc...on down the line.
*Turn partner once more at the end of line and sashay "home" *peel the banana (ok, that's not the real name of this move, but it makes sense to my kids, so that's what we call it): everyone holds hands sideways with kids in their row. head person peels the line back by turning outward and walking to the end of the lines gently pulling the others with him/her.
*make a bridge: heads hold both hands overhead at the bottom of the line. *Everybody takes partner's hand and goes under bridge in order. first under the bridge are the new head couple and should keep walking until at the top of the lines. others line up next to them in order with partner across. *Repeat throwing in a do-si-do or two or whatever other moves you want.
*End of dance: step two and honor partner. step back two.
*And thank the band: clap for the band/stereo boys escort your partner back to her seat (or to the line if time's up): boys hook right arm and girl loops hers in from behind or boy holds out right hand and she takes it. Yes, I really make my boys do this and they actually think it's cool--though they groan a bit at first. We talk about the olden-days when you'd either thank her and escort her to her seat or, if you really liked her and wanted to spend more time with her, you'd escort her over to the punch bowl for a drink so you could talk more. Here's a trick to help kids learn the reel real(ly) quickly :o)
1. have everyone put out their left hand as if to shake hands wrongly.using washable marker draw an L on everyone's left thumb (i use green so i can call out "give 'em the greeny" to the confused ones). now when it's time for the reel part of the dance, just have everyone put out their L hand (as if to shake) and wait for their turn to be reeled.
2. another trick for little ones, after they've been reeled, have them duck down or sit and clap. that way the reelers can easily see who's next.03/02 VIRGINIA REEL: http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3vrgrel.htm
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8/01 Disney's Dance Along (volume 1). It comes with a cassette tape and a book with the lyrics and dance movements. It includes these songs......
Y.M.C.A.
The Twist
The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room (dance moves are the Macarena)
The Bunny Hop
The Chicken Dance
Born To Hand Jive
The Swim
Shout
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06/09 This website has a lot of dances with instructions: http://www.partydirectory.com/dance/
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12/07 DANCE HANDBOOK (includes choreography for Ketchup Dance, Skeleton Rap and more) online at: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~tborczon/Dance%20Handbook%20TB.doc
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06/07 I LOVE incorporating dance!!! Yes, yes, yes. I find that both my fifth & grade and sixth grade students do well with it. Especially line dancing (no hand holding). I especially love the following dances:
12 th Street Rag (from Dances in a Line), Baztango esku danza (More Folk Dances), Dance of the Crazy Man
Barnereinlender (More Folk Dances), Chimes of Dunkirk (from same), Cha Cha Slide. -- PattyO in AR
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SPRING UNIT: This is a fun spring unit. I started with 50's-Bunny Hop, Chicken Dance 60's-Monkey, Limbo,etc. 70's -You get the idea. Kids loved it and I did too. Check out CD's from Educational Records. Also Richard Simmons. His music uses dance moves of the era. - Johanna Beebe
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06/06 BOOK: Christy Lane Line Dancing Book, CD and (if you feel you need it) VIDEO Why? No partners needed and that REALLY goes over big with the older kids. To listen to Peter Amidon talk though, that whole issue is moot IF you start young. He is so right, but I am guessing that you are starting these kids from scratch and they are older, so that is my recommendation.
Phyllis Weikert materials
Peter Amidon's New England Dance Masters
Shenanigans CDs http://ShenanigansMusic.com.au - Kathleen Bragle
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06/06 BOOKS, VIDEOS: Sanna Longden's materials are also wonderful. She does have some line dances with some of her materials, though off the top of my head, I can't remember any. Great thing about her materials are that they can cover a wide range of ages, she has a lot of multicultural dances that are wonderful, she has videos that can help you if you're stuck trying to figure something out. - Julie Jones
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07/05 Borders has "Fire on the Mountain", put out by Rural Rhythms, and only cost $9.99. It has all of the familiar basics, including Cotton Eyed Joe, Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, Liza Jane, Irish Washerwoman, etc. I highly recommend it! -- Kristy Hewitt
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07/05 RECORDING: I think the CD is called Cha Cha Slide or something like that. I bought and downloaded a copy from Walmart.com - but I need to get the other version. (there are several to choose from, all of them may be on the CD, I don't know) The one I got just has the stomps, hops, and cha-chas, and the one the kids like to do, that DJ's play at dances and stuff, has criss-cross and Charlie Brown and other moves in it. They get bored with the one I got. I have to get another version, I just keep forgeting to go download it!! ~Ann in GA
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10/04 BOOK: Some years ago I borrowed from my PE teacher a book called "Get Ready to Square Dance" by Jack Capon and Rosemary Hallum (pub. by Educational Activities)--Had SIMPLE diagrams of each call (square your set, honor your partner, etc.) for us "visual learners" Came with an LP with EZ instructions for about 10 square dances, all to standard folk songs, so another recording of the same tune could probably substitute.;
What I liked was that these dance arrangements didn't give them too much room to get out of control!!! -- Louise Eddington, Muncie, Indiana, E. Luane Campbell Elementary Music Instructor & Talented and Gifted intervention specialist Mt. Gilead Schools, Ohio
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08/04 FAVORITES: I like the Quadrille best. I like Fjeskern... I think that is the one that goes faster and faster. Swedish.... or Finnish. -- Contributed by Patricia Albritton
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FAVORITE DANCES for Grades 3 and 4? Grade 3:
I Love A Rainy Night (Sanna Longden)
Yesh Lanu Taish (Sanna Longden)
I Want to Be Near You (Shenanigans - http://ShenanigansMusic.com.au)
Syncopated Cyril (Shenanigans)
Sneaky Snake (Weikart)
Irish Stew (Weikart)
Les Saluts (Weikart)
Grade 4:
Hora (Many sources, including Weikart)
Pata Pata (Weikart)
Heel and Toe Polka, aka Patty Cake Polka (square dance series--I can't remember the name of the series)
Hustle (Weikart)
Alley Cat (we have a funky old recording we use--lots of other CDs have it too) Bele Kawe (Weikart) ------ Contributed by Toni Skelton
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For having students perform ballet to Nutcracker see: #52 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky/General Ideas
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04/03 FAVORITES: Sneaky Snake--gr 1--CD 4
Les Saluts--gr 3 & 4--first day of school--CD 1
Yankee Doodle--gr 2--CD 2
La Raspa--gr 3--CD 3
Seven Jumps--gr 1--CD 2
Sneaky Snake--gr 1--CD 4
Les Saluts--gr 3 & 4--first day of school--CD 1
Yankee Doodle--gr 2--CD 2
La Raspa--gr 3--CD 3
Seven Jumps--gr 1--CD 2
There is a French dance we did in a show a couple years back with 4th grade, but I can't remember what it is called. Someone else has my book at the moment. For 3rd and 4th grades, we also do dances out of The Chimes of Dunkirk.--
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04/02 A really great dance site with many links to dance instructions and more:
http://209.15.142.32/cat32_morel.htm
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04/02 FAVORITES: The actual dances that I use most are Fjaskern, Limbo Rock, La Raspa, Close Encounters, Yankee Doodle, Seven Jumps, Sneaky Snake, Popcorn, Twelfth St. Rag, and several others
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03/02 FAVORITES: I just love the "12th Street Rag" from the collection "Dances in a Line". No hand holding, great track, not too complicated. We just did this in our "Informance" Friday night (complete with glitter top hats) - it went over great.
I also used "Renaissance Dances" (Isabel Carley?), which is great fun. There are many, many variations in that collection and the kids really responded to the music (there are also parts for older kids to add recorders and Orff instruments). We did the "Hupfauf", which includes sections for individual acrobatics.
"Dance With Your Hands" with neon bracelets - MK-8( http://www.musick8.com/ ) song, of course. The kids loved this song. The dance part is the Macarena. It worked out great, although the only time we actually got to "do" it was during the performance, as the bracelets only hold their neon-icity (is that a word???) for one to four hours.
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01/02 Kimbo www.kimboed.com
01/02 Educational Activities www.edact.com
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01/02 MANY FUN DANCE IDEAS: http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/dance/danceindex.asp
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01/02 The nice thing about the Macarena is that, because it is a 4/4 dance it goes with anything. I have used it in Rattling Bones, Dance with your Hands and several other dance-type songs in 4/4 time. --- At our church at Christmas our Minister's wife presented a song in sign language with the lights out. They only used white cotton gloves. They showed up really well.
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Today, my second graders discovered that during the "cookie dance" section of 'You Gave Me Your Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie', you can do the entire Macarena exactly three times. One of my little Britney wannabes -- quiet kid, usually never says a word in class -- unexpectedly stood up (in her pink leather pants and her Barbie T-shirt) and started dancing! You know, hand, hand, palm, palm, cross, cross, and so on. Thirty seconds later the entire class was on its feet.
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10/01 Every year I do a lesson on marching with my K-1 classes to go along with following the steady beat. Of course they have trouble distinguishing left foot from right, so we "mark" the left foot. At first I tried putting a small sticker on the left feet and had limited success. Later, I bought round elastic from the fabric store. I cut it into 6-8 inch lengths and strung a couple of bells on each before I knotted the elastic into a loop. Now we slip the elastic around the left feet or ankles of the kids. As we march, I call out "bell, step, bell, step." We start SLOW and gradually increse tempo until we can march to Yankee Doodle. Then we try marching to different pieces, such as Pomp and Circumstance, March from Babes in Toyland, Darth Vader's Imperial Theme and finally Stars and Stripes Forever. (Maybe the whole idea is a holdover from my days teaching marching band to middlers. I became determined to teach left from right early on! Aghhh!)
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Dancing with Jeklyl Hide Island
My P.E. friend ordered it out of a P.E. magazine. If you ask your P.E.teacher about it, they should know what it's called. It's like our "Music in Motion"; it has all kinda equipment needed for phys.ed. Anyways, the video has 5 dances on it and it is taught by a coach who looks kinda funny because he's balding in the back (he talks to you facing the camera, and then he turns around to show the steps with his back to you and the kids alllll crack up at his shiner on his head!). He goes very slowly and breaks the dances down into sections. They are very simple to learn. I did it from 2nd grade all the way up to 6th grade. Remember the dance "Alley Cat"? That's on there but the rest of them are new ones. The video is no more than 3 or 4 years old I would think and the music is real contemporary. We practice with the dude for 3 minutes, then dance with him and his music, then turn the t.v. off and do it with our own music. LOTS of fun.
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I teach square dancing to my fourth graders each year, during their pioneer social studies unit. It is wonderful for improving listening skills! I use the LP collection called "Honor Your Partner" Square dances; not sure if it is still available, but I bought mine from Educational Activities, Inc. At first I get rolling eyes, and refusal to hold hands, but it is essential that they have partners of opposite sex, or they will get royally confused! Also, they will have to touch to swing, circle, etc. After they get used to it, they love it! We finish the unit with a good old-fashioned Hoe Down, teachers attend as well, and we dress and mix everyone up so they constantly get new partners from other classes. I love to teach it and wouldn't give it up! If schedules work, they gym teacher and I sometimes team-teach it.
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We are still using the "Honor Your Partner" series. Its not new, but has now come out on CD which improves the sound a lot! It is also very sequential which makes learning the steps and new square dances a lot easier. We also do a couple of dances from the Shenanigans CD
http://ShenanigansMusic.com.au
The 5th graders learn to Waltz, and the 3rd and 4th graders love doing the "Chicken Dance" and the "Macarena"! Our High School Musical director also comes to teach the students some choreography during this unit, Grease "We go Together" was their FAVORITE! The whole thing concludes with a parent demonstration (not a program - because all learning is still in progress!). The "Honor Your Partner" series can be ordered from: Educational Activities, Inc. P.O. Box 392 Freeport, NY 11520
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Phyllis Weikart's books are available through West Music and Educational Record Company. I've perused all those catalogs lately! i found a number for High Scope Resources also: 1-800-40-PRESS ( for phone orders). Their web address is: www.highscope.org The info says you can view an online catalog. The tapes are all ethnic music (by Gemini) and wonderfully done. I use them for steady beat activity as well as dance numbers.
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I've found the "All-Time Favorite Dances" video (& lp, they may have a tape ??) to be very well received. It contains The Twist, Bunny Hop, Alley Cat, Hokey Pokey, Virginia Reel, Hore, Conga, Chicken, Limbo Rock, Mexican Hat Dance, & Rocky Top.
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This may not be the kind of thing you're looking for, but I've found my favorite dances and dance activities to be from Orff workshops and Orff books by Kriske and Delelles.
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I have my own version of the bird dance for Christmas or Thanksgiving that the children sing while they dance, using the traditional Bird Dance actions. I use a new melody for the chorus, and use part of Jingle Bells for the verse. It's in a book called K-3 Christmas Concert Ideas. The words are hokey - I have a warped sense of humor!
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-Sweatin to the Oldies....Kids in Motion
John Jacob's set of 4 - "Gotta Sing Gotta Dance (great choreography) from Popplers. KIDSONGS: I Can Bop with the Biggles (includes Walkin' the Dog; Head, Shoulders..; Alley Cat; Theresa Jennings Line Dance with my 5th graders for the last few years and they love it. They end up requesting it after a while!
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I remember seeing a FAME episode when I was a kid, and *stay with me here* it was about the football jocks competing with the dancers. I took out a copy of The Nutcracker, and showed that to these kids. I told them to watch what the dancers did. We talked about how difficult it was to lift other people while dancing and staying in step and how athletic these people were. Then, we compared NFL schedules to ballet schedules, including practice, performance, etc. I was amazed at the way these boys responded. They gained a lot of respect and appreciation for the male dancers, and I never heard about arts bing only for girls again! And...the tights? Well, we brought in a pair of football pants. Funny, but they are made out of the same material that the dancers wear!!
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Dance Web Sites
Here are some URL's for dance information, history, directions and the purchasing of CD's. Educational Activities has some CDs you might be interested in:
https://www.edact.com/square-dancing-made-easy.html
I've used "Get Ready to Square Dance" & the sequel "Square Dancing Made Easy", & they are very good.
SQUARE DANCE: Here is a gem of a site about the history of square dancing: http://www.dosado.com/articles/hist-sd.html
MANY STYLES OF DANCE - VIDEO DIRECTORY: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/divideos.html#vc09
15th CENTURY DANCE SONGS IN .pdf: http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel/ellisif.html
RENAISSANCE DANCE SONGS IN .pdf:: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/del/music/16thc/index.htm
INNS OF COURT SONGS IN .pdf: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/dance/inns_of_court.html
SCA MINSTREL SONGS IN .pdf: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/minstrel.html
EARLY MUSIC LINKS: http://www.classical.net/music/links/emusic.html
EARLY MUSIC MIDIS: http://midiworld.com/earlymus.htm
BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************DRAMA
12/11 BOOK: “On Stage” - has drama games in it. Love it!
