Curriculum Tips

Stories and Songs for Christmas

2011-11-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

I have a great collection of picture books with the Christmas theme. Since Christmas is part of the fabric of our country and of our heritage, we have a responsibility and the right to celebrate Christmas through its stories and songs.

"Pippin the Christmas Pig" by Jean Little is a new twist on the Christmas story. It is a beautiful story that appeals to young and old alike.

The perfect song to teach the class along with this story is "The Friendly Beasts". You can find a lovely version of this song, sung by children, on Youtube.

Find three other songs: Spanish Carol, Ring, Ring the Bells, and Les Cloches Sonnent under the label, "Teaching Music".

Remembrance Day

2011-10-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

I always felt it was important to recognize Remembrance Day in my grade one classroom, even though it was not a part of the curriculum. I am glad that recently there has been a greater effort to observe Remembrance Day. Teachers need to remember that they are responsible to model good citizenship for their students.

Observing Remembrance day with grade one students is a sensitive issue. I wanted to emphasize the idea of remembering the contributions of many people over the years, and the responsibility of each individual to work for peace. For grade one students, they could do this in their school and community.

In 2004, Heather Robertson published "A Poppy is to Remember". (It was even printed in Canada!) It is a beautiful picture book for primary grades, and it includes the poem, "In Flanders Fields" by Dr. John McCrae, as well as the story of the poppy and Remembrance Day in Canada. I read it to my class every year as an introduction to Remembrance Day.

I designed a worksheet for the students to colour and write what I felt were the important concepts they were to remember. This sheet was included in their poetry duotang after completion.

Click to enlarge and print.

The Dingle Dangle Scarecrow

2011-09-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourite fall poems. The words create very vivid images and the rhythm is very appealing to young children. I have two scarecrows that I use as a focal point while we recite the poem. We spend a month approximately with this poem and I always begin it on the first day of fall.

Poetry is an effective tool for learning to read. Shorter poems of four to eight lines can be learned in a week, and the students put the sheet in their duo-tang on Friday. They point to the words as they recite the poem and learn to move their finger under each word as they "read" the words.

Click to enlarge and print.

Nature Deprivation

2011-09-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

I have heard that young people are suffering from "nature deprivation". I saw this very clearly recently when I was watching a tournament for high school students on Jeopardy. The young "whiz kid" was shown a picture of two acorns attached to a branch with a leaf visible. The correct answer was "oaks" from the proverb about the acorn and the mighty oak. The girl said "pines". I concluded that she did not recognize oaks or pines.

This anecdote definitely indicates a trend. Young people are being separated from nature because of lifestyle. When was the last time you saw a child lying in the grass looking at the clouds?

Most people think chickens lay eggs. What is a hen? What does a rooster do? (Besides crow, that is?) And how many people younger than 50 have heard a rooster crow for that matter?

How many young people have seen vegetables growing in a garden?

Something to think about!

I would like to suggest a wonderful book for parents to buy for their children:
In My Backyard by Margreit Ruurs, illustrated by Ron Broda, a Canadian who does paper sculpture art.

September in Grade One

2011-09-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Another year at school has begun and most of the students in grade one are very excited to be back at school.

The most important thing to teach in grade one is routine, routine, routine! Remember that two months ago, these students were in kindergarten.

In fact, introducing students to the grade one curriculum needs to be secondary to routine. Do not panic and think that you will not cover the curriculum if you don't start immediately! Students who understand the classroom routines will feel secure and learn more efficiently.

I usually leave social studies and science until the third week of September. I spend the first two weeks concentrating on reading stories, learning rhymes, simple numeration, and most important of all, beginning a writing program.

The students have a journal of course, but I like to begin right away teaching them to organize a notebook and to copy a sentence from chart paper. The first page has two sentences:

My name is______.

I am a girl. (or boy)

The notebook has the same format as their journal, and they are expected to illustrate what they have written.

This notebook is a very important part of the students' writing program because they learn to organize, copy, and they are using words that are part of their experience.

