The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Spring is in the air and many teachers teach about the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly during this season.

I wrote this song to go along with Eric Carle's lovely book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." It is a story that takes the reader from the caterpillar in an egg all the way to a full grown butterfly. The illustrations on each page are full of color and there is even a repetitive tag line!

Throughout the story, the caterpillar eats through many different foods as he grows. The repetitive tag line is, "But he was still hungry." This can easily be recorded onto a voice output device so all levels of students can participate in this story.

This book also intertwines counting within the story. Throughout the story, the caterpillar eats different numbers of food items, (i.e. one apple, two pears, etc.). Many different sequencing activities can also be done with this book.




What other books do you like to use with children during the spring season?

Poems

Here's a song I wrote that can be used to introduce and/or help teach students about poems. I wrote it with middle school aged students in mind, so I added a background beat to keep things motivating. :)




Here are the lyrics:

(Chorus)
Poems are made up of words.
Poems can be long and poems can be short.
Poems are made up of words.
Some of them rhyme and some of them don't.

Poems tell a story-tell you how someone's feeling. (Repeat)

(Chorus)

Poems are made up of groups of words called lines. (Repeat)

(Chorus)


I hope you're having a great week so far! Stay tuned for another song post later this week!

The Sounds of Spring

Spring is such a nice and pretty season. I love the cool breeze mixed with warm sunshiny days. Very little sweat involved, not a lot of humidity, but all the benefits of the sun! :)

I wrote this song to use with students in a severe profound elementary classroom. I designed a couple of different visuals for this song, but the coolest part is that I added sound effects to illustrate the sounds mentioned in this song.

After hearing the song and seeing pictures of the wind in trees, bees and birds, I asked the students which sound they would like to hear. They could choose any of the three sounds (I had mp3 sounds of all three).

Relating this information to them with the sound effects was very neat! Many of the students were very attentive and interested in the sounds. Several of the students quickly made choices (via picture cards, and using eye gaze, hands, and/or Big Mac switch programmed to answer, "I want to hear that one.").

I left a good amount of space after each spring sound so that visuals could be shown, sound effects could be played, and or signing could be done to represent each item.

I'll post the lyrics below. If you like this song and would like to use it with children and/or students you work with, the song can be downloaded for just $1! Click on the download button under the song and after you log in payment info, an mp3 can be sent to your email inbox. It's that easy!




Sounds of Spring

There are many new sounds in the Spring.
And I can hear them all around with my ears.
I can hear the wind in the trees,
And I can hear the busy, busy bees.
I can hear the birds in the trees.

There are many new sounds in the Spring
and I can hear them all around with my ears.
When I hear the wind in the trees,
and the busy,busy bees,
when I hear the birds in the trees I know it's Spring! (Repeat)
© 2010 Amanda Ellis

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!

Hey, Hi, Hello!

Hey!

I hope your Monday was a good one!

I wanted to post another song I've been working on. I warn you...it's a catchy one!

I love listening to the song, "Soul Sister" by Train. I love how it's upbeat and catchy and how it puts me in a good mood when I hear it. It is definitely one of those songs you energetically sing along with as it plays on the radio.

Every time I heard this song on the radio, I thought to myself, "I want to use this song so the students will get to feel this catchy tune and really feel this song." So, I worked on this over a period of two weeks and decided to use the tune for a song about saying "Hello", and help teach students different times during each day that we say hello.

So, here it is, and I hope you like it.



Lyrics:

Hey, Hi and Hello
are words we use to greet each day. (Repeat)

We say Hey, to our teachers and our friends each day.
We say Hi, to the students that we see in our hallways.
We say Hello to people when we meet them too.

Hey, Hi and Hello
are words we use to greet each day. (Repeat)

Lava is Hot!

Here's a song about Lava.
I put this one together to teach the basics about lava.

Lava is hot, lava comes from volcanoes, lava burns everything in its path, and lava burns things and turns them into ash.

Can you "name that tune" that I used for this one? :)
Hope you are having a great week!



Lyrics:

Lava is Hot, Hot, Hot!
It's made of hot, melted rock.
It flows out of a volcano,
burns anything in it's path.
It turns everything that it burns-
it turns it into ash.

Three types of Rocks

Here's a song about Rocks.

This song could be used to help introduce and learn about the three types of rocks: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic. The definitions of each are simple and easy to grasp for the youngest learners.

When using this song, I pair each description with a visual picture of each type of rock. Real examples of different kinds of rocks are very helpful also! Many students retain information well with real life examples. They can see them, touch them, and compare them.

So, here it is, and stay tuned for a song about Lava later this week!

A Song for Easter!

Easter is just 3 days away and I wanted to share a song I put together for this special day!
Easter has many meanings and representations, but let's face it - Easter is a really fun holiday for kids too! Kids really love decorating Easter eggs, having Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets filled with candy and treats, and friends and family surrounding them.

I found the idea and first few lyrics for this song on a preschool site online. I then tweaked the ending and added the different kinds of candy at the end.

I used this song in three different elementary classroom sessions today (I serve classrooms with children who have severe/profound developmental disabilities). The kids loved it and a lot of them were very involved in choosing what kind of candy they liked.

I designed a power point with a picture of an empty Easter basket on it. After the song is sung the first time, students are asked the question, "What kind of candy do you like?"or "Which type of candy would you put in the basket?" The students then take turns choosing what kinds of candy they like (via picture) and then we drag each picture of each type of candy to go "in" the basket (power point slide is presented on a Promethean board, but could also work on a Smart board).

It's really interesting to observe the students and especially their responses. I observed this song/activity to be very motivating to some students (in terms of participation and communication), due to the fact that the topic was candy. Several students were very intent on their choices and knew exactly which candy they wanted to choose.




Lyrics:

Easter Bunny, Easter Bunny,
Pink and White
Come fill my basket
with candy that I like.

Chocolate and Skittles
Cadbury Eggs,
Sweet tarts and Jellybeans
and Marshmallow Peeps.



So, this song is free and I hope you find it to be a good one to use around the Easter holiday.

I'd love to hear of your experiences and/or comments about the song!

Feel free to contact me at morewithmusic@gmail.com