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12/11 LESSONS & IDEAS: I love this site and u
se it all the time! http://www.childdrama.com/lessons.html
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07/05 The students loved it. Read "Cinderella" (or any well known fairy tale) and stop at the climax of the story. Have the children change the plot, which will also change the ending. They can introduce new characters, settings, etc...Teach them how to write a simple dialogue and create conversations between the characters. Have them become producers of their own puppet show and present their revised fairy tale to the class. Each student could create their own puppets at home or during class. I've done this in cooperative learning groups of 4 to 6 students in each group. This would also work in pairs, with each student performing the parts for several characters. You could get elaborate and have them perform in a puppet theater or simply "hide" below the table and have the puppets perform above their heads. You could follow up with comparing and contrasting the two tales using a Venn Diagram (principals love seeing that in your lesson plans. lol) We even added backdrops, lighting, music, and sound effects. The students felt like stars after performing their plays for the school. Linda in KY
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10/04 SOURCE FOR PLAYS http://www.pacificsites.com/~kidsplay/
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Drama books by Viola Spolin to introduce drama to the students
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DON GATO We studied this one two weeks ago in third grade. I love it. After they learn it (discussing major/minor, ballad, strophic form) I bring out a pile of costumes; sombreros, doctors coats, sheets, fuzzy stoles. I break the kids into groups and they have to decide how they will act it out. I give them 10 minutes to figure out the who, what, and where of it all. They have to do this one their own, no coming up to me and whining - a total teamwork exercise. Then, each group performs for the others. They have come up with some clever things; one group even included a boy doing the "worm" across the floor - he was the FISH! Then, they used someone following him spraying air freshener! Wrapping up Don Gato and carrying him to the cemetery is also a favorite of theirs (I help on that part - too many banged heads!). The ones watching must sing for the group performing. What a great song!BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************FOLK DANCE
01/16 FAVORITES: Sasha, Sashay the Donut, Seven Steps, Popcorn, Electric Slide, Cotton Eyed Joe, Les Salute, Alabama Gal, Zodiac, Turn the Glasses Over, Turkey in the Straw, La Raspa, Bunny Hop, Jump Jim Joe, Fjaskern, Draw a Bucket of Water, Old Bald Eagle, Bo Diddley, Bridge of Athlone, Troika, Kings and Queens ---- Brian D. WeeseI started with "meeting dances" then to the circle dances I do in Kindergarten, to the line dances I do with the older students (almost all New England Dancing Masters) like Sasha, Jump Jim Joe, Highland Gates, Old Brass Wagon, Chimes of Dunkirk, Alabama Gal, Galopede, Heel Toe Polka, Kings and Queens, Rural Felicity, Sashay the Donut
and if anyone has any energy left over, we?ll go for Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle. Everybody seemed to have a good time. Make sure you have lots to drink and places to sit down --- Dr. Penny, in GABridge of A, Down Baby Down, North Skeleton Sword Dance (use yardsticks instead of swords)
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06/10 There is a really good square dance in the red Step Lively book/CD by Marion Rose. I taught it this week to my fourth graders. It is an excellent intro to square dance, because it has the children in groups of 4, not 8. The way I teach it, I demonstrate the first figure(s) (honor your partner, bow to your corner, circle to the left, to the right, swing your corner, swing your partner, promenade), then I stop the CD and teach the next part (right hand star, left hand star); stop the CD and teach the next part ("birdie in the cage, three hands round); stop the CD and teach the last part ("duck for the oyster, dig for the clam). Each time I teach a new part, I restart the CD so that they are constantly reviewing. It gets the kids used to following the "calls" on the CD and introduces them to square dance terms. They loved it! --- Julie Jones in Williamsburg, VA
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12/07 With the younger grades, I do more singing games than actual folk dances. Here are some of my favorites:
Little Sally Walker (Amidons' version)
Looby Loo
A Tisket A Tasket
At the Bottom of the Sea
Bow Wow Wow
Charlie Over the Ocean
Button You Must Wander
Do Cut the Cake
do Pity My Case
Down the River
Draw Me a Bucket of Water
Farmer in the Dell
Here Comes a Bluebird
Hop Old Squirrel
Hunt the Cows
Jump Jim Joe (Amidons)
Kitty Kitty Casket
London Bridge
Lucy Locket Old Roger is Dead (Amidons' version)
Old Brass Wagon
Sasha (Russian folk dance)
This Way Go Willoughby
Tideo
Thorn Rosa (Amidons)
Step Back Sally (This a way, that a way; Zudio)
Walk and Stop
The resources for these are: 120 Singing Games (Choksy); Jump Jim Joe and Down in the Valley (Amidons); Step Lively (Marion Rose). The Choksy book is pricey now, but the singing games are arranged in teaching order. Nothing flashy, just good solid repertoire. - Julie Jones in Williamsburg, VA
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06/07 http://www.squareda ncecd.com/ sdance.htm I like this website because you can see how the different steps work from an aerial view! -- RaeAnna Goss
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5/01 GREAT GRANDAD Here's an idea I use with 5th and 6th graders and they really enjoy it. The movement is for a folk song called "Great Grand-Dad" from the MacMillan Music and You series (grade 5), but you could use it with any 4/4 16-measure song. (A 'hoedown' feeling is good for this) (This is where I wish I could draw a diagram!!)
Everyone gets a partner - partners will be shoulder to shoulder (side-by-side) facing another pair of partners shoulder to shoulder in a circle formation.(Groups of 4- two and two facing each other, all in one big circle formation). Number the partner pairs 1,2,1,2 all around the circle.
Dance: (All steps are done to the beat) All step forward three steps, patting the hands of opposite person on beat 4. Step back three beats and clap own hands on beat four. Step forward again 3 steps and instead of doing the rest of the previous pattern, the 2's will raise their inside hands to form an arch, and the 1's will go under the arch and continue to move forward on the remaining beats to greet new partners. (1's travel, 2's stay home) I say "Forward 2, 3, PAT, Back 2, 3, CLAP, Forward 2, 3, ARCH, Forward 2, 3, 4". They all now have new couples across from them and the pattern starts all over. Continue until they come back to original couple. If we have enough time, I reverse the motion and have the 1's make arch, and 2's travel) Note - you need an even number of couples for this. If you have an extra couple, have them sit out for a while, then substitute them in. Hope this makes sense. It's a fun movement that even my "rough-and-tough" 6th grade boys were willing to do! (Of course, they would only do an "air pat' with the opposite person! That's OK...they did everything else!!)
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10/05 BOOK: My favorite book for pre-school and early elementary is Magic Circle by Isabel Carley (available from West music and other places). It is set up developmentally by movement experiences, is based on folk music, and has game and movement activities. It also has bar instrument suggestions. -- Marilyn in Atlanta
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10/05 BOOK: Lynn Kleiner's "Kids can listen, kids can move" book and cd Folk dance materials by the Amadons Shennanigan's ---all vol.
Anne Green Gilbert materials
I love my "Alligator Purse" book and CD.. It's great!
"Any Turkey Can Tango" book and CD is also great! The seasonal things in there are wonderful. I also like John Jacobson's "Hop 'Til You Drop" book and CD and "Conga In the Kitchen."
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11/03 BOOK: "STEP LIVELY" - Dances for Schools and Families Collected by Marian Rose Red cover is vol. I and contains American dances, novelty dances and a few International dances including Sasha! Step Lively II has a green cover and includes mainly Canadian dances. Both have CDs that can accompany the book and can be purchased through West Music or CDSS. Third volume for younger grades is also now available.
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DANCE MELODIES in .pdf: http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/ SEVEN JUMPS - For Primary, (upper likes it too) I usually have them march to the beat until the fermata..the strings, I believe it is a guitar and violin, and then the children bend on the fermata, the first sound, and jump when it is released, once, the short tone. They march again until the second fermata where it happens twice and they bend and jump twice, and continues this way until seven jumps are completed. Primary [classes] love this because some fermatas are longer than others and it "catches" them.
For upper primary and middle and high, etc...(lower primary loves it too).I believe this is a folk dance, and I believe I have seen it in the K- Share the Music manual. Dancers in a circle formation, or several circles, holding hands and skipping to the beat, circling either left or right. On the first fermata, all dancers stop and go down on one knee, starting on the fermata and touching knee to ground on the short tone at the end. They raise up and then skipping again, same direction, until the second fermata, and go down on one knee, then the other knee, all in time with the second tone. It continues in the same manner until all 7 "jumps" are completed. Actually there is no jumping in this version. After the knees, one elbow, then the next, then one hand, the other hand, then the head, alternating with the skipping. They are all on the floor by the end and just love this version too.
We have the students perform each position during the fermata. They especially enjoy the 'extra long' ones.
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BOOK: My favorite dance book of folk dances, is called "Chimes of Dunkirk" by the New England Dance Masters. Comes with CD. My kids LOVE Alabama Gals (by kids I mean anyone from grade 2-college)!
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10/04 BOOK: "Get Ready to Square Dance" by Jack Capon and Rosemary Hallum (pub. by Educational Activities)--Had SIMPLE diagrams of each call (square your set, honor your partner, etc.) for us "visual learners" Came with an LP with EZ instructions for about 10 square dances, all to standard folk songs, so another recording of the same tune could probably substitute.; What I liked was that these dance arrangements didn't give them too much room to get out of control!!! -- Louise Eddington, Muncie, Indiana, E. Luane Campbell Elementary Music Instructor & Talented and Gifted intervention specialist Mt. Gilead Schools, Ohio
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04/03 FAVORITE RECORDINGS: Phylllis Weikert - Sneaky Snake--gr 1--CD 4
Les Saluts--gr 3 & 4--first day of school--CD 1
Yankee Doodle--gr 2--CD 2
La Raspa--gr 3--CD 3
Seven Jumps--gr 1--CD 2
04/02 Phyllis Weikart: I love the Mexican Mixer--(4th and 5th), Doubleska Polka (3-5), 7 Jumps (k-2) Hurry Scurry (k-2)
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5/01 FOLK DANCE STEPS Here's an idea I use with 5th and 6th graders and they really enjoy it. The movement is for a folk song called "Great Grand-Dad" from the MacMillan Music and You series (grade 5), but you could use it with any 4/4 16-measure song. (A 'hoedown' feeling is good for this) (This is where I wish I could draw a diagram!!)
Everyone gets a partner - partners will be shoulder to shoulder (side-by-side) facing another pair of partners shoulder to shoulder in a circle formation.(Groups of 4- two and two facing each other, all in one big circle formation). Number the partner pairs 1,2,1,2 all around the circle.
Dance: (All steps are done to the beat) All step forward three steps, patting the hands of opposite person on beat 4. Step back three beats and clap own hands on beat four. Step forward again 3 steps and instead of doing the rest of the previous pattern, the 2's will raise their inside hands to form an arch, and the 1's will go under the arch and continue to move forward on the remaining beats to greet new partners. (1's travel, 2's stay home) I say "Forward 2, 3, PAT, Back 2, 3, CLAP, Forward 2, 3, ARCH, Forward 2, 3, 4". They all now have new couples across from them and the pattern starts all over. Continue until they come back to original couple. If we have enough time, I reverse the motion and have the 1's make arch, and 2's travel) Note - you need an even number of couples for this. If you have an extra couple, have them sit out for a while, then substitute them in. Hope this makes sense. It's a fun movement that even my "rough-and-tough" 6th grade boys were willing to do! (Of course, they would only do an "air pat' with the opposite person! That's OK...they did everything else!!)BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************FLASHLIGHTS
01/16 COLORED: I have used flashlights. I use colored cellophane to change the color. Just put it over the top and rubberband it on.I got small ones from a local place like Oriental Trading and colored the lenses with permanent marker for the red and green
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SIZE: Use the "larger" flashlights as opposed to the smaller, hand sized ones.
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12/11 COLORED LIGHTS: I have used dark colored cellophane--sometimes you have to cover several layers to make the color "read" but you can do it very quickly with cellophane and rubber bands to hold it on. Iris Ingram at Cathcart Elementary School in Snohomish, WA11/03 We use yellow crepe paper. Tape it into a tube. Tape the tip to make the point of the flame, rubber band the open bottom to the flashlight. Simple - looks OK. More like a torch than a candle. - Judy Schneider
11/03 I used red, yellow & orange tissue paper (only 1 color per flashlight). Cut the piece big enough to make a 'tent' over the opening and caution children NOT to touch the paper. During the song, we did turn off the house lights. I put a book light on my music stand so students could see me and it wasn't completely dark. -- Contributed by Linda Abbot
BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************BROOM HANDLES
01/02 I sometimes use the Weikart "Rhythmically Moving " CD's with broom handles. Many of the selections are ABA or AABBAA themes ......We have used pairs of broom handles (and half-size lengths) to feel the beat. Each child is PAIRED OFF and holding a pair of 21/2 foot or 5 foot handles) The first theme is played in quarter note rhythms and the second (repeated A or B ) is played in eighth note rhythms.
If I see kids having difficulty with steady beat, I usually pair up them up with someone who leads and helps the other feel the beat. There are enough half length (about 21/2 feet (?) handles for each child in the room.and have about four pairs of the 5 to 6 foot (full length) handles. They all want a turn at the long ones. At first they "watch and copy" the move then I give them a chance to explore the different ways they can move with the sticks (in pairs or alone). These broom handles were in the storage area doing nothing for years so the custodians gave me the okay to use them and even cut some in half for me. Though I haven't done it again this year, it has been a favorite with the K-2 bunch.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************HOLDING HANDS
06/15 PARTNER SWITCHEROO: I wanted to divide the class into two groups but I knew who would end up together and that wouldn't be a good thing. So......Everyone please stand next to a partner. Now decide who is person 1 and person 2. All the person 1s go stand there; all the person 2s stand over there. It went fast, I got two even groups, and I got to watch the reactions when they realized I had bamboozled them. But they went right to work.---- Martha Stanley
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10/02 CRAFT STICKS: I have "craft sticks" (popsicle sticks, $2.99 for a box of 1000)) that all students write their names on at the beginning of the year (or whenever they show up!). Each class is bundled with a rubber band, so when they come to music I put their sticks in a can and use them for everything from choosing kids to answer a question, to choosing "volunteers", to getting partners. If I need groups of three or four, that's how many sticks I take out. They know it's the luck of the draw, and that's all there is to it!
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04/02 WASH HANDS AND DOIT! : I've always told mine "Just do it. Nobody's ever died from square dancing and holding hands in my room." In all these years (25!!!), I've only had one child (a 5th grade girl) get upset enough about holding hands to have to be sent out of the room. I also think that if they are used to holding hands from the early years (preschool/kindergarten), then it's easier to just go right into the other varieties of dance. Peter Amidon in his folk dance workshops says to say "take hands" rather than hold hands. He also says to point out to them that "taking hands" does not mean you are going to marry the person whose hand you are taking, nor does it mean that that person is your boyfriend or girl friend. He also does not permit "wiping the cooties off" and points out to the children that it is very disrespectful to the other person and we simply don't allow that type of disrespect in our classes. If you have kids whose hands are filthy, ask the classroom teacher to have them wash their hands before they come to music. They shouldn't be going around with filthy hands anyway! We use hand sanitizer a lot in our school also.
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04/02 Get a bottle of really good smelling hand sanitizer and use it before the game - the kids love it! When Music K8 had the song "Wash Your Hands" a few issues ago, I did this with my kids and they loved it! We also talked about how washing your hands will help keep you from getting sick.
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04/02 'COOTIE SPRAY': When I do dancing activities with my 3rd and 4th grades, I let them use "Cootie Spray" on their hands before and after dancing. I took an old spray bottle, made up a "Cootie Spray" label and filled it with water. It really works! I make them hold hands anyway - even if they don't think the cootie spray will work!