Earth and space strand integrates with math

2011-03-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

I discovered that I loved science when I started teaching science to grade one! I really liked using the earth and space strand for teaching graphing in math. The first time in the year that I used this technique was the month of November. We kept track of the weather every day, and made sure to record the weekend weather every Monday. I chose November because there is always a wide variation in the weather. I used adjectives: sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy. I chose these four because they were fairly objective, and we always checked off the weather after first recess.

At the end of the month, I photocopied the 8x11 sheet with the class record of weather for each student. Each student had a graph with 4 columns and 30 rows, with the labels at the bottom. They were already familiar with making bar graphs because we had previously spent time graphing objects in the classroom as a class activity, and smarties after Halloween.

At this point in the year, I did not have them answer written questions about their findings, but I expected them to make oral comparisons.

During the month of March, we tracked windy and calm days. I sent home a sheet for them to keep track over the March break which they were to return to school afterwards. (This sheet was decorated with clip art for St. Patrick's Day which they had coloured in class on the last day before the holiday.) At the end of the month, each student used his own sheet along with a photocopy of our class record to complete a bar graph and answer written questions about the information.

The month of April was another good month for tracking weather because of the variable weather April usually brings! When they completed their bar graph at the end of the month, I expected them to record their findings independently. I usually did a survey about whether there would be snow in April as well, and made a record on chart paper - a variation of probability!

Another fabulous story for tangram shapes

2011-02-28T13:19:00.000-08:00

I read this story to the class after we had read Grandfather Tang's Story. This story went well with the strand for structures in the science curriculum. The class was already familiar with the Three Little Pigs; in fact,I always included this story as one of the picture books for integrating language and science.

This is the story of three other little pigs who meet a wolf. Each pig is given seven magic shapes by an animal. Two pigs choose unwisely and are eaten by the wolf. The last pig (a girl!) makes a better choice.There are eight different shapes in the story.

Every class loved this story. Afterwards, each student used his own set of plastic tangram shapes to reproduce the shapes in the story. Then each student reproduced one shape with construction paper, and then told the story of the shape he chose.

The Key to Your Primary Music Program: List of songs with lesson plans

2011-02-14T16:47:00.000-08:00

I want to post the list of songs that we published in our Primary book so that you can see the variety of songs in the book. I must stress that you should not be fooled by the apparent simplicity of the songs. They are all from the public domain, and have stood the test of time. These songs were selected because they are suitable for use when teaching the skills that are required in the curriculum. As your students become more skilled in singing on key, you can choose other songs for themes and seasons.

I have written about our two music books in more detail in previous posts. You can also check out our website.

Click on the image to enlarge and print.

The Key to your Junior Music Program: List of songs with lesson plans

2011-02-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

I have referred to this book in a previous post. The songs are all public domain, and they have stood the test of time. These are songs that my sister (my co-author) taught her grade 4, 5 and 6 classes over her many years as a music teacher in Ontario. Check the list and consider buying our book from our website.

Click on image to enlarge and print.

Alexander Mackenzie: the first European to reach the Pacific by land.

2011-02-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

As part of my February Heritage studies for grade one, I would read the story,"A Dog Came,Too" by Ainslie Manson. It is illustrated in beautiful detailed watercolours by Ann Blades.

This is the true story of a dog that accompanied him and his guides and voyageurs on their trek overland to the Pacific Ocean.

When I taught this story, I would have the class imagine a trip without maps, and no roads. Because all children love animals, they loved this story. I must warn you that it is difficult to read to the class even though it has a happy ending!

Grandfather Tang's Story (told with tangrams)

2011-02-03T13:48:00.000-08:00

I described tangrams in my February 9, 2009 post.Tangrams are ancient Chinese puzzles which are comprised of seven pieces, or "tans".

This story is about two fox fairies. In Chinese folklore, they are believed to have supernatural powers of transformation.

