“Pease Porridge Hot” is a simple clapping game. This is a good song to use for reviewing the difference between beat and rhythm, or for showing melodic contour. Teach by rote and play the game.

cl: clap your own hands together
R: clap your right hand together with your partner’s right hand
L: clap your left hand together with your partner’s left hand

When the students are proficient at maintaining the clapping pattern, you can add the following actions to the rests: after “hot” blow on your hands; after “cold” hold arms and shiver; after “old” add YUCK with any appropriate action.

Creative Ideas: Set up the instruments in F pentatonic and have the students improvise or create new melodies for the words. Use this as a B section between repetitions of the song.

Teach the song by rote. This is a simple two part round. Try singing this as a round. Invite the students to create movement and try it as a movement round. If singing in unison, create an accompaniment with an F-C bordun.

Teach the song by rote. If your students have student books, they can track the words of the song as they listen to the recording. If you don’t have student books, play a verse of the song and then ask the students questions about the verse to see how well they remember what they’ve heard. This song is fun to perform in a holiday concert. Create actions to go with the song.

Review the song activities for a written list of movement suggestions.

This song gives children an opportunity to create sound effects and play rhythm instruments in a song. Teach the song by rote.

Playing and Creating: Choose three unpitched instruments and add sound effects to the songs. Give jingle bells to eight students and ask them to sit in a row with their instruments on the floor in front of them. Say this: “If you play before I say, I’ll take your instrument away.” Give eight students hand drums and have them sit in a row behind the first eight students. Give eight students rhythm sticks and ask them to make a third row. After performing the song with instruments, have the students leave their instruments on the floor and change rows so that they have the opportunity to play more than one instrument. Having the students sit in rows with students playing the same instrument is kind of like playing in a band or orchestra when instrumentalists sit together in sections. It also helps to manage the class when they are using instruments.

Sort the Instruments into families:

woods
metals
shakes/scrapes
drums

Hint: Some instruments can be in two families.

Listen to the song “Just One Candle”. Ask the students questions about the song. Teach the song by rote.

Watch the story of "The Nutcracker" ballet.

Play your instruments with the "Overture" from "The Nutcracker".

Sing "The Music Time Is Over".