SONGS FROM
AROUND THE WORLD AND BACK AGAIN
ILASCD 2014 PRE-KINDERGARTEN AND KINDERGARTEN CONFERENCE
©2014 Brigid Finucane, Merit School of Music, Chicago, IL
This interactive workshop expands typical classroom
dances and singing games,
and fosters community and cultural diversity.
Participants will learn multicultural dances and
musical games that can be put to immediate use.
**BEAT always stays the same.
RHYTHM’s what you sing or say.**
1. JUMP JIM JOE
/ American Heritage Playparty
Partner circle dance – inhibitory control, sequencing, following
complex directions.
Teach dance in a circle first before transitioning to partners. Two, three or more partners can dance
together – a nice feature of this gathering activity.
-Transition rhymes: - 1,
2, 3and 4…Find a new partner and we’ll do it some more!
2,
4, 6-8-10…Find a new partner and do it again!
-Find a new partner as quick as can be. Find a new partner before I
count to three!
2. HOW PUNG YO (Looking For A Friend) / Traditional Chinese Folk
Song
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueSBz0aV4Rs. Three different versions:
(1) Make a circle, with one child in center. This child
is “It,” and walks inside the circle while children are singing the first line,
then he/she stops in front of another child. On “Jeeng gah lee ah,” the two bow to each other, then shake hands on “Wah guh sho.” On the last line, they trade places, with the new
friend going into the center.
Repeat. Continue until everyone has had a turn (no repeats!). Teaching
Tolerance: I Will Be Your Friend
(2) All the children
play, looking for a friend simultaneously. Walk for the first two lines, then
turn to a friend, bow and shake their hand. At the end of the song, wave
goodbye. Repeat, finding a new friend. Chinese
American Service League (CASL), Chicago
(3) Follow directions
for #1 (above), but instead of trading places, the new friend holds gently on
to the shoulder of the first child (“It”). Repeat the song, adding a new friend
with each repetition. Each new
friend is added to the end of the train, until everyone is selected. Campbell, P.S. et al. Roots & Branches. A Legacy of
Multicultural Music for Children
Jow yah, joy yah, jow yah jow, Looking, looking, looking for,
Jow do wee guh how pung yo. Now
I find a good friend.
Jeeng gah lee ah. I bow to you.
Wah guh sho. (I)
shake your hand.
Nee shur wah duh how pung yo. You
are my good friend.
3. BONJOUR MES
AMIS / Traditional Cajun
Circle dance using
basic French phrases. It transitions into a partner dance.
Lyrics, notation, and
audio recording can be found here: Campbell,
P.S. et al. Roots &
Branches. A Legacy of Multicultural Music for Children
Lyrics
1. Bonjour, mes amis, bonjour. (Stand
in circle, wave at friends)
Bonjour, mes amis, bonjour.
Bonjour mes amis, bonjour mes amis, bonjour mes amis, bonjour.
Bonjour, mes amis.
2. Comment ca va, mes amis, comment ca va… (Shake hand with partner)
3. Ca va bien, mes amis, ca va bien… (Shake hands . This verse can combine w/v.2)
3. Ca va bien, mes amis, ca va bien… (Shake hands . This verse can combine w/v.2)
4. Allons danser, mes amis, allons danser… (Join hands in a large
circle. Dance in circle)
5. Allons chanter, mes amis, allons chanter… (Four small steps in, four steps back
out)
6. Au revoir, mes amis, adieu… (Partner
take hands, and dance around circle)
Bonjour, mes amis (Hello, my friends) Comment ca va, mes amis (How are you?) Ca va bien, mes amis (I’m fine)
Allons danser, mes amis (Let’s dance) Allons chanter, mes amis (Let’s sing)
Au revior, mes amis, adieu (Goodbye, farewell)
Allons danser, mes amis (Let’s dance) Allons chanter, mes amis (Let’s sing)
Au revior, mes amis, adieu (Goodbye, farewell)
4. TUE TUE /
Traditional, Ghana
There are as many
versions of this song as there are interpretations of what it means!
For a fascinating
look at the unresolved, and continuing, conversation, visit Mama Lisa’s blog: http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/can-anyone-help-with-the-song-tue-tue-from-ghana/
This is a great song for steady beat. Movements can be simple or increasingly complicated!
Simple:
·
Count “1 -2
-3 -4” a few times to establish the steady beat.
·
Pattern: Pat hands out in front of body for two beats, then pat knees for two beats.
·
Sing song
while clapping pattern with partner.
·
When pattern is mastered, increase the tempo with each repetition.
Harder:
·
Make a
double-ringed circle, with one partner in the inside circle, and the other in
the outside circle. Direct partners to face each other.
·
Divide
the ring into “boxes.” A “box” is made from two neighboring couples- 4 kiddos.
·
Ask
original couples to greet their partners, then turn and greet the person next
to
them
– their “side” partner. Do this several times, to get accustomed to the
movement.
·
Using one
group, or “box,” demonstrate first patting the pattern with the original
partner then with the new, “side” partner.
·
At a very
slow tempo, invite students to try the pattern. Sing the song.
Hardest:
·
Tell
students that there’s another “box” on the other side!
·
With a
group of six (3 kiddos and their partners), slowly try the pattern.
1.
Pat original partner’s hands
2. Pat “side” partners hands 3. NEW side partners
OR
·
Sit,
facing partner in a double ring.
