Teach the song “Bubble Gum”

Reinforce Beat: Give the students a pointing page and have them tap the beats as they sing. In addition to reinforcing steady beat, you are teaching the students to track from left to right. Pointing pages are a form of iconic notation. If you use the Rhythm/Melodic Contour pointing page, the students will experience that the rhythm is the way the words go.

High-Low: The students have learned many songs in Kindergarten that use the tones so and mi. Even if you are not teaching your students to read music using solfege, the songs that use only a few notes are great for making students aware of melodic contour - how the notes go up and down. Have the students show with arm motions how the notes go. Use bubble gum shaped magnets or circle magnets on a magnetic white board to show how the notes go up and down. Point to the shapes as you sing. If you are teaching solfege, you will do this as preparation for naming the high and low notes so and mi.

Sing along with “Bubble Gum”

Listen one more time and show how the sounds move high and low with your hands.

Game directions: Buy a package of bubble gum. Explain to the students that everyone will get a treat at the end of the game - those that guess correctly might get two. Count out between one and ten bubble gum and put them in a container. Sing the song. At the end of the song each student guesses a number between one and ten. If correct, they get a bubble gum. If not, go on to the next student. Each time a student guesses correctly, you change the number of bubble gum in the container and sing the song again. This is an opportunity to practice counting. Each time there is a correct guess, the student who guessed (or the whole class) should count the gum in the container to make sure that the guess is correct.

Optional: Use the interactive activity instead.

Song Used: Bubble Gum

Beat and Rhythm Interactive Activities

Try the following interactive activities with this song:
1. Point to the Beat - Play the song in the top left corner and point to the beat while you sing.

2. Beat Chart - Click the hearts to turn off some of the beats. Sing words on those beats in your head.

3. Clap the words - sing the song and clap the words

4. How many sounds are on each beat?
Students can do this activity on devices if they are ready.
- or -
You may want students to do this activity phrase by phrase with manipulatives like hearts and craft sticks.

If you did the interactive for 1 sound or 2 sounds on a beat, you could try creating the patterns for the Bubble Gum song with manipulatives.
You could print these manipulatives or make up rhythm bags with 8 foam hearts and 12 craft sticks.

Give each student the manipulatives. Figure out the rhythm of the song, phrase by phrase.
Clap and sing/say the first 4 beats (Bubble gum, bubble gum).
Then figure out if the beat had 1 or 2 sounds and show the pattern.
Bubble = 2 sounds. Gum = 1 sound
Continue clapping patterns from the song and have students create them with the manipulatives.

Discuss the high and low notes in the song "Bubble Gum"

If students are able to show accurately how the notes go higher and lower, they may be ready for you to label so and mi.
If they are ready, continue to the next activity.

Listen to song "Kids are Cool" and think of ways to keep a beat with the song:
- tap your knees
- tap your head
- twist
- march
How many ways can you think of to keep a beat?

In this video Miss Danece shows some fun movements to do with the song. Try the movements!

Simplify as needed.

Listen to the song.

Play the video again and sing along.

Play the game: Line the students up on one side of the room. They are the little “bunnies.” On every second beat, they take one small hop closer to you, the “farmer.” At the end of the song, the farmer “shoos” the bunnies out of the garden.

Listen to the story.

Sing along each time the song is sung.