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04/02 We try hard at our school to teach healthy habits, and some kids object to holding hands for good reasons. I usually bring some waterless sanitizer for hand-holding activities, and get a lot less resistance!BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************HOOPS
07/11 I also like to do rhythms in the hula hoops....... I clap a rhythm, call on a kid and the kid is in charge of building people notes. You know the good old "sit on the 4 chairs" make-a-rhythm idea? Well, I do it with hula hoops too. EXCEPT I make one kid decode it, and then s/he calls up kids to stand in the hoops till they get the rhythm right. So ta ta titi ta would have hoop 1, 2 and 4 with 1 kid, and hoop 3 would have two. It can be done with more complicated rhythms to- syncopa is a hoot as they figure out they have to straddle two hoops. At the end the students have to say the rhythm syllables and check to see they're right by listening again to my clapped rhythm. They like doing this, unless it's too hard or it goes too long.
--- put labels in several hoops on the floor and have kids get an instrument or picture of the instrument from another place in the room and put it in the correct category.
--- put out the hoops so that the kids can dance around the "sombrero" in Mexican Hat Dance. --- use them to represent form
--- use them to represent pitches and have a conductor point to the hoop to create a tune. Like BAG. MODEL FIRST. --- have some prerecorded ensembles ready to listen to; have a bunch of instrument name cards ready; assign 4 or 5 groups a hula hoop; when the music starts playing, each team has to listen to the music, find the correcttimbre labels for what they hear, and put them in the hoop as their answer.
--- if you have enough hoops for everyone, let the kids do poison rhythm/melody and step into the hoop on the poison one. If they get out (if that's how you play - I don't unless it's some doofus who's really not trying), they can sit in the hoop.
--- do true false questions. Let them answer by stepping into the hoop for true, out of the hoop for false. ---- Martha Stanley
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07/11 - Step in hoops arranged on floor for beat activities.
- - Using large and small hoops, students create strong/weak beat patterns-
- With hoops on floor to represent the steady beat, students help decide how many students should stand in each hoop to represent a given rhythm, such as for "Rain, Rain, Go Away". Students link up with arms on shoulders to show the ti-ti's.
- - Each hoop on floor becomes a "bowl" for a student in "Jelly in a Bowl". Body parts may wiggle-waggle as directed (fingers only, hands/arms only, legs only, everything, etc.) without touching floor outside of "bowl". - Hoops on floor become "lily pads" for hopping the beat on frog songs. ---- Connie Herbon
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12/09 Roll to a partner to show phrasing. --- Laura Bartolomeo
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12/09 Step in hoops arranged on floor for beat activities. Using large and small hoops, students create strong/weak beat patterns With hoops on floor to represent the steady beat, students help decide how many students should stand in each hoop to represent a given rhythm, such as for "Rain, Rain, Go Away". Students link up with arms on shoulders to show the ti-ti's.
Each hoop on floor becomes a "bowl" for a student in "Jelly in a Bowl". Body parts may wiggle-waggle as directed (fingers only, hands/arms only, legs only, everything, etc.) without touching floor outside of "bowl". Hoops on floor become "lily pads" for hopping the beat on frog songs. --- Connie Herbon
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12/09 Each child got a hoop and stood in the middle with the hoop on the floor - - The hoop turned into a lilly pad and we sang five green and speckeled frogs, jumping to the beat on our lily pads and then jumping out if the hoops into the water on "one jumped into the pool" and then we jumped backwards into the hoops on "glub, glub." Then the room turned into a circus tent and the kids were elephants in the 3 ring circus and we sang and did motions to "Elephant's have wrinkles" and then our hoops turned into cars for Laurie Berkner's, "I'm gonna drive my car" then the cars "crashed" so we had to park them and go on with our lesson . We also play a game called monster's in the closet with "In the hall of the Mountain King" which I may have gotten off of the MK8 list. ---- Elizabeth Tummons, Kindergarten - Fourth Grade Music Specialist, Southern Boone County Public Schools- Ashland, Missouri
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08/02 One thing I did with ONE hoop last year with my K's and 1's was to put the hoop on the floor . We all made a circle around it and simply marched to the beat, or learned how to feel the strong beat/weak beat. When each child got around to the hoop, they had to jump INTO it, and jump for 3 more beats. So Jump-2-3-4 // Jump-2-3-4// This way they each had a turn, but were also trying to do this in time, on the beat. (I had to help some jump in on beat ONE, but you'd be surprised how many "felt beat one" and did fine.)
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FORM: AB - (from a Florida clinician named Beverly Boardman) You put out enough hoops for about 1/2 or 2/3 of the class. I use the Phyllis Weikart version of Yankee Doodle (Vol. 2), which is AB form that repeats six times. On the A sections the students march to the beat around the room OUTSIDE THE HOOPS, and on the B sections, they get into a hoop (no more than two students per hoop!), face the teacher and copy whatever non-locomotor motion you do. When they get good at this you pick a student leader each time. I find that this game really helps my 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders with learning to ANTICIPATE the section changes. They want to be in the hoop on time to copy my silly motions, so they listen for the closure of each A section.
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Gwen Hargrove (Jacksonville, FL) inspired me to get a hoop for each child and lead graceful, expressive motions to a nice soundtrack tune. I use Robin Hood's main theme and do cool stuff with the hoop, marching around it, moving inside it, raising it up high and dropping it to the floor around my body, etc. etc. The kids get a wonderful orchestral listening experience and enjoy the expressive movement.
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01/02 READ RHYTHMS: Put your students in groups (4 or 6). Give them props such as scarves, hula-hoops, etc. Along with the props give them rhythm cards, each card shows one beat. I usually give them eight cards using the following rhythms: Half note, quarter note, eighth notes, and quarter rest. Some groups I give more than one half note, others only one half note. I give several quarter notes to each group and the same with eighth notes. Just make sure each group gets the same amount of beats. The students arrange their beats as they wish and practice saying and clapping the rhythms. Next, they think of a movement with their props that matches the beats. (I tell them to make one long movement that will last for two beats to show the half notes--example: Move the scarves from left to right so it will last for two beats.) Same with the other rhythms.
It is very satisfying to see the routines they come up with. We talk about remembering all the body positions, not just to stand upright. It is very neat to see all the routines done at the same time. Most often I can find to routines that complement each other--one group moving up while the other group is moving in a downward position, etc.
After the routines have been created we add the music. I'll select a medium tempo and then a fast tempo. After this, we combine two of the groups and perform an AB song, using their routines to demonstrate the A and B sections.
A suggestion for the end of the year: Have a LIMBO contest. Let all the students go under several times as you lower the pole.( I use a Tinikling pole, but you could use a yardstick or a broom.) Pick 4 or 5 of the best and let them be the contestants. The rest of the class cheers them on. This seems to be one of my schools favorite activities.
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PRESCHOOL: T=Teacher C=child, children H = hoop(s) 1. T is animal trainer; C are performing circus dogs
T holds H standing it on end, calls each C. to run thru H like a dog (4 legs, not on knees) When C gets to hoop, stops, jumps thru;
2. Spinning sailboat: 2 C stand inside H, each w/arms spread out wide, holding H and leaning back against it; C. lean slowly from side to side and spin quickly in one direction like a top with accomp. music (ex: Faure: Une Bateau)
3. Hawk Game
T spreads out 4-5 H on floor in semi-circle and explains to C that these are not H but lily pads; C are frogs swimming in water near pads; Hawk flies in search of 'lunch' and swoops down near frogs; frogs quickly hop onto lily pads; Hawk grabs one frog that doesn't make it onto a lily pad and flies away with him/her
4. Horses: one C. in H, one behind galloping and stopping on cue
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KINDERGARTEN: 1. Ring around the Rosy: C. walk around their own H (or share H) singing song; on 'ashes' T. sings "Nose__ Nose__, Nose touch down." C. stop and bend down touching nose to ground inside hoop; T. continues with other body parts (elbows, head, hair, hands, back, bottom)
Lower Elementary 1. song: Alabama Gal Sing song while C crawl thru; Partners: take turns holding hoop and crawling thru Partners join hands and jump thru on down beats (2/4); Continue with other actions: "Walk thru in a hurry..."
2. Rolling Along: on a song that you can substitute word 'roll or rolling' (ex: roll, roll, roll your hoop) have children walk and roll H around room; on B section, improvise a melody and sing directions (stand in hoop, stretch over head, etc., using "very carefully" as part of the sung directions;
3. Drive H as an automobile; can use rhythm instruments for stopping signals;
4. Lay H out in a line, C steps and or jumping thru them one end to the other stepping to the beat.
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RHYTHM INSTRUMENTS: My K-1 kids. I use three hula hoops, one red, one blue and one yellow.. I place them on the floor. I divide the class into thirds. Each group stands around a hula hoop. I put different rhythm instruments inside each hula hoop. Then I play a March and the students march around the hula hoop until the music stops, at that time they pick up an instrument. When the music starts, they march and play, then I stop the music and they put down the instrument they have and pick up another one. After a few times I have the blue go to the red and the red go to the yellow.....you get the idea. They love this and it is good for marching, beat, playing and experiencing different rhythm instruments.
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BIG HIT: "THE MACHINE"1) Have all of the children (or half of the class) form one line (see below for other options)
2) Begin at the end and number the children across the line (1, 2, 3, 4,5, etc.)
3) Have number 1 create a movement motif (explain what motif is), that would resemble a piece of machinery and have them add a sound that would work. (The movement can be simple, I suggest using counts and giving them 4 each) An example would be: torso twist on count 1, bend torso over count 2, lift torso back to normal count 3, untwist count 4.
4) Next is child number 2's turn. This child has to study child number 1's movement and fit right into it...like a machine. An example would be: lift arm on count 1, drop arm over child number 1's torso on count 2 (as child number one bends over), lift arm back up to normal on count 3, drop arm on count 4. 5) Move down the line adding movement and sound so by the end of the line you have one large machine moving all together as a team making wonderful machine music!
Other:
1) Start all of the children on the ground and add one by one rather than all in a straight line to start
2) Do small groups of 5 in different areas of the room so by the end you will have 4-6 groups of machines. Then have each group show their work to the class.
3) Give them a machine to create. Tell them they are to "make buttons", or to "tie a bow on a gift", etc. Whatever movement they come up with down the line ultimately needs to accomplish the end goalBACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************JUMP BANDS
01/02 I purchased the Jumps Bands from a PE catalog and they are EXPENSIVE! I think for 6 sets, plus a video and tape with music they are over $100.00! I have had people say they think they could make them. I'm sure THEY could, but this elastic is HEAVY DUTY so it does not curl at all and there are six different colors all of which makes it very easy for me as far as organizations goes. The bands are about 5 feet long when not stretched. We jump with them about 10 feet apart, enough room for 2-3 students to do the jumping routine on the inside while the enders continue to jump on the outside. This is a HIGH ENERGY activity. I wear PE teacher clothes on Mondays for this! (My favorite part!) Plus...I do this WITH the PE teacher at my afternoon school. Our favorite music to use with this activity if Move Your Body by Eiffel 65. The tempo is perfect and the words are perfect! We have experimented with many different songs...in fact, this is a good activity for them! They bring their music and we try to jump to it and we find very few songs have just the right tempo. Then we learn the difference between beat, rhythm and tempo. We bring out the metronome and learn about that and have found that about 120-150 beats per minute is good. Faster is better than slower for sure!
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01/02 Jump Bands: I love the song, "Move Your Body"! It is a great song to use and all of my students love it!
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01/02 I did a choreography camp in Kansas one summer and we used instead of rubber bands, spandex material. You buy a yard, cut it in strips, such as 4"" wide and sew together the ends and make it the size you want. A yard use to be $8 or less. It depends where you shopBACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************MARCHING
10/01 When I teach marching (or stepping to the beat,) I use my "Beat Street." What is Beat street? It's a series of construction papers laminated together. Actually, I've changed to bright colored copy paper. It doesn't fade. I'll try to describe it, but it would be much easier if I could draw it out for you.
Take 8 sheets of two (or four) different colors of construction paper. Place them in the laminator so that they follow one after the other (8 consecutive sheets of one color, then 8 consecutive sheets of another color.) I place them in the laminator so that the sheets are placed in long length one after the other. (Fits the feet of the older children easier.) Keep about 1/4 inch in-between each piece of paper. Now you have made the beat street. It becomes the beat street when you have the children line up and walk the steady beat, each piece of construction paper represents one beat.
By color coding it with 8 sheets of the same color, you can also teach phrasing. When I want to focus upon phrasing, I stand at the beginning of the street and make sure the next child begins when the child before him begins the second phrase. It's really "Cool!"
You will know IMMEDIATELY who can "feel" the stead beat and who can't. It's really a lot of fun for the students too. I, too, was a band director - still miss it enormously - So... how do I solve the left/right foot issue? Draw an outline of the left foot on the first sheet - or possibly the first sheet representing each phrase. Tell the student to place his left foot over the outline of the left foot first. Then, if the student is capable of keeping the steady beat, you will be the proud trainee of future band students. They will know all about the life of the left foot in a marching band because of you:)
Every grade level loves this activity.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************MAYPOLES
10/12 CD: Holiday Songs Around the World, Catherine Slonecki, Educational Activities Incorporated, Freeport, NY 11520, 1994
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SONG: "Country Gardens" by Percy Granger.
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MATERIALS/SONG: I used plastic flagging - like surveyors ribbon. I found it in lots of colors at hardware stores. I used "Sellenger's Round" from one of the Phyllis Weikart CDs.-- Judy in AR
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BOOK: Maypole & Mexican Dances for Kids & Teachers - Sanna Longden DVD Dance along with Sanna Longden as she reviews 13 folk dances, for all levels of learners, in live teaching situations. This videotape offers dances for three spring holidays, including an Irish ceilidh dance. This text appears at: https://johnsmusic.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?template=sannalongden&cart_id=
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BOOK: Welcome in the Spring Morris and Sword Dances for Children -- Paul Kerlee http://worldmusicpress.com/welcomein.htm (Text at site: “Sing in the seasons, or accompany your May Day celebrations with truly authentic dances.”)
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BUILDING A MAYPOLE: 1. (Very Simple)Use a coffee can would do and attach plastic ribbon to it. Then, when we want to do the Maypole dance, we simply place the bucket or can over top of a tether ball pole outside or a volleyball net pole in the gym. A little duct tape will keep it from spinning.
2. Use a pvc pipe set on a 2 ft. square piece of plywood which has two bent metal rods stapled to it. Each rod looks like __||__. They are stapled down in the form of an X, with the raised parts crossing in the middle. The raised parts only go up about 4 or 5 inches, but the 6 ft maypole fits over them and keeps it upright. It's easy to lift the pole off to move or store. At the top of the pole, use a pizza wheel ( - the round cardboard a pizza is delivered on), punch holes around the edge of the wheel to attach ribbons. Cut an X in the middle of the pizza wheel and push it over a can that will fit loosely over the top of your maypole. Tape the flaps of the pizza wheel (caused by cutting the X) to the can and, voila! You have ribbons that will rotate with the children (good for dancing in patterns - gallop 16 beats, walk 16 beats, etc.) or will also wrap around the pole if you allow the ribbons to droop while you walk or dance. You can use silk flowers to cover up the tape and the pizza wheel.