Before I read this story to the class, I enlarged the tangrams and made the shapes from construction paper. I then glued each shape onto cartridge paper and laminated the sheets. As I read the story,I held up the new animal shape for the students to guess the next transformation. They really enjoyed the challengeand the story!

The class then worked with a set of tangrams to duplicate the shapes.

I found that integrating stories with math concepts was rewarding for both my class and myself.

Fox and Geese: a tag game in the snow

2011-01-30T10:57:00.000-08:00

It is time to add to my blog - after a year-long absence!

I want to explain a game that we played in the wintertime at our one-room country school. I played this game with my siblings as well in a snowy field on the farm. We called it "Fox and Goose", but it is technically "Fox and Geese".

I taught the game to my grade one students, and I explained it as a tag game in the snow. The first time we played, they had a hard time understanding that they had to stay in the pathways. Have the students follow you as you tramp out a large circle in the snow. Make several paths into the centre of the circle like the spokes of a wheel. The centre spot is "safe". They will probably catch on that the fox is "it"!

The difficulty of playing this on a school ground with hundreds of students is that you need new snow, with no tracks! On the morning after a big snowfall, I would take the students outside about twenty minutes before morning recess. We could make the track and then play before the recess bell brought everyone else outside! My class loved the excitement of designing the course and then playing the game!

I encouraged the children to teach the game to their parents and siblings and play at home.

When I played with my siblings, we "upgraded" from the simple circle to more convoluted pathways. Half the fun was designing the course!

Grade One Social Studies in February

2010-01-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

I would like to suggest some ideas for grade one social studies for the month of February.

As a French teacher, I used this month as the opportunity to link French and history by having my classes learn about the Voyageurs and the Fur Trade. This inevitably led to studying the habits of our famous symbol, the beaver as well as the bison. As a grade one teacher, I included these studies as part of the social studies curriculum. The class learned about Canadian animals in the life systems strand of science: beaver, caribou, elk, deer, moose, and bison.

Once again, I had some favourite picture books:

Little Caribou by Sarah Fox-Davies
Little Beaver and the Echo by Amy MacDonald
A Dog Came, Too by Ainslie Manson
Boris the Beaver by Marcus Pfister

Picture books for January

2010-01-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

The month of January is the obvious time to teach more of the earth and space and living things strands of the Science curriculum. The excitement of Christmas is forgotten and the students are returning to your classroom feeling refreshed and eager to learn new things. The new winter season can be the basis of your science unit.
I always approached the new seasonal studies based on:
the weather:- how it affects the behaviour of animals;
- our activities and clothing (this approach allows the students to
relate their learning to their own experiences)

I have a list of favourite read-alouds for January to arouse the interest of the class. These books as a perfect way to integrate the language program to social studies, science, math, art and music. There are also many information books written at the primary level of comprehension as well. Many of the best books of this type draw on the experiences of primary students.

"The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats is a great picture book to start the unit. It was written in 1962 and remains a perennial favourite.

The list of other books that I used follows:
Footprints in the Snow
Millions of Snowflakes
Amy Loves the Snow
Sadie and the Snow
A Winter Day
Penguin Pete
Animals in Winter
I am Snow

There are many other great books which I will list in a later post.
When Winter Comes (by Robert Maass)

Another song for your class for Christmas

2009-12-09T15:57:00.001-08:00

Another great song that is a favourite of mine is "Over The River and Through the Wood". It is actually an American Thanksgiving song. It is copyrighted so I can't publish it for you. I have shown copies of two books that have wonderful pictures, as well as the lyrics and the music. The lyrics evoke the kind of "olden days" magic. The first verse has the same images as Jingle Bells, and since there is no mention of Thanksgiving, the class can learn it as a Christmas song. The melody is catchy and bright.

Another Christmas song: Ring the Bells

2009-12-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

This song is another simple round to teach your class. It is set in the key of D and begins on do. Use your pitch pipe to help the class find the starting note. Once the students have learned the song well, divide the class in half and have them sing it as a round. The results are very effective! You and your students will be amazed!

