End of Year Campfire Sing Along Part II

This is a powerpoint for Bazooka Bubblegum- so much fun! Every time you sing "Bubblegum, Bazooka, Zooka Bubblegum...." hands clasped over head and hands and hips "hula hoop". I have the kids sit for the rap and stand for the "Bubblegum" part. They BEG to do this over and over! In case the song doesn't play with the ppt, try this: music can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZXRaVBf0pY And if you want to convert the video to an mp3 to play it w/o the video- my favorite youtube to mp3 converter: http://www.youtube-mp3.org/ Powerpoint: (I created this one and the Found a Peanut): Bazooka Bubblegum Another end of year favorite: Found a Peanut! Great song- play on guitar using on C/G7 chords- easy, fun- my timing may be a little off- we slow down during "Died Anyway" and "Went to Heaven". Found a Peanut1 Hope these work- if not I'll try to fix them tomorrow!

End of the Year Music Craziness!

So... I decided to go all out this year at the end of the school year and to do something I've wanted to do for a LONG time.. I researched all of my favorite (stress.. MY) camp songs/silly songs/fun songs and I've made a list. Some of these.. OK.. many of these were new to me as I have limited experiences at summer camp... I think I went 3 summers! BUT- I have AWESOME memories of singing around a campfire with others and doing some silly, fun, whack-a-noodle songs! So- I am bringing in some REAL logs, adding some fake fire, and we are going to do "camp" in the middle of the music room- oh, and did I mention fire- well.. you'd never believe WHAT you can find on youtube- first thing to share with you is a lovely crackling fire you can project on your wall/smartboard/whiteboard- yup... complete with sounds of lapping waves.. the perfect campfire! And now the list of the songs I've "newly discovered", rediscovered or just plain love! Many of these are on youtube- some are included in the youtube playlist I've added at the end of this post. One Green Jelly Bean/ On Top of Spaghetti/ One Bottle Of Pop/ My Hat it Has 3 Corners/ The Court of King Carraticus/ Hole in the Middle of the Sea/ Dr. Knickerbocker/ Once an Austrian Went Yodeling/ I Love the Mountains/ Grandma’s Feather Bed/ My Aunt Came Back/ There’s a Wiggle in my Toe/ Green Grass Grows All Around/ Catalina Magdalina/ Goin’ on a Bear Hunt/ Found a Peanut/ Go Bananas/ Boom Chicka Boom/ Bazooka Bubble Gum/ Slippery Fish (Octopus)/ Baby Shark/ Silly Pirate Song/ Slaves of Job/ Pizza Hut/ Cup Games/ Eating Betty Crocker/ Wisconsin Milk/ Chili Chili/ Humpty Dumpty Rap/ Wobble Song (youtube)/ Kinderpolka (dance from Step Lively)- LOVE THIS collection!/ Sasha (Dance- also from Step Lively) AWESOME!!!!! Here's a bunch from the list that can be found on youtube- great place to learn them so you can sing 'em with the kiddos!

Music K8 resources

Do you? I DO!
Use Music K8 magazine/CD's/teacher resources, etc. I've sent in a few teaching ideas, too and really love all the info/helps/etc. other teachers have.. such a good resource! I've also used the online teacher forum which is so great when I'm in need of a resource or looking for program ideas or songs. Other teachers are so quick to reach out and respond!
Our program for "Jivin' in the Jungle" is May 4th so it's right around the corner and I was so excited when my recent issue of Music K8 came and there was a lovely (and very different) arrangement of It's Raining for singers and recorder players. Perfect for our jungle theme- so of course I had to use it and I re-recorded it with Orff instruments and lots of percussion so it sounds a bit more "jungle-y" and the kids LOVE it! Easy to teach in a single class as they already know the 2 songs used; It's Raining and Rain, Rain, Go Away! Give it a whirl!
I'm leaving you with a little quote today that I love.. hope you enjoy!

Rainforest Songs Part I

So I really need to put some of these rainforest songs on here- these are rough ideas, certainly not finished products, but very fun to play and sing!
The first is an Arachnid Canon- you'll recognize the melody as "Toembai". VERY fun- my third and fourth graders LOVE the spookiness and we always love a good canon. Simple arrangement, too, which is always nice to play around with. Add some theatrical expressions while using hand spider puppets (or just your hand) and very fun!

A caiman is a small alligator who lives mostly in the Amazon jungle- google it and you'll find lots of fun pictures!
More to come later!

Randomness

I know, I need to update- for all 5 of you looking at this blog! But seriously, here is another adorable music blog with some fantastic ideas! Check it out!
http://aileenmusic.wordpress.com/

A couple of other favorite places and spaces on the web:


www.Pinterest.com

I LOVE THIS SITE!!! Yes, for those of you already on here, it's AWESOME!! Think of it as a global pin board where you can find people who like things you like or can give you inspiration. Recipes, fashion, crafty stuff AND TONS of educational ideas from fellow teachers and techie teachers and music teachers, too!!! If you are not a member, go sign up- it can take a few days to get your first email and start using it, or you can sign up through a friend who is on facebook or go through facebook to sign up. So many wonderful things to see/look at/get inspiration from/find amazing ideas! Go, Go, Go!!

www.Dropbox.com

Have you ever had to send an email from home to your school with your lesson plans when home sick? How about you needed the document on your home computer but forgot to send it to yourself? Go to dropbox.com and get thee signed up!!!
This application allows you to save files to your personal dropbox, and then you can open it on any computer. Hours saved searching for flash drives and nothing to bring/remember/send to yourself!

I'll be updating over the next week or two with a couple of songs I've recently written about the Jungle as for our spring concert we are "Jivin' in the Jungle".

new music to come soon!

I am in the middle of song writing for our upcoming spring program "Jungle Jive". At our school which is junior kindergarten through twelfth grade, we have a HUGE celebration of the arts in the May which kicks off with the Lower School (only first through fourth) performing. I am writing about 4 songs for this performance and changing the songs that are already written to fit our theme a little more. As soon as I get them put into Sibelius I will post a couple on here- easy to use for other programs about the rainforest or Earth Day or any other animal themed concert! See you soon!

Chinese New Year Song

Here's a song I wrote for Chinese New Year- easy peasy! Simple level bordun for accompaniment- add unpitched percussion (UPP) for the percussion line- lots of gongs, drums, etc. to "scare away" evil spirits. Very nice with a big, low gong at the end. Good for your upper level recorder players, too- those who have a solid low "C".
Look on youtube for pronunciation guide - Xin = Shin, Nian= like it sounds, Kuai= kwahee, Le = luh Yi (number 1) = eee, Er (number 2)= are, San (number 3) = sahn, "Jia You" (Let's Go! as in cheering people on) = jya yo.
Enjoy!