3. Buy an 8' piece of 2" pvc with a cap to fit. Drill a hole through the top of the cap, center it, and put a bolt through it with a nut and two washers on the top. To anchor the pole, use the base part of a pvc drain that fits the 2" size, also at the hardware store, and drill it through it and anchor it to a piece of plywood cut to fit inside a 5 gallon plastic bucket Now, this pole is anchored temporarily into the bucket, the base on the plywood by 50 pounds of sand. Keep a second bucket to dump the sand out and save when moving it to a new location. For the ribbons, I bought floral ribbon, about 2" wide, folded over the top several times and put a grommet through it. 16 ribbons are then threaded on to the bolt at the top of the pole. Total cost for ribbons and PVC pipe was about $35. On top of the ribbon cluster, work with your local florist to attach a small container to hold a spring floral bouquet.If working with small children, attach a white cafe rod ring on the end of each ribbon. The children put this ring over their pointer finger and close their hand around it in order to avoid dropping the ribbons in the middle of the dance.
THE DANCE: Simple: Sing a Maypole song and hold on to a streamer while walking/skipping around the Maypole. Change directions midway. The streamers twist and then untwist and twist again in the other direction. At the end they stop and let them fall back into place.
More Complex: Place the children in 2 circles...the larger outside circle and a smaller inside circle for the "kings and queens." Both circles begin movement in the same direction. As the dance progresses, I have one circle change direction...they think they're pretty cool! We move to the steady beat as the music dictates, sometimes changing style as well as tempo and direction.
RESOURCES All-time Favorite Dances CD (Kimbo) has a Maypole dance on it. Included with it are directions for doing the dance. UPC code #5829-29126-2 Check at A&B sound - they can often order special tapes like this. It costs $15 US. If you’re really stuck, email and I can order it for you. ([email protected]) MUSIC: Choose classical music of appropriate tempo and length. One good source is the Resphigi Ancient Ayres and Dances for Lute...very nice! My suggestion is to use “Come Follow” #70 in Musicplay grade 5 - it is very pretty, and was first published in 1607. Material can be found through Country Dance and Song Society www.cdss.org Go to their Sales/Mail Order and then to English Dance.
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07/05 VIDEO: We have used a Maypole that is really streamers taped to a volleyball stand that we borrow from the gym. Play any music with a steady beat, and have them walk around the pole (1st step). When they can do that, then practice basic weaving. I love the Sanna Longden video called "Maypole and Mexican Dances". She shows lots of variations, really goes through the process of how to do this well with children (video shows children, both boys and girls, and then a community of kids-adults, which really inspired my kids when I was trying to teach this the first time). I'd also recommend the electric slide or country line dances.
I love the Sanna Longden video called "Maypole and Mexican Dances". She shows lots of variations, really goes through the process of how to do this well with children (video shows children, both boys and girls, and then a community of kids-adults, which really inspired my kids when I was trying to teach this the first time). I'd also recommend the electric slide or country line dances. -- Annie Nilsson
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WEAVING:I've done this a little bit, and you just basically do different "weaving" types of patterns, like the old "Right and Left Grand" but with ribbons in their hands instead, and they have to go over and under the ribbons (and at the same time, around the people coming towards them, either to their left or to their right, as in R. and L. Grand). It can be as complex or as simple as you want, with patterns like "under 1, over 1" or "under 2, over 1", etc. You can also do it with 3's instead of 2's, similar to folk dances where there are lines of 3 going around like spokes of a wheel, and the outside and inside people go counterclockwise at the same time as the middle people go clockwise, for example. It's hard to explain -- I would think a video would be a good resource for this because the kids could see what they're supposed to do. Mary Evans
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WEAVING DANCE (for 5th Grade and older)
v An even number of participants (12 20) take a ribbon. Hold the ribbon taut but don’t pull.
v Count off “1” “2” around the circle (every other person is a “1”).
v For “1’s”, the “2” on your left is your partner. For “2’s” the “1” on your right is your partner. v After 8 counts of music, everyone bows to the pole for 4 counts, then bows to their partner for 4 counts.
v Everyone skips toward the pole for 8 counts.
v Everyone skips back for 8 counts.
v Side step to the right for 8 counts.
v Side step to the left for 8 counts.
v Turn to your partner and begin to weave. “1’s” hold ribbon in right hand and begin weaving by going under their partner’s ribbon. Alternate going over and under with each person you pass. “2’s” hold ribbon in left hand and begin weaving by holding ribbon up “over” their partner as they pass. Alternate going under and over with each person you pass. (It helps to mentally say “over, under” to yourself to stay on track).
v The second time you meet your partner, stop.
v All skip into the maypole for 8 counts.
v All skip out for 8 counts.
v Turn in the opposite direction (1’s will now go counter- clockwise and 2’s will go clockwise) and begin unweaving. 1’s will start by going over and 2’s will start by going under. Travel around the pole until you meet your partner for the 2nd time and stop.
Ribbons are un-woven.
v Everyone side steps to the right for 8 counts
v Everyone side steps to the left for 8 counts
v Lift your ribbons high and let them go!
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MAYPOLE DANCE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN
v Everyone take a ribbon
v Bow to the pole
v Skip into the pole (8 counts)
v Skip out (8 counts)
v Turn to the left and begin to skip round the maypole
v Skip around 3 or 4 times until the pole is wrapped * way.
v Skip into the pole (8 counts)
v Skip out (8 counts)
v Turn to the right and skip round the maypole until the pole is unwrapped.
v Skip into the pole (8 counts)
v Skip out (8 counts)
v Hold your ribbon up and let it fly!
(EVEN SIMPLER):
v Everyone take a ribbon
v All turn to the left and skip around the maypole until it is half way wrapped
v Skip into the maypole
v Skip out
v All turn to the right and skip around the maypole until it is unwrapped.
Hold the ribbons high and then let them fly!
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This has the following information (looks like a well-written article accompanied by a still photo) http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3maypol.htm
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DANCE: History of Maypole dancing is wonderful, but doing figures has become an absolute recipe book! Many years of working it w. kids and adults;, try nice music like "English Country Garden by Percy Grainger or the FOLK DANCE of Greensleeves, not the Christmas tune, or other English folk dance tune with steady, well phrased beat to help the dancers. Save the braiding figure for the very end, leave pole braided most of the way down. Attach (SEW) an elastic hair band to ends of ribbons to hold on to.
1. Number off kids by ones and twos, not boys and girls
2. All circle left 7 steps, one to turn, back the other way ("walk around") 3. Ones to center 3 steps, touch, back out (no turning) 3 and hold, Twos repeat same way .("ins&outs")
4. Same in canon, Twos going in as Ones are backing out, decide how many times.
5. Ones raise ribbons high overhead, hold there (I call this "the tent") Twos go to center, walk once or twice around pole and back to place. Repeat with Twos raising ribbons.
FOR LITTLE KIDS, w. reverse order of figures, THIS is enough or there is too much frustration and endless repeats till they get bored and hate it all. Braid 4th gr UP.
6. Spider Web: Takes good concentration, understanding use and handling of tension and always an eye on the ribbons. Practice without them first. It's really a do-si-do, then do-sa-do: Ones and two on the right change places, smooth sashay, BUT always facing IN, then immediate, Ones do the same with Two on their left. This means Ones really make a figure eight on the floor. ONCE THIS is very secure and simultaneous, then give out the ribbons, right hand only, have everybody step back, with some slack on the ribbons, and watch the figure emerge. Kids must move into center as it forms, and it doesn't have to go moe than 3 or 4 times to see it. Getting undone? Do in reverse. Put in a simple "walk around" or "ins and outs" just to give all a rest before you start the braiding. Works better if those going clockwise hold ribbon in LEFT hand, guide it over and under with the right. Those going counterclockwise, hold ribbon in R hand and guide over and under with L. This keeps the ribbons flatter. Braid about half way down the pole, on signal, all lift ribbons as high as possible, count 3 let them slowly drift to the ground. Number of figures and times depends on music. If you have live music, like recorders and guitars it's absolute heaven. Have fun. Of course, IF YOU INSIST, you can have the kids unbraid it (they love it) but it does take a lot of practice. most important: everybody keeps eyes on ribbons at all times.... people are only the movers. NO talking, either, only your hints, like sq. dance calls;
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I just did this last week with my seven 4th and 5th grade classes. Two classes failed miserably, three did pretty good and two did a wonderful job. I used Sellenger's Round from Phyllis Weikert's Rhythmically Moving.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************MIRRORING
10/12 IMPRESSIONISTIC MUSIC like Debussy's Afternoon of Faun, are pretty fun. I tend to use quieter, slower music so that kids are more in tune to each other.
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FOLLOW LEADER: A group of 3 (triangle formation) one student is the leader the others are behind the person and they have to be the shadow. A great song to do this to is called Shadow Dancing (group ?) the music is legato then turns into a more rhythmic beat
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IN PAIRS: Have the kids in pairs. As they listen to the music, one kid is the sender and the other is the
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does. This works well with flow-y music. I hope this is understandable! It might be one of those things you have to see. I use it with 4-6th grade.
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10/05 CD: The beautiful "Shenandoah" from the "America" album from Windham Hill: After working
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props while they mirrored. That was really a lovely lesson. -- Martha Stanley
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PAIR THEN SWITCH: Play a finger cymbal to let them know when to switch being the "leader")
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New Age musical tapes or CDs--will help keep the kids "at peace" and quiet (so you can re-cooperate) and will be a wonderful experience for them and you. Have cards prepared with "words or phrases" which shows them what you want them to do. Ex. Show me a visual picture of: 1. a tree swaying in the breeze 2. a flower growing 3. a butterfly balancing on a branch etc., etc.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************GENERAL MOVEMENT IDEAS
10/12 Here's a fun thing that we do in my room to the song "Twist and Shout": "ah... ah... ah... ah..." -- touch toes, hips, shoulders, sky -- wiggle your fingers until they start singing "Shake it up, baby" -- walk around the room wiggling all over. (They LOVE this part!) "You know you're twisting..." -- do the twist on your tiptoes. Repeat and repeat and repeat. If there's any "leftover music" where you don't know what to do -- put in some jumping jacks! ---- Nikki Febinger
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10/12 MARCHING BAND !! It was one of the "that was so much fun" lessons last week, grades 1st - 3rd, in prep for the homecoming parade Friday afternoon. Second and third graders had been studying about marching bands this fall, too, so this was a great finale. I had kids line up in two rows (like railroad tracks), each with a consistent partner. The two drum majors used boomwhackers as scepters, followed by two students holding small American flags (another year I'll try to make school color flags). Then drums, cymbals, etc. The drum majors were required to keep the "up, down, up down" pattern. I'd say, "Band, ten-hut!" And everyone would echo me, coming to attention (funny - that was like instinctive - I didn't have to teach them to do this!). They were almost always perfectly straight and quiet!! I held a drum, said, "One, two three, march!" And we'd march about 10-15 yards before I would then say, striking the drum so they could hear, "One, two, three, halt!" And they would - instantly! I'd say, "Band, pass!" And they'd pass whatever was in their hands to the pair behind them. The drum majors, after passing off their boomwhackers, would run to the back of the band to get their new instruments. We repeated this several times on a path outside (thankfully the weather was decent), so all students played enough instruments that they didn't complain if they never made it to the front to be drum majors! With the 2nds and 3rds we'd vary the rhythm patterns as we marched. (I'd taught them how to pass while still in the classroom.) ----- Laurie
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10/12 ENGINE, ENGINE NUMBER NINE: I have 4 or 5 groups of kids. Each group forms a line behind their 'engineer' who leads them around the room while they sing the song. Each train (group of kids) is assigned a 'train station' which is actually a tubano drum. They depart the station when all start singing the beginning of the song and have to be back at their station by the end of the song. The engineer gets to play the rhythm of the words on the drum while all the kids say, "yes, no, maybe so; yes, no maybe so". The engineer then becomes the caboose and the new engineer starts their train moving for the next repetition of the song. Sometimes we've had to take a time out to discuss the pathway for each train when kids were having trouble moving through my teeny tiny music room and crossing paths with other trains.----- Loretta Harvey, Erie, CO.
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07/15 IKO IKO DANCE: http://pecentral.org/lessonideas/ViewLesson.asp?ID=2093#.VbobCvlDAaw ---------------- BOOKS: Denise Gagne's games books are awesome ---- Lynn Kleiner's Children Can Listen; Children Can Move----- Anything from Greg & Steve ---- Julie in CO
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07/11 KRISTIN LUKOW'S KIDS - VIDEOS Basketballs: http://tinyurl.com/65rh78b
Tennis Balls: http://tinyurl.com/3mtgtzs
Jump Bands: http://tinyurl.com/3qrnck2
Preamble w/movement: http://tinyurl.com/3tbyjpp
Virginia Reel: http://tinyurl.com/63plq7p
Choreography: http://tinyurl.com/3bge4na
Juggling: http://tinyurl.com/6aoefjp
Cup game: http://tinyurl.com/3zgdvxw --- Kristin Lukow
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07/11 CD: Get the "Body Bingo" cd. It has movement activities with music. I usually use this after or during testing and sometimes the last week or two of school. It keeps them moving and they love it! It uses bean bags, scarves and their bodies moving like animals etc. http://www.kimboed.com/bodybingocd.aspx ---- Denise in SC
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10/05 BLUEGRASS: Example, a great bluegrass piece is called Jerusalem Ridge. It is in ABC form, unusual for bluegrass and has those extra measures thrown in once in a while. I developed a sort of line dance with the 3 sections. Basically, I did a series of patterns and gave them names. So I could call "castle" and they'd remember which part was next. I was able to (figure out how to) draw icons for each named pattern and then I projected them on the overhead . I could just point to the "listening/dancing map" and the kids could remember what to do. It was fabulously enjoyable. And by listening to the music over and over while we were learning the moves, the kids had direct experience with those pesky extra measures, reading a "score" and moving to it. -- Martha Stanley
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10/05 BOOK: My favorite book for pre-school and early elementary is Magic Circle by Isabel Carley (available from West music and other places). It is set up developmentally by movement experiences, is based on folk music, and has game and movement activities. It also has bar instrument suggestions. -- Marilyn in Atlanta
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07/05 MOON MUSIC by John Williams - I have the students identify the 2 sections of the music - STEADY BEAT; NO BEAT and then we move with each section as it reappears in the song. On the Steady Beat section we pretend to walk on the moon - large deliberate steps with the beat. On the No Beat section - we float in outer space just above the surface of the moon. The kids love it and beg for me to magically change the floor in the music room to the surface of the moon so they can walk and float in space.
