The Water Cycle Song

I have been meaning to add yet another song to my ever growing list (of 3). A parent of former students was in my building a few months back and asked me if I still sang the song because her kids still remembered it. This is after five years for the older of the two children. So here comes the third installment to the tune of Oh My Darling Clementine.

Evaporation (do the reverse of raindrops coming down with your fingers like you would do in Itsy Bitsy Spider)
Condensation (curve both arms over your head meeting to together to form a cloud, which might look like an egg or o to some students)
Percipitation on my mind (here's where the raindrops can come down)
It's the water cycle, it's the water cycle and it's happening all the time (have the students rotate their arm around in a circle as if doing the backstroke)

Now you have the tune and the motions that allowed my second graders to learn the vocabulary of the water cycle. Just in case you need a visual here is the water cycle, thanks to the public photo area of Flickr.

Integrating Music

In my graduate class we looked at TeacherTube and I thought I'd add a couple of songs I do with my class. Music is a very powerful way to learn and I should do more of it in my classroom. I'll put the words to a song that helps my students remember when to add -ed to a word. It's corny but effective. Now once I learn how to do a podcast I'll be able to add the audio here as well. I'll write out the words and think of the tune to Turkey in the Straw.
When your root word ends with K your ed sounds like T,
when your root word ends with K your ed sounds like T,
when your root word ends with K your ed sounds like T,
when your root word ends with K your ed sounds like T
Na-na, na, na-na, na-na, na, naa,
Na-na, na, na-na, na-na, na, naa,
Naanana, na, na, na, naa, na na-na, na, na, na, na, na
K makes your ed sound like a T (Shave and a hair cut - two bits)


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You can also to switch off to CH, S, SH, P, X instead of T or make each line of the song a different combination.

Now that I'm in the singing mood, I'll put another one up here too. Months of the year can be tricky for students to remember, but not after you get them singing this one to the tune of Are You Sleeping.

January,
February,
March, March, March, (have the kids march in place during the all the marches)
March, March, March,
April, May, June,
July, August, September,
October, November,
Decembuuurrrrr, (pretend you're cold and and shake during Decembuuurrrr)
Decembuuurrrrr.

Months of the
Year Song

Now that I've laid some music on the line let me know all about those musical hits you belt out for your class.

Sharing Part 2

A way my teaching partner and I created more of that extremely valuable resource in school, time, was by bringing both of our classes together for read aloud. Two days a week she brings her class to my room and I read to both classes. She also reads to both classes for two days of the week as well. This allows one of us to have 20 to 30 minutes of prep time each day we do read aloud. One thing we have done to allow our students to practice reading in front of a group is to have two students each week (Very Important Person or Star students of the week) read a favorite book to the classes during one of my read aloud times. Then during my teaching partner's time one day we have students from both classes read their writing samples and stories they created to the whole group. Students really think about which of the writing samples they want to share and they enjoy receiving feedback from their peers. Very much like blogging. Let me know if you have any creative ways to build in more prep time.

Teaching Tips and Blogs, Blogs, Everywhere

I'm new to blogging and would like to hear from anyone with a great blog for classroom ideas in the primary grades. Also if you have a teaching idea I'd love to hear it. I've got one I just learned about. Take a transparent report cover and open it up. Slide it on top of a textbook and let students write with dry erase markers on the cover. It's a great way to see what students look at to help answer questions, see if they are paying attention. Make sure they cover up the pages so they are not marking all over their book. A tissue or sock from home can clear off the cover and allow a whole new set of marks to be made.