Choose body percussion, instruments or found sounds and play along!

Use this song to read rhythms and melody. At this point in the year, the students may be able to read the song instead of teaching it by rote. Read the rhythms first.

To introduce the student to singing in parts, add an ostinato to the song. An ostinato is a pattern that repeats. You can perform an ostinato using body percussion (stamp, pat thighs, clap or snap) or on rhythm instruments, tone bars, or Boomwhackers. Try this ostinato with the song: ti-ti ti-ti ta ta. Try it with body percussion: pat pat pat pat clap clap. If you have tone bars or Boomwhackers, play it on G and D. You could use any unpitched instrument that you have. If you have no instruments in your classroom, it is possible to use found sounds instead - pat on the desk, then on the chair. Have the students create new ostinatos to try with body percussion or instruments.

Form a standing up circle. The teacher walks with an apple around the inside of the circle, tapping a student on the head on each beat. The student tapped on the word “out” is the next person to walk with the apple. If it’s difficult for your students to reach the tops of the heads, have the students hold out their hands and tap hands instead. You can also play this as an elimination game, where the student that is “out” sits down. Elimination games sometimes lead to someone having hurt feelings. Instead of eliminating, the student that is “out” could go to a barred instrument and play an F-C bordun. If you don't have Orff instruments, you could have a selection of unpitched rhythm instruments to play.

Form a standing up circle. The teacher walks with an apple around the inside of the circle, tapping a student on the head on each beat. The student tapped on the word “out” is the next person to walk with the apple. If it’s difficult for your students to reach the tops of the heads, have the students hold out their hands and tap hands instead. You can also play this as an elimination game, where the student that is “out” sits down. Elimination games sometimes lead to someone having hurt feelings. Instead of eliminating, the student that is “out” could go to a barred instrument and play an F-C bordun. If you don't have Orff instruments, you could have a selection of unpitched rhythm instruments to play.

This song is included to reinforce the concepts high/low and fast/slow. Teach the chorus of the song by rote. The song has a lot of words and moves quickly, so you may want to just sing the chorus and play along with an instrument to the verses. If the students really like the song, they can learn the words in spite of the difficulty.

Create movements for this song. You might create a circle dance or a line dance to the music.

Echo sing patterns using do mi so and la

Teach "Old Dog" by rote or by reading the song. If your students are able to read the rhythms have them read the rhythms of the song. If students can read the solfa notes have them sing the song using Solfa notes and hand signs.

If the students are not ready to read the song than teacher by rote instead.

“Old Dog, Full of Fleas” is a reading song. Have the students read the rhythms, lyrics, and if they have been learning solfa, read the melody from the projectable slides. If you don’t teach solfa, have them show the high and low notes with arm motions. Sing the song and play the game.

Denise Tips: I’ve named my “flea” Florence. When I pull Florence out of my pocket she tells me all kinds of things. Florence “whispers” in my ear and tells me things like, “Your Grade 1s are really singing well today!” or, “Someone in this class sang the song really well in tune!” My students really sit up and listen when I tell them what Florence said.

Form a single circle. One to three students hide their eyes in the middle. While you sing the song, pass a “flea” around the circle. Another way is to have a beat keeper go around the outside of the circle with the flea. This has been a better way for keeping the beat than passing it from student to student. You can go to the dollar store and buy a package of the ugliest bugs you can find to be the “flea.” At the end of the song, all students hide their hands behind their backs and the students in the middle guess who has it.

Sing the whole song "Old Dog, Full of Fleas."

Playing and Creating: Give the students packages of plastic bugs or pictures of different kinds of bugs or creepy crawlies and have them make word patterns. Use 4-8 bugs. Play the rhythm of the word chain on pitched or nonpitched instruments as an introduction or B section.

Use the interactive melody composition tool to create a new 16 beat melody using d m sl.

If you like, try singing the words for "Old Dog" to your new melody.

Watch the intro video to "Wild Donkeys."

Can you tell if the music is fast or slow?

Can you show with your hands how the melody goes up and down?

Can you tell if the music is fast or slow?

Can you show with your hands how the melody goes up and down?