I've also used this with the addition of scarves. It,s a great piece of music and very appealing to kids. Artie
I have used "Moon Music". I have the students identify the 2 sections of the music - STEADY BEAT; NO BEAT and then we move with each section as it reappears in the song. On the Steady Beat section we pretend to walk on the moon - large deliberate steps with the beat. On the No Beat section - we float in outer space just above the surface of the moon. The kids love it and beg for me to magically change the floor in the music room to the surface of the moon so they can walk and float in space. ---- Joan Jahnsen
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10/04 EXPRESSIVE MOVEMENT: DVD of "Move It"...expressive movement by John Feierbend, comes with the dvd to show you some of his interpretations, and a cd with all the music so that you can either do his with the kids or create your own. Some of the selections are Aquarium Swans both from Carnival of the Animals Fur Elise Minute Waltz Waltz in A flat....Brahms Gymnopedie no. 1....Satie Ancient Airs and Dances....Respighi There are 20 selections all together. This looks like something I will use! -- Jane in Pa
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03/03 THEY CREATE: After years now, my students move very willingly, and in fact come up with come great choreography on their own for me. It pays off in the long run. And I suggest if you have one or two students who still feel self conscious about moving, video tape them. Then they will see that they stand out by NOT moving, rather that standing out from moving! Contributed by Nora Hampton
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02/03 BIGGER + LESS: My students have learned that bigger and less movement is better than many small moves. The audience does not notice fingers as much as they notice arms. Moves that go with phrases are an obvious choice as they reinforce the understanding of how the music moves. In dance, we learn early on that in 4/4 time, many movement ideas happen in 8 counts. This reinforces the idea of a phrase also.
I do every single move...fully! When arms are up, I want to see "pits." No bent elbows!! When arms come down, they do not flop. We practice it until we get it right. Lots of moving, lots of energy and lots of fun. Always encourage... never say, "No! Don't do it that way!" By the time they reach 5th and 6th grades, they are getting self-conscious about their bodies. If they feel unsafe, they will not move for you. If you make it fun and do it all with them, they will perform.
I teach the students to always be in a window...in between the people in front of them. I also tape lines onto the floor so they know exactly where to stand. I get many colors of electrical tape. My floors, at program time and very pretty! But, the children always know where to go. It is such a time saver and great organizational tool.
I remember the year I came back to teaching 6 years ago. I choreographed the 6th graders graduation songs...nothing fancy just a few side to side and arm movements. Oh...my goodness...they wanted to die! They weren't used to moving. I tamed it down and we made it through and they looked great. Compare that to my 6th graders now who can not only move but GROOVE with huge enthusiasm. Most of them feel safe and free and LOVE it! But it has taken me years to get them to this point. I'm still encouraging some.
Movement it important to me. I don't understand why movement is not included in the National Music Standards. For me...it's pretty close to being #1! Contributed by Kristin Lukow
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10/02 AS THEY ENTER: As soon as the students entered, I started doing silent motions for them to mirror. Then I started the song "Will you be my Mirror" (to the tune of the French tune: Out here in the moonlight, my good friend Pierrot). After the song, I did body percussion (or silent beat keeping/movement) for 8 beats; then I repeated the song. I did this process 3-4 times. The kids caught onto the song quickly.
Next, I asked the students to count how many times I clapped, and I would clap 8 times for them to count. I repeated this with other body percussion and even silent beat keeping.
Then I played an octave on a glockenspiel (F to F, since I was singing the song in the key of F) and had the kids count the # of bars I played. They told me that the "magic" number was 8.
Finally, I asked for a student volunteer to stand next to me at the glockenspiel and lead the others in keeping the beat while I played my glockenspiel. I explained that whatever movement or sound they choose had to match my beats on the glockenspiel. Once I finished playing and those 8 beats were over, we just started singing the song again, and I would choose another volunteer to be the leader. It worked really well, and this process took about 10 minutes --- Kim in NJ
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01/02 MUSICAL MILKSHAKE was something I learned during my student teaching. It may be a familiar game that everyone knows as something different. All you do is play kid songs they should know like "Row Row Row Your Boat" "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain"...whatever and play them in different tempos and different registers of the piano. Just make up different accompaniments and styles for each one. The rules are that students can move their own way but they have to be moving to a steady beat. When they music stops they must freeze.
01/02 FUDGE is a game that I learned from John Feierabend at his steady beat workshop. The CD he used with it was First Steps in Classical Music: Keeping the Beat. All of the songs are short and have the tempo of quarter note equals 120-136. There are a bunch of games that you get with the CD that are written on the inside cover. This one is fun because it reinforces simple steady beat patting on different parts of the body but they have to pay close attention because the leader is always one motion ahead of the class. When the leader wants to change a motion he/she says Fudge. They move to their new motion while the class moves to the motion the leader was just performing.
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8/01 K-1 I spend time exploring space...hehe! The space surrounding them as in a bubble. Reach as high above your head as you can, as far back as you can, your sides. they start by blowing a bubble, letting it flow from hand to hand, letting it fall but getting it before it touches the ground, blowing it bigger, getting inside of it, feeling the shape of it. painting it (your own secret, shhhh! color)paint with your hands and don't leave any spaces undone.
Then take your bubble somewhere, touching the bubble with your head, elbows, knees, foot, hands...careful not to bump someone else's bubble.
All done to music, in the end they step outside of the bubble, the bubble shrinks floating down (following it with your finger) until it pops on the floor with the last note of music. Flowing new agish music is what i use.
You can also do this with Dancing Stars. Where the stars come out at night and dance in their space, float in the sky, dance all over the sky, dance with each other, try to imitate each other, then go to sleep.
I've done these with elementary up to grade 3. But....last year I had a 5th grade that wanted to experiment with movement...so I took out my Bubble Music and they loved it. Another activity came to mind. This one I did in an acting class in college once and was so much fun. The idea is to create a machine. One person gets up and begins a movement...could be anything. Next person connects his body to that first body in some way and moves another body part and so on until you have this huge machine. The idea is to used all areas of space high and low, front/back, sides and tempo, dynamics, quality of movement and sound. Sound can be incorporated with the mouth to go with your mechanical part you are adding to the machine. It gets hysterical but it all has to do with imagination, creativity, using sound and space, I would say a higher level of thinking.
You can do a freeze of the machine or (pull the plug) or do a slow melt down. Try to get the machine to move as a whole...just a few feet. They have to get their brains working together as a team now to get that thing to move without disconnecting.
Later I teach them some dance steps with the terminology, what it means like the basic plie, releve, chase, first and second positions parallel and open.
I use music for body warm ups and lots of visualizations. Example: give me a small bird flying, an eagle, the eagle soars off the mountain top and down into the valley (head completely down towards feet), rolling the hands come up like a jelly roll. Trees, swaying in the breeze, reach up and grab the stars alternating arms..put them one by one in your pocket. Move like you are inside jello, ....they love it when my hair is loose and I take a dive down, when I come up all my hair is in my face!!!
Then we shake our sillies out, march, run in place, skip, by the way some children actually do not know how to skip. I get them skipping in less than 15 seconds. Its not easy for 5 year olds to grasp the entire concept of skipping. I teach them to march...that's easy, then I tell them to add a hop to their march....that's it THEY'RE SKIPPING!!! Traveling is the next step and you're done.
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8/01 I have students, as a whole class or individually, move across the room as if:
2)They have 3 legs
3)They are crossing an icy street
4)They are in a tornado, hurricane, earthquake,etc..
5)They are a ballerina - a primadonna, or maybe a clutsy ballerina!
6)Choose any animal to portray
7) They are a robot
8)They are a sailboat or ship
9)Add a few simple movements for those not so daring, like hopping skipping, jogging, crawling, etc. Eventually MOST kids will want to try the most outrageous way to cross the room. Ask for THEIR suggestions.
The older kids may enjoy the mirror game. One person is the leader, moving hands, legs, arms, head, etc. in slow motion. The other person must be the mirror. They must stare at each other, and concentrate. You could play some peaceful music - maybe Debussy - to move to. When I've done this with adults, it is amazing how often you forget who is the leader and you seem to move together without saying a word. It does take total concentration and no giggling for this to happen, though! Have fun! I love doing these activities!BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************PARACHUTES
12/08 SHOO FLY (Shoo Fly, Ambos A Dos [which is in Silver Burdette Making Music Gr 3) On the A section, everybody holds on and circles clockwise, then counter clockwise if the music permits. B section.....choose kids to run under to the other side while the remaining kids hoist it in the air. (everybody wearing eyeglasses go under, for example) --- Cynthia Sibitzky - North Pole, Alaska
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11/08 LA RASPA Directions: Place parachute on the ground, kids in circle around it- hands on waist. First time: Everyone does the A section of La Raspa (jig steps & claps), on B section, pick up parachute and walk around with it. Successive times: A section- dance holding parachute & shaking it twice instead of clapping. B section- walk other direction.or A- dance and shake, B-shake parachute up and down....make up more for as long as your music runs! --- Dianne Park, San Diego, CA
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12/07 ACTIVITY: I use mine for phrasing activities - up 8, down 8, etc. Once they have the phrasing, we add the birthday game. I call out the name of a month, and anyone who was born in that month crosses under the parachute to a new spot while it's up in the air. Sometimes we add the condition that you're out if the parachute touches you while you're crossing. I also do a steady beat activity with younger ones - patting the parachute on your knees (seated) to the beat. Later I'll add ping pong balls for a popcorn effect and we try to see how many we can keep on the parachute. You can really assess who has a good grasp of the steady beat if they can maintain it through all the excitement. I think you would need a 15-foot parachute for a class of 27. -- Karen Foley Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, VA
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07/05 ACTIVITY: Groundhog Galop in Vol. 9/3. http://www.musick8.com/ First we sing the song from the lyric sheet. Then we analyze the form with a poster I made. We had great fun with this in all my 2nd classes today. Thanks for sharing, Artie! The ABA form carried right over from our warm-up, "One Zero Zero," which we're practicing for our 100th day gathering. After a couple times through the "Galop," each class was able to change directions between the B sections. They will probably be able to add the toss at the end of the last A section. [We used a small parachute.]-- Artie Almeida (via Connie Herbon)
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"SUGAR SHACK":I use the parachute with The song Sugar Shack...think 60's.
We lift up for 8
down for 8
up for 8
go under and sit on it for 8
hold it for 8
come out for 8
and start over.
We make our own little shack...so to speak!BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************POEMS & MOVEMENT
Something that I've done with my 5th and 6th graders is Mr. Gump's Wump. I got the idea at an Orff workshop years ago - don't know whether to credit it to Barbara Bone or Marie Blaney... but it's one o f theirs! I think the poem is in Red Fish, Blue Fish -
Display poem. (Mine is on poster board that's been laminated.) Recite poem. Circle all the "wump" words. Recite the poem, patting each time you say "wump." Draw a box around each "hump." Recite the poem, patting on "wump,", snapping on "hump." Draw a cloud around "Gump." Recite the poem, patting on "wump,", snapping on "hump," clapping on "Gump." Underline "bump bump." Recite the poem, patting on "wump," snapping on "hump," clapping on "Gump," and bumping on "bump" by bouncing lightly on your seat. I use different colored markers to color-code the words.
Other ideas: Leaving out all the "ump" words and just doing the body percussion for those words. (Saying all other words.) Say all words silently while doing the body percussion. At the workshop, we extended it further by performing it in a way similar to this: one person recited the poem. An ostinato of C-G on the bass xylophone was added, creating an 8-beat interlude. Two people recited the poem, adding the 1st body percussion. Interlude. Four people recited the poem, adding the 2nd body percussion. I'm sure you get the picture... -- Contributed by Tina Morgan - MississippiBACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************POSTURING, STATUES
Partner 2 students, play music, one student must shape the other student into "sculpture" maybe..a sports pose., playing an instrument pose. Each time you give them a theme for their poses. When the music stops, the class must guess what the pose is supposed to be.
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2nd idea : Have students move to a piece of music around the room. When the music stops they must freeze in a pose that matches a picture you hold up. (Make flashcards ahead of time of poses) OR you can have students take turns creating poses with these little "gumby" like toys that the arms and legs can be twisted into different shapes. When music stops, the students in front holds up his gumby figure in a new pose.
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I play a steady beat on temple blocks - the kids walk to the beat until they hear the "ready stop" signal. (titi ta) I vary the tempo, have them walk backwards, etc. This week for added excitement, when they stopped they had to look at me. I showed them a picture of a position that they had to make. These pictures are stick figures that I drew in various positions: arms overhead, arms straight out, balancing on one leg, bent over from waist, etc. Caution: if you have street-smart kids like min, be very careful with the bending over pictures. I had to skip over a couple of them with one class. Can't trust them. (And don't lamblast me for being negative - I TRIED to trust them but one of them inched closer to a girl when I showed the bent over picture and tried to position himself in an inappropriate manner.) So anyway - lots of fun, lots of smiles. The best picture is one with the legs bowed and the arms curved overhead - think ballerina. The kids all say "Wha???"
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Eight Beat Statue Freeze: Tell kids before each 8 beats what in what posture to freeze, have them walk to the beat and freeze on the eighth beat in that pose.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************RECORDINGS
12/09 FAVORITE RECORDINGS: I love Lee Campbell-Towell's CD's for movement:
http://www.mycatpaws.com/
. I have "Any Turkey Can Tango", "The Alligator Purse", "Alphabet Twist"
Susie and Phil Splitter, Shake it Up . My kids really enjoy her things!!
Denise Gagne's “Movement Songs Kids Love”
Also Hap Palmer CDs are great for the Kinders - I have "Getting To Know Myself" and need to use it more. (I got it partially out of nostalgia, remembering songs like "Sammy" from when I was in preschool and kindergarten). ---- Ann in GA
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06/06 Here are two CD's that I use for listening and movement to recorder music. I have a number of students from Mexico so I talk about how Horacio Franco, a Mexican musician, makes money playing the recorder! Horacio Franco with the Georgian Chamber Orchestra: Vivaldi, Sammartini and Telemann Pro Arte Recorder Ensemble of Argentina: The Recorder, 4 Centuries of Recorder Music. -- Joan Dakin, Martinez Unified School District
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07/05 I’ve been using a minidisc to record classes and school choirs and other music activity at school.. I use a small good quality Stereo microphone with it. I chose the minidisc because it can work off battery (for hours) and is very small and light and can be carried around easily to wherever you are performing. When I have a recording I then record the audio into my computer and then make a CD if I need to. You can however much more easily make a cassette tape copy in the same way that you can copy a CD onto a tape. Apart from size and portability, the main advantage with the minidisc is that it has far superior audio quality to tape (little hiss etc and much better clarity), and is relatively inexpensive, compared to more sophisticated digital recording devices. I acknowledge that each step requires some getting used to. My advice is to talk to minidisc distributers about what you want to record, because most people by them for internet downloads and the like, so be very clear about your recording needs. cheers Michael Roper, Melbourne Australia
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07/05 I use a laptop with Cubase and a usb microphone socket. Really works well and we even managed to record a cd to sell to all the parents at xmas to raise funds to buy more music equipment. Shelagh Lee
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07/05 I just recently learned about "Audacity" - a free download recorder. I've got it on my laptop and I can plug in a microphone into my laptop and press "record" and I've got it--then I simply burn it onto a disc. I did this with some honor choir music recently and it worked beautifully. I think you can get it at http://www.audacity.com. -- Brenda Williams
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08/04 "Sparky(R) & the Firehouse 5(4 C's & A Q)(R)"-Cd of fire-safety songs written under the auspices of the NFPA. (National Fire Protection Assoc). These can be ordered through Gloria Nissenson, 150 East 77th St. NYC NY 10021, 212-249-2798, Fax 212-628-5819, www.golliwoggalaxy.com KIDDANCERCISE! Exercise and dance fun for kids
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09/03 “MOVE IT” When you purchase Move It! you receive a CD with only the audio selections and a DVD with John, Peggy and a group of children actually moving to the music. You can use the DVD to learn the "choreography" yourself or to show to the class. I suppose you could even run the DVD and have the class follow along. You also receive a guidebook with written instructions. 08/02 I do have a CD called Music for Movement and the book that goes with it, advertised as movement classes in small spaces. The CD has music pieces the kids love, arranged by duple, triple, or unusual meter and identified by style, e.g. easy blues rock, lydian disco, swing waltz, etc. The book has lots of suggested movements and body percussion patterns. You have to put the music and movements together in patterns you invent, as the book only provides the suggestions. CD and book are put out by GIA Publications, http://www.giamusic.com
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8/01 I'm adding my stamp of approval to Greg and Steve! Several years ago I ordered a set of books and tapes called "Music and Movement in the Classroom", which takes a variety of songs from Greg and Steve and turns them into a lesson! It covers basic movement, creative movement, dramatization, and even some great cross-curriculum activities to reinforce and teach basic skills. They come packaged as PreK-K and Grades 1-2, with around 30 or more lessons in each. I actually used it as the basis for Pre-K music, and added additional music when needed. The best price I found for it then was from Educational Records Company in Wilmington, NC. Who knows, it may be available with CD now. I've had these tapes at leat six years. My students love "Adventure In Space" as well. I had a first grade class last year that would ask to do it every week, so it finally became their "reward" for excellent work and behavior three weeks in a row! It was a great incentive for them, because we did it 10 times last year!