If you would like more music for your class, check out my website www.musicbooksforschoolteachers.com and purchase a book online.

Cick to enlarge and print.

A French song for your class for Christmas

2009-12-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

Since I had taught French Immersion and Core French before I began teaching in the primary grades, I had a small repertoire of French Christmas songs.

I taught the following song to my grade ones and they performed it for their parents. You will recognize the tune of Frere Jacques. Use your pitch pipe to start the children on key. It begins on do.

When the class has learned the song perfectly, divide the class in half and have them sing it as a round. It sounds beautiful, and my students were thrilled to be singing in French. At the completion of the song, the glockenspiel can be used for the last line as an extra touch!

Click to enlarge and print.

A Christmas Song for Primary Classes

2009-12-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

It may be late to teach this song to your class this year, but it is fairly simple and your class will learn it easily. This song works well for a simple presentation at a Christmas concert. One of your students could play the last two lines on a glockenspiel after the class has sung the song.

Click on the image to enlarge and print.

Taxes on Pet food

2009-05-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

I think we have a distinct contradiction in the fact that food for pets is taxed.

The Ontario Government finally updated their laws on cruelty to animals. This new law has some teeth, and hopefully, people who mistreat animals will pay a heavy price.

But if the government really believes in this new law, how can they tax food for pets? I know that the standard argument holds that pets are a luxury, and therefore, their food should be taxed.

But every one of the five cats I have owned has been a rescued cat. I saved their lives and they needed food. All pets are living creatures who need food to stay alive.

So how can the government tax pet food?

Another Song for Music Class: Michael Finnegan

2009-04-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

"Michael Finnegan", a traditional Irish song, is a neat song to teach your grade one class. We didn't have room for the following version in our primary book, "The Key to Your Primary Music Program", although a different version is included in our second book, "The Key to Your Junior Music Program".

Children love this song for a variety of reasons. First, the lyrics appeal to the grade one sense of humour! The melody and rhythm patterns are very pleasing and children learn the song easily.

This song is perfect for practising echo clapping and learning to write and clap blank rhythms.

I also transposed the song into the key of C so that the class could play it on the glockenspiel. They loved that activity!

The students will love returning to this song in grades two and three after learning it in grade one.

Click the image to enlarge and print.

Did you say "out of"?

2009-03-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

I guess it is time for me to concede my battle against "out of" to the all-powerful "usage" rule.

In his column of March 21 in the Toronto Star, James Travers wrote, "... decision to pay executive bonuses out of a bailout."

The word "from" should replace "out of".

I heard the same term on the news tonight: "The last workers walked out of the building today." A better form would be: "The last workers left the building today."

"Out of" can always be replaced with a better choice of words. Unfortunately, "out of" has become acceptable everywhere. I have just finished reading a very good novel, and the author used "out of" many times.

It is especially discouraging to find myself making this terrible grammar mistake as well! Usage has won the battle!

Did you say "had not took?"

2009-03-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

I must say that I am completely discouraged about the future of the English language. It is gradually and relentlessly being destroyed by people who should know better. The basic problem is that these people are totally unaware of how little they know about the structure of our language.

The problem to which I refer in the title is based on inadequate understanding of verbs in the English language. The past tense of a regular verb is formed by adding "ed" to the base. For example, the verb, "to walk" (this is the infinitive form):"walked" is the form used for the past tense.

However, many of our frequently used verbs are irregular in form. For example, "to take". The simple past tense is "took", and you say, "I took". But if you want to use the pluperfect past tense, you must use the past participle "taken" with an auxiliary verb: "I had taken".

I was disgusted this morning to read an article on the MSN Sympatico home page written by Jeffrey Baynes (MSN shopping editor)in which he said, "...and wonder why I had not took the plunge yet"!

That affects me like fingernails on a blackboard!

Refer to my previous post from March 2, 2009.

Pension Benefits

2009-03-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

It has been an enlightening experience to learn about the perks that auto workers take for granted. The news conference with details of the proposed contract with GM on March 8, 2009 provided me with information that I never had before.

