This song provides the opportunity to teach or reinforce the 3/4 time signature. The game is unique and a lot of fun for students to play. Introduce the song by having a discussion on what an “old maid” was. This is a derogatory term used years ago to describe an unmarried woman. It really wasn’t nice to call someone an “old maid”. The term has fallen out of use in recent times as many women and men make the choice to remain single. The card game “Old Maid” is similar to the singing game in some ways.

The students form a single circle with pairs of students standing together, preferably with elbows linked. There needs to be space in between each pair. One student without a partner, or the teacher, is needed to begin the game. The student without a partner steals someone else’s partner. The person whose partner was stolen then goes to another pair and steals a partner. This continues until the song concludes with “old maid”. The student without a partner at that time has “lost” the game and is the “old maid”. To speed the game up, call out “old maid” at the number thirty instead of the number ninety.

Listen to the story.

Read the slide to learn more about the song.

The song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” was sung by enslaved peoples who worked on the Underground Railroad. Have your students listen to the song and try to identify what the possible hidden messages are in the song.

Have each student illustrate one page of the lyrics. Copy the lyrics from the supporting resources and give each student one page. If you have more than 12 students, make several copies of the book.

This song is an American spiritual. Traditionally in New Orleans, the song is used as a funeral march. When accompanying the coffin to the cemetery, the band would play it slowly in a blues style. On the way back from the cemetery, the band would change to the quick. When Louis Armstrong recorded the song in 1938, it was the first spiritual ever recorded in a jazz style and made the song a trademark of early, traditional jazz. Teach the song by rote and enjoy singing it, or sing and accompany the song with body percussion.

Creative Ideas: Invite students to improvise melodies in G pentatonic between the verses.