March 21, 2012
Share Your Musical Talents
Music is an integral part of early childhood and the focus on our theme this week! Singing is one of many components within music, so even if you are not an instrumental expert, you always have your voice! By singing and modifying simple songs and rhymes, you can significantly impact children’s literacy development, which begins from birth. Oral language (vocabulary), phonological sensitivity and comprehension (thinking skills) are the building blocks of literacy. By consciously integrating songs, chants and rhymes into your curriculum, your instruction can become a perfect foundation for developing all three of these critical skill areas.
Some examples to try are:
Singing a Song of Opposites
(Sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)
by Pam Schiller
This is big and this is small,
This is big; this is small,
This is big and this is small,
Sing along with me.
Other verse possibilities:
This is tall and this is short.
This is up and this is down…
This is in and this is out…
This is happy and this is sad…
This is soft and this is hard…
This is fast and this is slow…
This is here and this is there. ..
Singing a Song of Sound Discrimination
“Willoughby Wallaby Woo” (Alliteration and Rhyme)
Willoughby wallaby wee, an elephant sat on me
Willoughby wallaby woo, an elephant sat on you.
Willoughby wallaby wustin, an elephant sat on Austin.
Willoughby wallaby waria, an elephant sat on Maria.
Willoughby wallaby wee, a kangaroo hopped on me
Willoughby wallaby woo, a kangaroo hopped on you.
Willoughby wallaby wabrielle, a kangaroo hopped on Gabrielle.
Willoughby wallaby wevan, a kangaroo hopped on Evan
Willoughby wallaby wee, a buffalo stepped on me
Willoughby wallaby woo, a buffalo stepped on you.
Willoughby wallaby warlos, a buffalo stepped on Carlos.
Willoughby wallaby wadison, a buffalo stepped on Madison.
Singing a Song of Rhymes
When singing songs which contain rhymes, try different methods to feature the connection between certain words: sing the song in a whisper, then emphasize the rhyming words aloud, clap when you recite the rhyming words, or you can pause and wait for your children to ‘fill in the blank’.
“Keep a song in your heart and a poem in your pocket. You’ll be glad you did.”
“Songs and Rhymes as a Springboard to Literacy” by Pam Schiller, Ph.D