The "copay" idea for health benefits, for example! As a retired teacher who stayed home to raise her children, I have a small pension based on nineteen years of teaching (the first three were part-time). I am presently paying 10% of my gross annual pension for drug and extended health care coverage. The premium I pay does NOT include dental coverage. I didn't think I could afford the extra $100 a month for dental coverage that in reality provides only 50% coverage.

But as I listened to the news conference, I learned that the pensioned auto workers had total health care benefits provided completely by their former employer. I also understand that the workers also have a complete and free package of health benefits! I don't know whether this amazing coverage is based on a group plan with an insurer, or whether it is completely financed by GM.

The head of CAW apologized to the pensioners, saying that they have the best record for looking after their pensioners! How true! I would love to only pay $15 a month for a complete benefits package!

Did you say "between you and I"?

2009-03-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

Too many people in high places are ruining the English language. This is the outcome of grammar no longer being taught as a subject in our schools.

When I was taking my teacher training at the Ontario College of Education in Toronto in 1966, we were given a publication from the Ministry of Education which stated that grammar would no longer be taught as a subject.

The outcome of this poor idea is audible everywhere. Many principals, teachers and reporters lack an understanding of the basic grammatical function of certain parts of our language.

For example: "Between you and I" is incorrect. An easy way to test this is to change to the plural form: Would you say "Between we"? No, you would say, "Between us". Therefore, the correct form is "Between you and me".

Why is one form correct, and not the other? Why do most people have no problem with one, but can't solve the problem when "I" is in the mix?

Have you heard "for you and I"? This is not correct! Would you say "for I"? NO! You would say "for me". When "you" is added, the correct form is still "for you and me".

There are two forms of pronouns: the subjective and the objective form. The subjective form is the subject in the sentence (the subject of the verb).
I,he, she, we, and they are subjective pronouns.

Me, her, him, us and them are objective pronouns. That means that after a preposition such as between, for, from, etc., you do not use "I"; rather, you must use "me".

What Did You Say?

2009-02-26T07:10:00.000-08:00

I consider Peter Mansbridge of CBC News to be the "Voice of Canada".

I was therefore appalled and devastated to hear him use the word "quicker" when he introduced The National at 10 PM (EST) on February 25, 2009.

This word does not exist in the English language! The word, quick, is an adjective, and modifies a noun. To use this word as an adverb, the suffix "ly" must be added. Peter should then have said "more quickly" to express his meaning.

The word, fast, is both an adjective and an adverb, and can have the suffix "er" added. But in this instance, using "more quickly" better suits "The National".

I wonder if Lloyd Robertson would have made the same mistake?

Adult in Charge

2009-02-21T05:27:00.000-08:00

Our North American society made a big step forward when physical punishment was recognized as the totally wrong approach for teaching children how to behave.

In fact, the clue to our changing ideas is present in the previous statement. We finally realized that the goal we all have is to "teach" our children. Physical punishment did teach children something: "might is right". Every child who was hurt by his parent decided that one day, when he was big enough, he would have control.

So parents today are generally in uncharted territory. Remember that "discipline" has the Latin root meaning to teach or to train.

The first thing to remember is that every child wants to feel safe. As a parent of a toddler or preschooler, you need to feel confident that you do know best in the situation. This confidence is conveyed by making your expectations clear, and by not giving in to tantrums, etc. It may surprise you, but your child wants to feel that you know best. Then he feels safe and protected.

Exhibit self-discipline: expect from yourself what you expect from your child. Remember that you are "the adult in charge".

What is a tangram?

2009-02-09T18:23:00.001-08:00

A tangram consists of seven geometric shapes that can be fitted together to make a square.

In my post on February 7, I mentioned two books that I used in my classroom to teach tangrams. Tangrams can be re-arranged into various shapes and are a valuable teaching tool for geometry. The students enjoy the challenge of re-arranging the tangram shapes into different shapes.