·
Pat partner’s
hands, then your knees for the first four beats.
·
On the
second four beats, pat hands with the neighbors on both sides for the first two
beats, pat knees for second two beats.
Repeat pattern, starting with original partner.
5. JUMP JOSIE /
American Heritage Playparty
This song changes
from a circle to a partner dance and from fast to slow. It also changes from 3/4 to 4/4 meter and from legato
(smooth and connected) singing and dancing to staccato (short and separate). It is a great song to reinforce the
“two x” math tables.
·
Teach the
song with students in a circle.
Move side to side during the first section, then clap hands in the
second section, “One in the middle…”
·
On “Oh, my Susan Brown,” make a large
“sunshine circle” with both arms crossing.
·
Choose 2
students to be partners. Ask them to hold hands, facing each other.
·
Dancers
in the middle, or inside, are jumpers, dancers
in the circle are clappers. The
only ones who jump during the second half of the song, are those in the middle.
·
After the
song is completed, ask the “two in the
middle” to choose new partners from the circle and repeat the song. After several repetitions, ask everyone
to get a partner. At this
point, sing “all in the middle.”
·
Other
ideas include using colors (“red in the
middle”), clothing (“jeans in the
middle”)
or
anything you can think of - gender,
patterns, shoe styles, month born,
etc.
·
Other
thoughts: Several couples can
start the song in the middle to speed things along. Partners can also “tap tap Josie,” “fly fly Josie,” “turn turn
Josie,” etc.
6. MRS. MURPHY’S
CHOWDER / Crescendo circle game
Crescendo means to get gradually louder, in Italian, the language of music. After teaching the
chant, get into a small circle, and very quietly, with feet to the beat, say the words. With
each repetition, the circle becomes a little larger, and the words a little
louder – until at last, the circle is at its fullest. Crescendo!
7. LUCY
LOCKET / England. Tune: Yankee Doodle.
This game may
be done two different ways: As a chasing game or Crescendo hot /cold game.
(1) Chasing game: A child with a small
purse, handkerchief, etc., circles the ring of seated players as all sing. At some point in the song – it can be
anytime – the child drops the object behind the back of a seated child. The seated child chases the first child
around the circle. The empty space
left by the second child (chaser) is “safe.”
(2) Crescendo
game: A “finder’ is
chosen to hide their eyes while a “hider”
hides a small object (‘pocket’) somewhere in the room. The object MUST be
partially visible.
The finder turns her / his back or leaves
the room while the object is hidden – whatever is best for your classroom. The hider then joins the group, and the
whole class softly sings the song while the finder
looks for the object. As the finder gets closer to the object,
children gradually sing louder (crescendo)
until the finder is guided to the
object by the singers’ voices. Choose two more children, and repeat, etc.
Lyrics:
Lucy Locket lost her pocket.
Kitty
Fisher found it.
Not
a penny was there in it,
Only
ribbon round it.
8. SOL ULTE, SOL
INNE (Sun, Only Sun) /Traditional,
Norway
Partner dance created
by Brigid Finucane and Amy Lowe. To hear the song sung in Norwegian, visit Mama
Lisa’s World: http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=378&c=52
Students stand with
one partner, holding hands.
Lyrics:
Sun outside, sun inside. (Step
away from partner, then forward)
Sun in the heart, sun in the mind. (See-saw
to one side, then the other)
Sun, only sun. (Double
handed “bridge turn”)
9. CHOCOLATE / Traditional Mexican Chant. Partner activity, steady beat, tempo.
There are many
variants of this chant, some which allude to mole negro, the rich, spicy sauce whose main ingredient is chocolate (con arroz y con tomate…). I
use the simpler chant, which refers to the molinillo,
a wooden utensil that is twirled between one’s palms making the chocolate
frothy. Each repetition is faster
than the last.
Children hold hands and “see-saw” arms back and forth while saying the
chant.
Pause briefly at the
end of each line, emphasizing the final syllable.
Lyrics:
Uno, dos, tres, CHO! Uno, dos, tres, CO!
10. UNO, DOS Y
TRES – Mexico / Traditional Counting Song.
Partner
circle-dance created by Brigid Finucane.
Students stand in a
circle facing a partner, back to back – in one ring.
Lyrics:
Uno dos y tres, (Clap,
pat and tap hands together with partner)
Cuatro, cinco, seis.
(Repeat)
Siete, ocho, nueve, (Take
partners hands, and go halfway round in a
two-hand turn, changing places with partner)
two-hand turn, changing places with partner)
I can count to diez. OR (On “diez” turn around halfway to face a new partner.
(Yo) Puedo contar a diez. Repeat with new partner, etc.)
and the “Games Children
Sing” series (China, India, Malaysia, Japan- book with CD).
Take
suggestions and be creative!
Above all, have fun!
Please
contact me with additional questions.
I’ll gladly
sing melodies into your answering machines!
Brigid Finucane * 847-213-0713 *
gardengoddess1@comcast.net
Merit School of Music, 38 S. Peoria St., Chicago,
IL 60607. 312-786-9428.
http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com - the 18th
of every month!
http://brigidfinucane.blogspot.com
@booksinger1
I’m a proud and grateful member of ECMMA, GCAOSA, NAEYC
& the Children’s
Music Network. Check it out! http://www.cmnonline.org
