Sing hellos in different ways. Pat the beat or play on jingle bells.

After a few weeks, you will have shown the students several instruments. I like to do an activity I call the Mystery Box. I put 5-6 instruments in a box so the children can’t see what I’m playing. I play it, and they identify the instrument. It’s a great way to introduce them to the timbre of unpitched instruments, and to help build their vocabulary as they learn the names of all the instruments!

This month we have used: jingle bells, tambourines, hand drums, and triangles

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Practice distinguishing between speaking and singing voices by introducing a toy elephant named Melody. Melody the elephant will do what the children tell her, if they tell her in a “singing voice.” If they speak, she does nothing. Tell Melody to “jump up and down” using a speaking voice. Melody won’t move. Then sing to Melody to “jump up and down” and make your elephant jump. Invite the children to sing to Melody what to do. This activity helps the students to learn the difference between singing and speaking voices. It’s also great to encourage solo singing. You can soon tell who is matching pitch and who you need to work with when they sing to Melody.

Sing (or play) the song for your students and invite them to do the actions with you as you sing. (or show them the kids demo video) Then, invite the children to sing all the echoes in the song and do the actions. The repetitive verses in this song make it easy for the children learn, and they LOVE this song!

Demonstrate how to say the poem and do the finger motions. Then invite the children to do the motions with you. Substitute the children’s names for “Johnny.” Say the poem using a variety of expressions: quiet/loud, slow/fast, high voice/low voice.

Starting with your pinky finger, touch each of your fingers in turn when you say, “Johnny.” When you say, “Whoops!” slide your finger from the tip of your pointer finger to the tip of your thumb. Say, “Johnny” on the thumb, then when you say “Whoops!” slide your finger from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pointer finger. Touch each of your fingers in turn when you say, “Johnny.”

Otters eat many different kinds of seafood. They can dive underwater and catch fish with their sharp and powerful jaws. Otters also eat some land animals. Adult otters need to eat about 20% of their body weight every day.

Ollie Otter loved to eat. He would eat anything that he could catch in the sea or on land near the shore. No one had ever taught Ollie that it was bad manners to chew with his mouth open. When he ate, any animals that were nearby could see what he was eating. It was disgusting to watch him eat. Ollie wondered why no one would join him at the lunch table. He decided to ask Ollie Octopus.

Octopus answered Ollie very slowly. “You see Ollie, no one wants to see what you are eating. You need to learn to eat with your mouth closed.”

“Oh,” said Ollie. “If that’s the only problem, I owe all of you an apology. I will learn to chew with my mouth closed.” So Ollie learned to chew with his mouth closed, and the octopus ate lunch with the otter every day.

Play it again and sing along.

Create movements to go with the song.

If you need ideas for movement, watch the kids demo that follows.

Song starts at 1:15.

If you prefer, have the children practice printing the letter O on a piece of paper and drawing two things that start with O.

Review the chant with hand motions. Say the fingerplay using voices that go up/down, fast/slow, quiet/loud.

Choose an unpitched instrument and create an accompaniment for the chant. For example, play a drum on the words “roll, roll, and up, up, up.” Try out different instruments for “roll” and “up, up, up,” and have the students choose the instrument they like
the best.

Create movements for the song.

Or watch the video that follows for movement ideas.

Copy the movements in the video or create your own! The song starts at 1:22.

Teach the song by rote. Sing and move to the music. Invite the students to think of other ways that the penguins could move. Sing and move to the new verses.

Teach the song by rote. Sing and do the actions to the song.

Print a set of 5 penguins to use as manipulatives while you sing the song (manipulatives are available in the song's printables section). The first time you use them, the teacher should model. Each verse, you’ll take one penguin away and count the ones that are left. You can make class sets of penguins for the students to use. Cut them out and package five penguins in a ziplock bag. Glue the penguins onto different colors of cardstock. When you give out the ziplock bags, give each child a set with a different color background. This will help to keep the ziplock bags organized. The students enjoy singing and counting their own penguins as they sing.