Take Your Feet Out the Sand

Mrs. Gallant's and Miss Randell's classes were lucky enough to have some high school helpers in their music class for the past month.  These students were working on a National Honor Society independent service project and shared a song called "Take Your Feet Out the Sand" with our students.

Students discussed the way it would feel to pull their feet out of sand, mud, snow, jello, and cement.  We moved around the room while we sang the song:

Take your feet out the sand,
Take your feet out the sand,
Take your feet out the sand,
And stick them in the mud.

Take your feet out the mud,
Take your feet out the mud,
Take your feet out the mud,
And stick them in the jello.

Once we were comfortable singing the words, we got to come up with our own endings to the song.  We enjoyed "lava, water, and cake" among many other great ideas.  We also loved being able to sing this song while Mr. Zach played guitar!

Thanks to Natasha and Zach for sharing this fun song!

Did your child sing you this song from their Ask Me book?  Let Mrs. Hiltz know by filling out this form.  Your child will earn a sticker!

Fais Dodo

"Fais Dodo" is a Cajun lullaby.  Students listened to the song in both Cajun and English, but they only practiced singing it in English.

We loved rocking our stuffed animals to sleep while we sang this song.  That helped us to remember to use quiet, gentle voices.

Did your child sing you this song from their Ask Me Sheet?  Let Mrs. Hiltz know by filling out this form.  Your child will earn a sticker!

Old Bald Eagle

Kindergarteners learned a simple circle game called "Old Bald Eagle."  The words to this song are:

Old bald eagle sails around,

Daylight is gone.

Old bald eagle sails around,

Daylight is gone.

Two bald eagles sail around,

Daylight is gone.

Two bald eagles sail around,

Daylight is gone.

Mrs. Hiltz walked around the circle and chose a student to join her. Then "two bald eagles" went around the circle and we would add another student. We tried this in a variety of ways. Sometimes we added two at a time (practiced counting by twos), sometimes 5 students would go around then sit, sometimes we would all join the line!

After hearing this song so many times, students were easily able to sing it by themselves.

Did your child sing you this song from their Ask Me sheet? Let Mrs. Hiltz know by filling out this form. Your child will earn a sticker!

When I Was One

First graders just finished learning an action song called "When I Was One."  This silly song about a pirate really got us moving.  The song goes like this:

When I was one I ate a bun (hold up one finger)

Going over the sea. (make waves with your hand)

I jumped aboard a pirate ship (jump forward one step)

And the pirate said to me: (point to someone else, then yourself)

“Going over, (reach hands up high)

Going under, (reach down low)

Stand at attention, like a soldier, (salute)

With a one, two, three!” (stomp feet three times)

Add more rhymes as you go. Count up to ten!

After we were comfortable with the movements, we added hula hoop "pirate ships." Students jumped aboard a different pirate ship for each verse of the song and raised it up and over their head when the song asked them to.

Hear Ms. Giguere's class sing this song by clicking the link below.

When I Was One

Did your child sing you this song from their Ask Me book? Let Mrs. Hiltz know by filling out this form. Your child will earn a sticker!

One Elephant

1st Graders learned a fun action song called "One Elephant."  This silly song is about an elephant that went out to play on a spider's web.  Not only did this song help us practice singing with expression, but once we got up and moved, we worked on moving to the steady beat.

The song goes like this:
One elephant went out to play
On a spider's web one day.
He had such enormous fun,
He asked another elephant to come.

Two elephants went out to play
On a spider's web one day.
They had such enormous fun,
They asked another elephant to come...

First, students needed to learn the song.  They did this by listening over and over.  To keep it interesting, students made a spider's web with yarn while they listened to Mrs. Hiltz sing.

After we had heard the song many times, we were ready to sing it ourselves.  From our careful listening, we all knew the song.  Hear Miss Carroll's class sing it by clicking the link:

One Elephant


When we could sing the song, then we got to play.  We played a game called "Tails and Trunks" while we sang the song.  Each elephant had a tail (a scarf) and a trunk (their arm held up to their nose).  As an "elephant" walked around our circle, they got to choose another friend to join them.  They would grab their "tail" with their "trunk" to make a chain.  We played until everyone was involved!

We even got to listen to this song in Spanish.  We learned that this is a popular children's folk song in both English and Spanish-speaking countries.  The words in Spanish are:

Un elefante balanceaba
Sobre la tela de una arana,
Como veia que resistia,
Llamo a otro elefante.

Dos elefantes balanceaban
Sobre la tela de una arana,
Como veian que resistia,
Llamaron a otro elefante.

The translation to this version is similar to our English version:
"One elephant balanced on a spider's web.
When he found out it would hold him, he asked another to join him."

Did your child sing you this song from their Ask Me sheet?  Let Mrs. Hiltz know by filling out this form.  Your child will earn a sticker!

Had a Little Rooster

In preschool, we always end class with a songtale.  This is a song that the teacher sings to the class while they sit and quietly listen.  We often have books of these songs to look at while students listen.

Listening to expressive singing helps students learn to add expression to their own singing.  This is also a great way to calm down after what is often a very active music class.

Recently, we listened to the songtale "Had a Little Rooster."  The words are: 

Had a little rooster and my rooster pleased me,

Fed my rooster ‘neath yonder tree.

That little rooster went

“Cock-a-doodle-doo, dee doodle, dee doodle, dee doodle, dee doo.”

Had a little cat and my cat pleased me,

Fed my cat ‘neath yonder tree.

That little cat went, “Meow, meow,”

That little rooster went

“Cock-a-doodle-doo, dee doodle, dee doodle, dee doodle, dee doo.”

Add dog, duck, pig, sheep, cow, horse

After hearing the song a few times, students were able to join in on the animal noises. Because the purpose of these songtales is to just listen, it is likely your child will be unable to sing you the song by themselves. You can download a free mp3 recording of this song by clicking the link below. Just click the three dots on the side of the player and choose download. Then, you can listen to this song with your child as much as you like!

Had a Little Rooster

The Little Mice Go Creeping

Preschoolers learned a fingerplay called "The Little Mice Go Creeping."  See the words below:

The little mice go creeping, creeping, creeping,

The little mice go creeping all through the house.

The great big cat goes stalking, stalking, stalking,

The great big cat goes stalking all through the house.

The little mice go scampering, scampering, scampering,

The little mice go scampering all through the house.

We started by only using our fingers. Our fingers creeped, stalked, and scampered. Then, those sneaky mice climbed all the way to the top of our heads!

After we knew how the different animals moved, we got up and moved like this animals all around the classroom. We practiced creeping, stalking, and scampering as well as stopping when the song stopped.

Hear Mrs. Mueller's class sing this song by clicking the link below.

The Little Mice Go Creeping

Evening with the Arts

Great job to all students who performed at Evening with the Arts.  Check out the videos below to see wonderful performances by our Memorial School Chorus, White Band, and Maroon Band!