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8/01 Greg's Music and Movement is fun!! My kids eat it up. The Space Ship sequence is wonderful for imaginative movement. I've had some kids want to do it over and over. Feel It! has a wonderful movement progression.
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Check out Ella Jenkins tapes, especially the song: `Walk and Stop (Library) Greg and Steve have some great movement ideas (library) Phyllis Weikart has published books on movement with children; one is 'Round the Circle.' (library) Use alot of hand actions with songs; (after you do it alot, you get more creative - kids love to tie words to actions with hands) Musicgarten has some great tapes/CDs with movement music Looby Loo, Rig-a-Jig, Hokey Pokey Great Cd entitled "Growing Up" with almost all movement songs/actions (library) For older kids: try "Mystere" (Cirque de Soleil) great exciting music with many movement, aerobic possibilites
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There is a wonderful "Peter and the Wolf" arrangement by Lee Campbell-Towell that incorporates singing and movement. She took the melodies and added lyrics and movements for the kids. I did it in performance with my third graders a couple of years ago and it was a hit. She also has "The Nutcracker," "Eeba Streeba" (Carnival of the Animals), "Ging Gong the Cat" (featuring various composers), and materials that work equally well in music or PE. The way its set-up, it should be easy for a teacher to incorporate other instruments, ostinati, etc., into the piece. I really recommend her stuff. She is an elementary music teacher in San Antonio, TX, and writes her stuff under the company name of "Cat Paws in Motion." I believe that RBC Music in San Antonio carries her stuff. 11/08 DALCROZE METHOD: See if you can find a Dalcroze class. I took an intro to Dalcroze a couple of summers ago, and if I had to teach middle or high school choirs, I would definitely find a Dalcroze certification program. It is closely related to Kodaly philosophy (I think that Zoltan Kodaly studied with Jacques Dalcroze, or maybe vice versa), so it is primarily vocal plus movement. When I started teaching in 1976, kids seemed happy enough to just sit and sing for an entire music class period. Since I returned to teaching in 2001, after 13 years at home, I would be dead in my classroom if I tried that. Kids have to "do music." They sit in their classrooms way too much, so more of the same in the music room is disaster waiting to happen. If you can't find a Dalcroze group close by, then go on-line and buy all the Dalcroze books/CDs/DVDs that you can find. Maybe someone on this list has Dalcroze certification and they could mentor you. In school divisions with block scheduling, chorus can be 90 minutes long. I cannot even imagine how you would keep those kids motivated without some kind of movement. Dalcroze is not just doing some kind of random movement, to wake them up because they are falling asleep on you. It gives a kinesthetic way of teaching everything that you need those kids to learn in chorus. --- Julie Jones
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12/07 Movement Songs Children Love - great for preK-grade 2 - this includes the famous "Elephants Have Wrinkles" and "One Green Jelly Bean"- this is a perennial favorite of ALL kids - www.musick8.com , audio samples at www.christmasconcert.com
Action Songs Children Love, Volumes 1-2-3 - lots of oldies, but goodies and some that you won't know - this collection is for seated movement - not movement within the space - www.musick8.com , audio samples at www.christmasconcert.com
Singing Games Children Love, Volumes 1-2 - again, lots of oldies, but lots of suggestions for playing the games that give you a new take on them - www.musick8.com , audio samples at www.christmasconcert.com
We Love to Move - collection of singing games and action songs taken from Musicplay for Kindergarten - lots of new, original singing games in this - www.musick8.com , audio samples at www.christmasconcert.com
Shake it Up!- by Susie Davies-Splitter - includes movement activities, dances and action songs, some with Orff accompaniments - includes performance/accompaniment CD - www.musick8.com , audio samples at www.christmasconcert.com
Shimmy Shimmy Shake!- by Susie Davies-Splitter - includes movement activities, dances and action songs, some with Orff accompaniments - brand new - can find info on it at www.christmasconcert.com - audio samples at www.christmasconcert.com - Denise Gagne www.musicplay.ca Musicplay - the Sequential Text Series [email protected] 888-562-4647
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10/05 Lynn Kleiner's "Kids can listen, kids can move" book and cd Folk dance materials by the Amadons Shennanigan's ---all vol.
Anne Green Gilbert materials
I love my "Alligator Purse" book and CD.. It's great!
"Any Turkey Can Tango" book and CD is also great! The seasonal things in there are wonderful. I also like John Jacobson's "Hop 'Til You Drop" book and CD and "Conga In the Kitchen."
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10/04 Kids Can Listen, Kids Can Move! (Book & CD) by Lynn Kleiner (Creator), Lyn Kleiner (Paperback - November 2003 -- Contributed by Ardith Roddy
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11/03 Movement CD It is called "Rock N' Roll Songs That Teach" It has a song, Read A Book. My kids love it! It is put out by The Learning Station, toll free #1-800-789-9990.
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11/03 New England Dancing Masters www.dancingmasters.com Publications available include:
Chimes of Dunkirk: Great Dances for Children
Listen to the Mockingbird: More Great Dances for Children
Jump, Jim Joe: Great Singing Games for Children
Down in the Valley: More Great Singing Games for Children
Each book also has an accompanying CD that may be purchased. Books @ $15 ea., CDs $15 ea.
Available through West or CDSS-- www.cdss.org/index.php
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11/03 Step Lively: Dances for Schools and Families Collected by Marian Rose Red cover is vol. I and contains American dances, novelty dances and a few International dances including Sasha! Step Lively II has a green cover and includes mainly Canadian dances. Both have CDs that can accompany the book and can be purchased through West Music or CDSS. Third volume for younger grades is also now available. Shenanigans CD's http://ShenanigansMusic.com.au and Sanna Longen's things.
www.folkstyle.com
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02/03 For those of you who want to do more choreography and don't feel comfortable with it, I suggest John Jacobson's "Riser Choreography." He has very good basic ideas and general rules.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************SCARVES
12/09 I asked parents for donations of old sheer curtains and got lots of them. Some of them had to be serged, but I had a kind parent who took a bunch home and did them. They are still in use more than 10 years later. --- Denise Gagne www.musicplay.ca Musicplay – the Sequential Text Series 888-562-4647
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12/09 For small scarves I bought a few dozen silk hankercheifs from Dharma trading and dyed them. I dyed them with actual protein fiber dyes, but they can also be dyed with kool aid or food coloring and vinegar. (not all fabrics are colorfast with koolaid, but nylon and protein fibers are.) If you find nylon chiffon, it's a fabric that doesn't fray and would be a good weight for scarves.(most chiffons are poly or other fibers like rayon or silk, not nylon and eventually do fray) Here is the link to the little silk hankies:
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3689-AA.shtml?lnav=scarves.html
They are little, but there is something about the feel of real silk. They also have good prices on bigger undyed silk scarves.--- Jocelyn
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12/09 A music teacher in our county, who is now teaching dance, made scarves out of tulle that was not hemmed. She put a pony tail holder on each one and it was amazing how wonderful they were to work with! This provided a "holder" and the ends did not constantly get pulled. When her students come out on stage, the holder is around their wrist. Neat option. --- Mary Ada Kidd
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11/08 West has a good set for about $25. 12 in the set
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11/08 I got mine about 8 years ago. They even have scarf music cd's! http://www.aeideas.com/?s=scarf--- Denise Arthurs in SC
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12/07 My kindergarten students and 1st grade students love the song, "I'm Being Eaten by a Boa Constrictor" (It's in the K Share the Music CDs) We've always done body movement to it with the "Oh no, he's nibbling my toe...etc" and after our little discussions about scarves on this list I thought - "Let's use green scarves to the song!" It was a spontaneous thought and BRILLIANT! The kids ate it up! At the end where we sing "Oh dread! He's up to my mmmmm" we threw the scarves over our heads and plopped down! It was so much fun! -- RaeAnna Goss
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12/07 I wanted something for my prek's and kinders to be able to do with scarfs and still feel like they were participating in a "real reel" like the big kids. So the girls on one side, boys on the other, holding a scarf up like London Bridge game, head couple runs under to end and back, peels off (girl takes scarf) and lines up again at the end of the line. Make scarf into bridge again. Meanwhile the next head couple is running down and under and than back. We used the Blackberry Quadrille (Band 8 on Phyllis Weikert's Rhythmically Moving Series Disc 2.
They laugh, scream, giggle so much I know they are having tons of fun!!! It's very fast so you have to keep your eye on them. Make sure they keep the scarfs up or someone will get choked and/or a scarf will get ripped. I had to be pretty adamant about that. The quadrille is 4:04 minutes long and they always beg for it again. Keep moving the head couple up when it gets bottom heavy. - Patricia Albritton
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06/06 BOOK: “LEAF MAN” It's wonderful. You could use red, yellow, brown, and green scarves with this book. I also found where someone had a costume for The Leaf Man http://www.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/costume_contest_leafman/ This book is going to become one of my autumn favorites.
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06/06 There is a book called Verses and Movement by Grace Nash, it has some good ideas -- Susan in Va
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06/06 "Colors are Gliding" is a song with the folding directions. I just love that song. One of my 2-year-olds this morning heard that song begin and started collecting scarves even before we could get them dropped to the ground and folded! We were still trying to get the scarves away when the CD went on to a bell song "Shake them High". He immediately went to the table and grabbed the Jingle Bells - the power of music! Hungarian Dance #5 is another scarf favorite with my kids. Lynn Kleiner has included it in her “Kids Can Listen, Kids Can Move” CD. -- Ardith Roddy
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10/05 CHOREOGRAPHY: “WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD” Each child has one scarf. Children sit in a circle, facing in, with their feet beneath their bottoms - kind of like kneeling, but sitting back on your heals. Make sure students know who their "partner" will be (this comes later, and then only briefly). Intro: During the introduction all students are sitting as above, but are leaning as far forward with their head on the ground in front of them as their flexibility allows. Scarves are stretched out straight in front of them pointing towards the center. All students hold only the tip of the scarf. Slowly rise during the intro to a sitting position. ”I see trees of green” - all children with green scarves reach up with them into the air and squiggle from top to bottom. The arm extends upwards and as it comes back down, squiggle gently side to side with the scarf.
”Red roses too” - all children with red scarves do the same movement.
“I see them bloom” - all children do the movement.
”For me and for you” - children hold onto the tip of the scarf, but throw the other end over their shoulder so that from the audience, they see the colors of the scarves running down their backs.
“And I think to myself “- pull scarf back to the front of their bodies and hold to their heart.
”What a Wonderful World” - make several slow circular movements - as a if tracing a globe/world.
”I see skies of blue” - All with blue scarves stand up and move to center reaching up with the scarves as they come together in the center, then go back to their position and sit back down.
”And clouds of white” - all children with white scarves stand up in their position and holding the scarf fully open (left hand out to the side and right hand out to the other side) they turn slowly letting the scarf flutter around them. Then sit back down.
”The bright blessed day” - all children with bright colors do the squiggle movement as in the beginning.
“The dark sacred night” - all children with dark colors do the squiggle movement as in the beginning.
“And I think to myself “- scarf to the heart
“What a wonderful world” - scarf in circles as before.
“The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky” - take one end of scarf in one hand and the other in the other hand and slowly form an arc by bending left, then right, then left, then right, with the scarf gently (but tautly) arching overhead
“Are also on the faces of people going by” - bring scarf in front of face - stretch it out so as to cover your face, but you can see the faces through the scarves, just now they are in multi-colors.
“I see friends shakin' hands” - turn to partner and take the end of their scarf, they take the end of yours so now the two are holding the ends of each others' scarves. Shake them gently.
“They're really saying ‘I love you’” - slowly stand up. Turn to face out - The circle is now standing with their backs to the center.
“I hear babies cryin'” - hold scarf up to eyes as if wiping tears.
“I watch them grow” - bend down and slowly reach up with scarf to signify growing.
“They'll learn much more than I'll ever know” - slowly with arms extended out to sides and holding the scarf ends in each hand, turn around once on their spot.
“And I think to myself” - Still facing outwards and in a standing position, hold scarf to heart “What a wonderful world” - still facing outwards and still standing, make a slow circle as if tracing a globe/world as before.
“Yes, I think to myself - turn to face inwards.”
“What a wonderful world” - all slowly walk towards center (circle is shrinking), reaching up as high as possible.
On the word "world", all let go of their scarves as their scarves fly up, as they step back (all scarves fall in the center) and move to original position.
“Oh, yeah" - children walk back to beginning position, sit down and lay their heads back on the floor. Scarves are in the center on the floor. We did it in my classroom with just one class to start with and for practice. On stage, we had about 75 participating. It was very lovely. PattyO in AR
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10/05 BUY SCARVES Sue Snyder sells scarves. I think her website is www.aeIdeas.com Sue has other items as well in her store portion. She's a wonderful resource. -- Cak
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10/05 MAKE SCARVES For our Kindergarten graduation last year we were performing "Rainbows Rock!", and I made beautiful scarves (with help from my wonderful mother-in-law to be.) We found a great sale on chiffon at Hobby Lobby (except orange, got it on e-bay) and made five of each color and white for clouds. We cut each to a yard and hemmed using the most delicate setting on a very old sewing machine. Another teacher later told me she had made similar scarves, using a heaver material and had used stitch witchery, which you just iron and it holds the hems. The scarves are beautiful, and the students had a blast waving them and rocking out!
"Rainbows Rock" Music K-8 Vol. 14:4, http://www.musick8.com/) Students are in a rainbow arc shape standing in groups by color with plenty of room between students so they can move freely. Anytime there is a musical interlude students dance freely with scarves, keeping them in their hands at all times. (I had some guys that wanted to throw and catch and missed their cues!) Scarves in front of body one measure before singing begins. Everyone sings, as colors are called that color moves their scarves from right to left above heads, big arc movement using both hands. When colors are repeated move from left to right the same way. Make sure everyone knows when their color moves.
On the chorus:
Rainbows Rock! - All scarves move in arc above heads together, on rock! everyone jumps up in the air and waves their scarves.
Colors in the sky - Wave all scarves above heads
Rainbows Rock - Same as before
Twinkling in your eyes - Shake scarves in front of body
More free dancing music, then repeat. At the end free dance until two measures before end bring scarves in front of body and on the last beat throw up and release over shoulders. We did this because it was a graduation performance and we needed them out of the way for the rest of the show.
This was very easy and a big hit with the kids and parents alike.-- Alicia Dickinson
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BUY SCARVES www.musikgarten.org sells them for $18.00 per dozen. You can view them at their website, but I think you have to call for the prices. Anyone can order from them. They come is blue, green, red and yellow.
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10/05 BOOK: we used [the book: What a Wonderful World] at O'Hara School. This is a book/cd that we just listened to and showed the illustrations. It was enough to do only that, and the kids responded with almost a quiet reverence. - Cak
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07/05 I just cut my scarves - out of a variety of sheer, lightweight synthetics - and we use them. When they're dirty, I throw them in the washer. So far [6 years or so] none have unraveled or frayed. No seams, no glue.
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07/05 One scarf held by the corner in each hand.
Move the arms such as you would if you were dancing.
Make dramatic big movements if possible and relate it to the words if you are singing.
Think of "blocks" of measures, a movement for the first 8 measures
Step 1 A different movement for the next 8 measures
Step 2 Repeat Step 1 - etc. to fit the music.
Some movements I've used with R & L as you the leader would do in front of the kids:
Right hand to left shoulder, left arm straight out to side/ reverse it with the beat back and forth
Right hand to left shoulder then big circle around clockwise to straight arm up,
Left hand does the same, both arms now are straight up above head, criss-cross arms back and forth gently bringing the arms down to the sides -
Right arm straight up above head and turn around to the right one complete turn; ditto left arm -
Move arms either one at a time or together straight up to form a V and then gently criss/cross scarfs above head -
Windshield wiper arms -
Punch down: Right arm makes a big counter clock circle to "punch" down on the left side of the body / reverse it with the beat back and forth -
Moving around in a circle, which was a disaster when I tried it. -
Ending: all lunge to the right while pointing with left arm forward and right arm back.
Find some students who have taken dance lessons and get them to help you. I had a couple years of tap lessons as an adult and it was really worth it for what I learned about creating choreography to go with music, but alas, my tap technique would never win me any medals. -- Priscilla
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02/03 Scarves: I played one of the real nice slow cello pieces and demonstrated to the class how to dance with the scarves. I guess I kind of danced as if I was doing ballet but with a scarf. de sure I showed them all of the possibilites of movement and placement with the scarves. I learned this at a workshop... to use all available space around our body. So I moved the scarve high, low, behind me, over me, etc. Then I let the children come and demo. One K class, the boys wouldn't do it. I made no big deal about this. In another K class the boys loved it. One of my scarves was long so at the end of the class I let the children dance under the arch as me and another boy held the ends. That got a little rowdy. The next step I do is I ask the children...How does this music make you feel?
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02/03 I got my scarves and cd's from IDEAS music. The cd's are wonderful and the kids just LOVE moving with scarves! They have a cassette 1 and 2 which is combined to a cd #1. They also have a cd #3. I have both of them and like I said they are GREAT! The website is: www.aeideas.com
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02/03 I got "Musical Scarves and Activities" from West Music. It is on page 101 of the newest catalogue (2002-2003) and has a "NEW" notation, so I don't know if it would be in any of the older catalogues. The number of this product is: CDKI19167 and costs $14.95. I really, really like it!
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02/03 It is called "Musical Scarves and Activities". I got it from West Music, CDKI19167 and it costs $14.95. I LOVE IT!!! So, do the kids. Lots of fun. Nice songs - we did "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and the singer is lovely! We did movements to the song (there is some narration) and stretches and sways (all to the beat) and then at the end we launched the scarves in the air and let them fall in the center of the floor. It was beautiful!!!! I just made up the other stuff - you know, vocal exploration with the scarves and then writing letters with scarves and singing their letters to me. We also sang colors. We sang when we put them up.
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02/03 I LOVE my scarves! I bought a Musical Scarf Activity CD and we worked with them this afternoon for the first time in First Grade. It was like magic - we did warm-ups with them - you know, making your voice mimic what the scarf was doing, then I sang "Who has the yellow scarf" and they replied"I do, I do" (all on Sol-mi) when it was their color, then we did "Somewhere over the Rainbow" with floating actions suggested on the CD, then we made letters out of them on the floor and sang our letters on "sol-mi". For example: "I made a "C"". We had a lovely time. Contributed by Norma Ganucheau
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10/02 Today, we sang and danced Looby-Loo in Kindergarten. MK8 10/2I taught them the song and dance accapella and then we used the CD accompaniment. Then...we did the fun thing of adding scarves! I gave 5 different colors and we sang...
"Here we go Looby-Loo..."
"You put the red scarves in. You put the red scarves out."
"You give the scarves a shake, shake, shake and turn yourselves about."
Next we sang the blue, yellow, white and black scarves. As we turned ourselves about, we swirled the scarves over our heads and hung them around the back of our neck as we danced the circle dance. It was really neat and the kids just lit up with the colorful scarves! Contributed by: Kristin-Nebraska
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01/02 Just found an online bargain. "Scarf Kits for the Classroom" $10 for 14 scarves, 18 x 36 in. rectangles. 2 each of royal blue, kelly green, orange, yellow, white, lime green, pink. Go to http://www.aeideas.com/
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01/02 Check out your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store for scarves. I got alot of them for just a few $s... I cut the bigger ones in half and now I have all I need.
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01/02 Just found an online bargain. "Scarf Kits for the Classroom" $10 for 14 scarves, 18 x 36 in. rectangles. 2 each of royal blue, kelly green, orange, yellow, white, lime green, pink. Go to http://www.aeideas.com/
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01/02 Check out your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store for scarves. I got alot of them for just a few $s... I cut the bigger ones in half and now I have all I need.
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01/02 My students LOVE to use scarves. Off the top of my head, my classes have used scarves to: --demonstrate contrasting sections in a piece of music
--highlight conducting patterns
--demonstrate contrasting articulation--staccato, legato, etc.
--demonstrate melodic direction, contrasting dynamics, textures, etc.
--do mirror movements with a partner
--demonstrate patterns using long & short durations
The first time I used scarves, they were still out from a kindergarten class--we were doing movement with the refrain from "Gather Around and I'll Tell You a Story". My 5th grade class acted disappointed that I wasn't doing the same thing with them--so I did--& they were thrilled! It is simply amazing how creatively students can move when you give them something like a scarf or a ribbon wand! It is also a great tool for informal assessment.
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01/02 My younger students love these, especially fun for Chinese New Year. Use them with Raindow Sister (WLMC selestion and in Macm. STM Asian songs). Use them with rainbow songs. Use them as "under the sea" seaweeds and fish & move to "The Aquarium". --------------- 01/02 The children can dance to music using the scarves. Use IDEAS Music CD #I. It has great pieces for movement. You can order it from that same site www.aeideas.com . Younger kids especially like "Tortoise and the Hare," and there is a great echo song for one student to do a short phrase of movement with the scarf, then everyone imitate on the echo. There are songs to work on steady beat,high and low, slow and fast, imitation, staccato and legato, and phrases.
March with the steady beat and wave the scarves like flags.Use scarves for mirroring, with partners using the same color scarves, or opposite colors from the color wheel. The scarves make great costumes and/or scenery -trees, bushes, tablecloths, curtains,feathers, bird wings, hats, capes, tied to wrists for dancing, etc.- the kids will know what to do.
Scarves can be used in choreography, to create different patterns for A and B sections of folk dances. They can be held between kids who don't like to holdhands.
When scarves are hung up in the classroom, the children use them all the time,and they invent uses that you never would have thought of. That's what's so nice about them. They are an open-ended educational tool that invites imagination. Judith Cook Tucker ([email protected])
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I have found VERY wide scarf fabric (nylon) at Wal-Mart from time to time for $1.00 a yard. I didn't have the heart to cut the last piece..so large that an entire class gather around it and hold the 4 edges. I have blown up balloons- put them in the center- put on slow tempo music-the objective is to move slowly to the pulse: step forward and at the same time lower the center of the fabric to the floor (but don't let any balloons roll out). As you step back raise hands causing the fabric to move upward, and the balloons move upward into the air (none can roll out). My kids from 2nd gr up have great fun with this.
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I bought pieces of chiffon, on sale (about $6.00 a yard) from the fabric store this spring to use for "Sakura" for the front row only at our spring program. I had the clerk cut the fabric in 1/4 yard pieces the full width of the bolt. I used three colors which really looked beautiful from the audience; burgandy, emerald green, and cobalt blue. The cut edges tend to ravel, so something needs to be done to them. Someone suggested using Elmer's Glue along the full length of the edges because it's cheaper than the Fray Check that is specifically made for this purpose. I ran out of time so we used them as is. It wasn't a problem but I will use the glue idea before I use them next year. I also used rolls of crepe paper, tore off long pieces that the children could use the same as scarves. These seemed to float much more gracefully than the actual fabric scarves. For next year, I am going to have my students create dowels with several rows of crepe paper streamers attached to give more variety and color. We will make a half-rounded arc into the air as our voices say "woo". We roll them up into a ball and at the same time throw them up into the air and as they rise and fall our voices have to rise and fall with them. We also use songs that have the "woo" at the end. My students get really excited when they walk in and see the scarves sitting beside me.
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I've made about 100 scarves out of old sheer curtains donated and cut up by parents. Some of the curtains didn't fray at all, but some had to have the edges serged. Chiffon from a real fabric store is the nicest, but my old curtains have been a free substitute! I used them with my choir last year with a wonderful piece "A World of Difference" by Joseph Martin (I think). The back row raised scarves with the line "We're the colors of the rainbow", row 3 with "We're the stars up in the sky", row 2 with "No two of us are quite the same" and row 1 with "and here's the reason why. Then they waved them back and forth for the rest of the chorus and lowered them to their sides for the verses. I used scarves for movement with "Aquarium" from Carnival - I just asked them to imagine they were in a fish tank with fish and seaweed - and the kids responded well.
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A local fabric store might be willing to donate eligible material in exchange for a mention in/at up coming concerts/school newsletters. Voila I had a 3 boxes of scarves: 1 multicolored, 1 white, and 1 black. We use them for all sorts of things: White ones work well with snow songs-especially canons. I've had students compose a scarf action for each phrase of the song.... If we have an AB, ABA, etc. piece we might use white vs. black. Each is assigned a section of the piece to move on-actions may be improvised or predetermined. This spring, our 4th grades improvised a scarf dance to a piece with changes in mood & tempo. I was pleased to see some very serious effort from students who often have difficulty with self control. Children were cautioned not to use scarves as 'deadly weapons'-it would be a shame to lose the priviledge of using one (no one did!).
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(Kleenex if you don't have them), to the background of beautiful, graceful, New Age musical tapes or CDs--will help keep the kids "at peace"and quiet (so you can re-couperate) and will be a wonderful experience for them and you. Have cards prepared with "words or phrases" which shows them what you want them to do. Ex. Show me a visual picture of: 1. a tree swaying in the breeze; 2. a flower growing; 3. a butterfly balancing on a branch etc.,
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One thing she had was a basket full of girls socks, with pom pom balls glued on the toe area so they would look like a puppet (sort of) when you put it on your hand. We sat in a semi-circle with our backs to each other. She then tapped out a four beat rhythm pattern and we had to tap it on the next person's back, kind of like the telegraph game. She did about 3 patterns, with 2-3 measures in between. The person at the end was supposed to write down the pattern she-he received.
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Here's an idea I use and it focuses upon the student's ability to read rhythms and use them. Put your students in groups (4 or 6). Give them props such as scarves, hula-hoops, etc. Along with the props give them rhythm cards, each card shows one beat. I usually give them eight cards using the following rhythms: Half note, quarter note, eighth notes, and quarter rest. Some groups I give more than one half note, others only one half note. I give several quarter notes to each group and the same with eighth notes. Just make sure each group gets the same amount of beats. The students arrange their beats as they wish and practice saying and clapping the rhythms. Next, they think of a movement with their props that matches the beats. (I tell them to make one long movement that will last for two beats to show the half notes--example: Move the scarves from left to right so it will last for two beats.) Same with the other rhythms.
It is very satisfying to see the routines they come up with. We talk about remembering all the body positions, not just to stand upright. It is very neat to see all the routines done at the same time. Most often I can find to routines that compliment each other--one group moving up while the other group is moving in a downward position, etc.
After the routines have been created we add the music. I'll select a medium tempo and then a fast tempo. After this, we combine two of the groups and perform an AB song, using their routines to demonstrate the A and B sections.
A suggestion for the end of the year: Have a LIMBO contest. Let all the students go under several times as you lower the pole.( I use a Tinikling pole, but you could use a yardstick or a broom.) Pick 4 or 5 of the best and let them be the contestants. The rest of the class cheers them on. This seems to be one of my schools favorite activities.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************SKIPPING, GALLOPING
Think of triplet patterns. For skipping, play the first and third pulse of each triplet; for galloping, play all the pulses, _lightly_ accenting the first.
I find that if the students hear the rhythms at the beginning of the activity, the decision is easier for them. If I just throw a new triplet or fast 6/8 rhythm at them, they will skip, even if they are hearing all the pulses. For example, the refrain of "Rig-a-jig-jig" will always prompt skipping because it has a strong feel of 2. I feel the tempo also effects how students will respond.
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Tell the kids to STEP then HOP on the SAME FOOT. Practice this slowly.
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A gallop is like a skip only you keep leading with the same leg. A skip alternates the leading leg. It makes sense that a similar rhythm pattern would work for both.
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The biggest difference between skipping and galloping is that skipping is done by alternating feet. You do a syncopated pattern (dotted quarter followed by an eighth, for ex.) on one foot then on the other and back again....Galloping is done with the same foot always leading (in front of the other). The rhythm is basically the same.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************STREAMERS
07.11 For making streamers, I bought ribbon from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. From Walmart I bought those little fishing swivels to connect to the cleaning rods. I've also used shower curtain rings to attachthe ribbons to.
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12/09 Follow the Rainbow from vol. 15 #4: (Plank Road Publishing, MK8 music) I always use this one in March, but it's not strictly seasonal –. My ribbon streamers are made from plastic tablecloth strips tied to hair elastics and I bought one of just about every color they had at Party City one time when they had the tablecloths on sale, so I have all the rainbow colors to use for this. On the A section: "Follow the rainbow (x3) to find the pot of gold" everyone makes big rainbow-shaped arcs with their streamers, one per phrase (so four "rainbows"). B section: (Follow the red, follow the orange...etc.) Everyone makes some kind of movement in the air with their streamer when they hear their streamer color mentioned. For the instrumental parts - intro, coda, and there may be an interlude, can't remember off the top of my head, they do the rainbow-shaped arcs, but smaller, faster ones. (Half the length of time of the A section phrases)! ~Ann in GA
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06/06 [Use a] plastic tablecloth which was 54x108 inches.. My streamers are two inches wide and 54" long. I cut them with a rotary cutter before I unfolded the plastic and so made 1 cut per streamer. I attached them in the middle with a ponytail elastic band. I just circled the band around the streamer at the streamers mid point and inserted one side of the band into the other side which captures the ribbon, and tightened it up. It's not a knot. It's just cinched up so tightly that it stays fine. If a kids picks at it, it's easy to fix and the kid gets sidelined and stays sidelined to watch me quickly reattach the rubber band. Really easy. This results in a single streamer that is doubled up so that it looks like two 27" ribbons a-flying. I find that two streamers in one rubber band look nice, one looks chintzy, and that you can do 3 and 4 streamers for other satisfying results. I chose to do red, white and blue separately to aide in multi-uses, but you could certainly do a threesome streamer that would be nice. -- Martha Stanley
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07/05 I made my own using dowel rods, screw-eyes and fishing lure swivels (they turn completely around). You can attach fabric ribbons or the mylar stuff if you like that. They last forever! -- Martha
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07/05 I have made elaborate ones using small diameter dowel rods, cut to length, attaching ribbons with fishing swivels. Have also made quicker/easier wrist ones from pony-tail holders (or scrunchies) and simply tied on ribbons. Anothwer fun thing to do for a performance is to tie ribbons on your hand drums. Very flashy and simple! -- Martha Evans Osborne ------------------------------- 07/05 I bought mine at Discount School Supply (on-line ordering) about 8 yrs. ago and they are still like brand new. They are longer streamers. If you work with toddlers/preschoolers, you can just trim them to the length you wish. There is a tight rope loop at one end for either slipping over a wrist or that the child can slip their hand through to hold the streamer. They are called "Rainbow Dancing Streamers". They are on sale at this time in a set of 6 for $6.89 I believe. Go to www.discountschoolsupply.com and then on the left margin keyword in "ribbon streamers" and you will see several types of streamers. I've ordered many items from this company for about 10 years now. They have quality products, great service.
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07/05 I won a basket of handmade streamers at our local Orff chapter workshop years ago, and they are still going strong! They are just craft (popsicle) sticks, with four 3 ft. long pieces of shiny silver, blue, and iridescent ribbon taped on with scotch tape! So simple, and yes, I have had to redo some of the bits; but how easy is that??? The kids love to use them for anything icy or snowy in these colors.
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05/03 Buy plastic tablecloths and cut them vertically down the middle. Attach the streamers to two pipe cleaners the twist the pipe cleaners to make a handle. Rubber band the handles together for ease of storage and hang them over hangers... if this doesn't make sense e-mail me for more of an explanation. I use red white and blue for flag Day and rd, white and green for Mexican Independence day plus Cinco de mayo. That is the cheap way. if you want to put out more money I have made streamers with ribbon. A regular spool of ribbon makes only three streamers which are more delicate in the breeze. So I have rainbow colors in ribbon. -- Contributed by Susan Michiels
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01/03 STREAMER STORAGE: We are folding them into a little 2" square and then rubber banding them to the stick...tightly. So far it is working very well.
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01/03 MAKING STREAMERS: I laminated construction paper fall leaves and stapled a strip of matching laminated paper and crepe paper fall colored streamers about 18" long to the leaves. They lasted for several years. The children just slipped their fingers in the loop and held on with their thumb. I did the same with snowflakes and light blue and white paper. I did luck into about 12 scarves at a church rummage sale a few years but haven't gotten enough for a class yet. I just can't stand to spend what the catalogs are asking for the kind of scarf that was everywhere when I was a kid. And very cheap!
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I make streamers that are 1 yard long (2 yards long folded in half) and then I attach three fuzzy pipe cleaners folded in half and twisted as the handles.
When storing them I double the length then do an overhand knot. I then place the loops on a binder ring. They don't get messed up that way and are easy to undo too. The kids love the feel of the pipe cleaners too! The pipe cleaners are usually available in the schools. My red streamers have red handles and the green have green handles! They really look great and all I had to do was buy the ribbon. A roll of ribbon is usually 18 feet long so I get three streamers out of one roll. Joann Fabrics has a deal where teachers can get a super discount if they show an official pay stub. On the first purchase you get 50% off and then you get 10% after that so buy all the ribbon at half price on one shopping spree! Contributed by Sue Michiels
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I have used that plastic ribbon stuff that they use at construction sites. It comes in fluorescent colors and you buy it by the roll at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. I think I have yellow, orange and blue. Just cut it however long you want it. Also I got the idea from somewhere to attach the ribbons or scarves or whatever to those plastic sticks that come with the little balloons on them. I think you can buy the plastic sticks from Oriental Trading Co. or other party goods places. There are plastic things on the ends of the sticks that allow you to tie the streamers on. I think I used 6 lengths of ribbon, about a yard long. The ribbon is about an inch wide.
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I made my own with very find tulle that I bought for 77 cents a yard at JoAnn's Fabrics or Walmart. Out of one yard I was able to get 4 scarves and there is no sewing involved. The kids love them! I have them in about 7 different colors.
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I ordered streamers this year from West music. They are fabulous. I could never make streamers this nice. They are attached to a 10" rod with something that looks like a fishing line and eye. When they twirl and they don't get tangled around the pole. And they can move through the air in such cool ways. I can do a tornado and wave and spins with funny tails on them.
I am using them for a streamer routine to Trepak from The Nutcracker. I made up the routine myself and may change it as we start learning it and I find new things to do with these streamers.
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YES, I have also ordered streamers (Patriotic colors!) for our Veteran's Day performance. We will do a routine to "You're a Grand Old Flag". I had one to work with and I think they will be a blast! Might have to cut them down a bit - they are 9 feet long and attached to a plastic rod with the round hook on the end. This way, they can swivel - VERY cool. I got them from Oriental and they are (relatively) cheap - 12 for $6.95. (I think).
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I made some great streamers with the same plastic surveyor's tape that comes in many colors. I used some wooden dowels (anywhere from quarter inch to big thick inch wide ones, even used some old lummi sticks once) and cut them to foot long sections. Get a package of small eye screws at a hardware store or Walmart. While you are there also pick up some of those swivels used for fishing. They should be fairly small, I can't remember the exact size I used, and they should have the little safety pin type closure on one end. The eye screw is inserted into the end of the dowel. A pliers will help save your fingers. I even had to pre-drilledl holes when I used the old lummi sticks-must have been made of real hard wood. Remember to keep in mind your students height when you determine the streamer length. I have two sets, short ones for primaries and longer ones for the older, bigger kids. After you cut your streamers, fold the end over a couple of times to reinforce it and stick the "safety pin" end of the swivel through the plastic. To get the swivel attached to the eye screw you will have to use your handy pliers again to pull the eye open enough to get the swivel over the metal of the eye screw. Voila! Streamers with wooden handles. If this is confusing email me and I'll try to make it clearer. Maybe I should take a picture of them. I've also noticed that if your streamers get all wrinkled just let them hang straight down in a warm place. We used the streamers for a performance and choreographed motions to some Mozart. I had a very small class of 3rd graders that weren't the best singers by themselves-so we performed with the streamers.
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Wrist Streamers: Beall's Outlet has scrunchies at the best price I have ever seen. I think the packages had 6 in them and sold for $1.49.
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-get packages of shower curtain hooks...the plastic rings the the shower curtain hooks into. I think they come in packs of 8 or more. I found some at the dollar store. -RIP strips of cloth to the width you want (it's therapeutic!). You could also use spools of ribbon. -tie the strips onto the shower curtain hooks. A few on each hook works fine. You're done. The hook fits nicely in the kid's hands. They're also easy to hang/store because of the big round hook.
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I have a listening exercise at the beginning of every class. I have instrument family posters on my cabinet doors. I also have small instrument cards. Class comes in, sit, and they know to listen. I ask who has not had a turn with my cards. If I'm playing a CD of a cello, I would give K classes just a few cards (trumpet, drum, etc.) to let them be successful in finding the instrument. The child finds it shows it to the class and then we go to the posters. I ask, Which family does the cello belong to? They answer and I have the class give them a hand and they return to their seat...very proudly. Almost every child has been successful with these activities for listening and they love to be the one picked.
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I went to a hardware/supply store to buy surveyor's tape. It comes in a roll like masking tape, but it is made of plastic and not sticky. I've seen it at Walmart in the sporting goods and hardware department. It's what contractors use to mark pipe lines and cables if you "call before you dig". It comes in many colors and I have seen it available on the internet, but don't have a web address right now. I'll surf this evening if I get a spare minute. It will need to be cut to an appropriate length for the general height of the students using the streamers. The plastic is thin enough to easily poke a needle through or a fishing swivel if you are making them that way. I think I paid $3 or $4 per roll and there is enough to make lots and lots of streamers per roll. The stuff comes in many colors. I've even seen it candy cane red and white striped! Mostly you find the florescent green, yellow, orange and pink.
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I have ordered some from Music in Motion in primary colors that are excellent. The sticks are solid wood and are very durable. They are expensive, but worth it. You get 12 for $48.00. They can withstand the kids, though. I've had mine for about 6 years. I just replaced some of them last year. I didn't have to replace all of them. I bought the ones from Oriental Trading. I personally wasn't happy with them. Good thing I messed up and ordered twice as much as I needed, because they came apart and I couldn't put them back together. I ended up using all of them. The online store is www.musicmotion.com The product number is 2282-Ribbon Dance Sticks, The phone number is 800-445-0649
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West Music has some high quality streamers that work really well. We used them at an Orff Level I workshop, and they swivel well, look sturdy. There are three different sizes West Music has incredible steamers! Kite material, STRONG plastic handles, reinforced eyelet holes... Contributed by Norma Ganucheau
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01/03 TREKPAK: My 5th graders are performing a streamer routine to Trepak from the Nutcracker this year. One of my classes has 25 students and there other has 14...so our routines will be a little different but here is the main outline:
In sets of 8:
1 - Figure 8 in front.
2 - Circle right in front.
3 - Figure 8 in front.
4 - Circle right in front.
5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - Wiggle streamer in a Z pattern while turning in a circle.
9 - 10 - 4 Big zig-zag's down in front every 4 counts
11 - Figure 8 in front.
12 - Circle right in front until done. Zip the streamer up and down in front on the last beat.
On the 5th - 8th sets of 8...I will be creative with my smaller class. The front row will do small tornados in front of their bodies. On the circle right sets, some in the back row will circle over head and those standing on the sides will circle to the side of their bodies. I think it will create a wonderful visual effect and give the students a bit more room.
We have started this with my smaller class and they are doing great. ALL the students love the streamers, boys and girls alike! The only thing that will be bad about this routine is that...it will not be long enough!!!!!!!! Contributed by Kristin Lukow
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Only thing is, our 7-11 had to order me a box from the Icee people (took a week) because they weren't willing to let go of any from their stash. Make sure that the spoon part of the straw is big enough to be hole punched. Metallic curling ribbon is what we used, threaded through the hole and tied in knot. Then we used a variety of instrumental music to show things such as phrases, legato vs. staccato, steady beat, artistry, etc. I made a bunch of craft stick/dental floss/foil crepe paper ribbons. I put an elastic band around all the handles and hung them from a top shelf. They seem to be good when we get them out. We're going to do a ribbon dance for Chinese New years with them (if we're not on strike) The melody is traditional dddc aaa gggf ddd Can be played on recorder or Orff - we made up simple choreography the last time I did this.
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I have the little glittery wands and I just store the wands in a cup and let the ribbons hang out. As to the ribbons, they will start to fray as soon as you try to use them. I would suggest protecting the ends of the ribbons with a product called "Fray Block" You find it in the sewing supplies area. It's very thin and un-noticeable when it dries. It's good for ribbons on little girls clothes, too.
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The phys ed teacher and I talked the cafeteria out of bread bags. Have the kids wrap the ribbons LOOSELY and neatly around their hand and then slide 'em right in, stick and all.. Then store the bags in one of those neat boxes that the science kits come in to the classroom teachers. (Those are the BEST!!!) Copy paper boxes are good too.
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We needed a gazillion of these ribbons for a special workshop once, so I bought some straws from 7-11 (the kind used for Icees with a little spoon like end), punched holes in the spoon part with a hole punch, and tied wide curling ribbon to each. They worked beautifully --- We used to do a full fledged circus at my school with the first graders and our pseudo-Korean ribbon twirlers used those ribbons. I kept them in zip lock bags(gallon size so the wand fits) and even if the ribbons got crinkled, they twirled nicely. I got mine from Oriental Trading and found them to be too long for little kids so I snipped them off a bit. Also I found the tip of the wand broke quite easily on the wands I had, so I devised a duct tape and paper clip solution to that problem as well.
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I also like to use crepe paper streamers attached with tape to foot-long dowel rods or paint stirrers (yuk--bad spelling) or rulers or rhythm sticks. I usually put 3 streamers in various color about the length of the children's height (shorter for younger ones). Make fans for "Sakura". Then make up a fan dance. Nothing exotic, just slow and smooth and together. Even the boys like these things (even 4th graders) if the correct music is attached. I also have some old cheerleading pom poms the high school cheerleading sponsor gave to me. Of course, you can always make your own --- nice class project.BACK to Movement, Dance topics
***********************************************************************STRETCHIES
12/07 ACTIVITY: Artie Almeida's form lesson, using Fjaskern. First we listen for the tempo (accelerando) and then we identify the A and B sections. Add a cooperative movement for each. In this piece, the motif repeats four times in each section. For the A section, we hold it in our left hands and walk two sets of 8 around the circle. For the B, after much practice, we face the center with the band in both hands as we move it in this pattern: hips, knees, hips, shoulder. On the second set of 16 of the B section, we take 8 tiny steps into the center while raising it over our heads. With 1st we skipped the last part and just held it over head for 16. I've done similar things with Yankee Doodle. One year my 5ths created their own patterns for a rondo.. -- Andrea Cope
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GREAT TOOL: [It's] totally worth it. I've been using it all week for a form lesson. The beauty of it is you're working with all the children at once, you can see immediately who has it and who's fallen off the bus, and they'll do ANYTHING to earn it. My new AP came in and played with us, as did several teachers. It's a bargain at $80 for all the things you can do with it. -- Andrea Cope
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Oriental Trading has two sizes of Super Stretchy, 12 foot and 16 foot. West Music has a 24 foot Stretchy
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SOURCE: You can buy waste hose from Sara Lee Hosiery by sending a letter of request and a check for $10 for shipping and handling. (Sara Lee Hosiery, Waste Work Program, P.O. Box 719, Highway 576, Marion, SC 29571) They send you a box of over 200 white hose legs, which you can dye. Use Rit dye and follow the directions on the box. Someone, at some point, named these "stretchies". You can use these for movement activities, to show phrases, and with the "arches" game. (Instead of holding hands, the couples hold onto either end of the hose to make the arches.)
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USAGE:[Stretchies] are 2nds of panty hose that are wonderful to use for lots of activities where kids don't want to hold hands. Songs with bridges to go under, partner song games, maypole, it is unlimited. Usually you dye them bright colors and are delightful to use. Johanna Beebe Stretchies can be used for mirroring, expressing phrases and general movement.BACK to Movement, Dance, Drama topics