It is possible to buy plastic tangram sets for your class. Have your class sit in a circle and practise with the individual sets to copy the shapes from the stories. The biggest challenge is to re-form the square!

Click in the on the image to enlarge and print.

The Three Little Pigs

2009-02-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

I have already mentioned in a previous post that reading nursery rhymes and fairy tales to your young child is important. Check my post from January 23, 2009.

Nursery rhymes and fairy tales provide a good base for learning when using the system of going from what you already know to learning something new. This raises the comfort level of the class and increases interest.

One of the five strands of the Ontario science curriculum is Matter and Materials. I used the story of the Three Little Pigs as part of my integration with language for this unit in my grade one class.

Another strand is Structures, and the natural progression for teaching this strand is to begin it after completing Matter and Materials. The Three Little Pigs can be used again as part of "Homes" theme for structures. (Find a book with a different author and illustrator,and read the story again - the class will love it!)

I integrated this science strand with geometry in Math as well. I did this by following up with teaching tangrams. The class loved this activity because I had two books I always read to them: "Grandfather Tang's Story" (A Tale told with Tangrams) by Ann Tompert, and "Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes" by Gail Maccarone.

The story of The Three Little Pigs is not complete until you have also read "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! by A. Wolf" by Jon Scieszka. Your class will love this story!

Super Bowl 2009

2009-02-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

Kudos to the marketers of the Super Bowl! They have proved the power of marketing and we now have another annual commercial event! The Super Bowl may have accomplished more for the Canadian economy than Harper's stimulus package!

People who know nothing of football and care less were convinced that they needed to have a Super Bowl party and spend money on chicken wings and beer.

Maybe the Conservatives should instigate an all night "Watch for Spring" party on March 21st! Leak the proposal and the media will run with it and Voila!- another major marketing scheme may rescue our economy!

Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow

2009-02-01T09:59:00.001-08:00

Even though we are still buried under snowbanks,it is time to begin planning for songs with a spring theme.

It's even better if the song you choose to teach can double as a dance! If you need to comment on "Dance" for the spring report cards, teach this song!

Once again, you must teach the song until the students know it really well, because they have to sing the lyrics as they do the motions!

If the Lesson Plan uses terms with which you are unfamiliar, you may want to consider buying our primary book, The Key to Your Primary Music Program.

Click each image to enlarge and print.

Celebrating National Flag of Canada Day

2009-01-30T05:58:00.000-08:00

February is a great month in which to celebrate our great Canadian heritage. National Flag Day falls on February 15, and it commemorates the day in 1965 when our country finally chose a flag that we could fly proudly.

When I was teaching in an elementary school, I took this opportunity to increase the "heritage quotient" of the students (and of the teachers). I chose a different theme every year and prepared ten "info bits" that I read at the morning announcements leading up to February 15. I placed items and information in the display case in the front foyer.

A good place to begin your research is at the Heritage website that provides official information on our Canadian symbols as well as many links to other information about our country.

O Canada

2009-01-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

I am appalled that an elementary school principal in New Brunswick has decided to no longer begin the school day with our national anthem.

It is also appalling to think that the Ministry of Education in New Brunswick would give that discretionary power to individual school principals.

Children learn from example. They need to see that the principal and the teachers of their school respect our country. They need to feel that Canada is the best place in the world to live. (Because it is.)

A principal who decides that he will cancel O Canada to please a minority is giving his students the wrong message. Will he choose to stop flying our flag because "some people don't like the flag"?

Another Song for Music Class

2009-01-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

Nursery rhymes hopefully form a big part of your students' repertoire by the time they reach grade one. If not, you can correct the situation by teaching nursery rhymes set to music.

The music for "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat" is wonderful! The melody line is great for teaching the students to sing the ascending and descending scale.

If you own our primary book, The Key to Your Primary Music Program, you can find how to sing up to the starting note. This song does not begin on do, rather it begins on so. (If this explanation means nothing to you, you need to buy our book! I didn't know what "starting on do meant, either, and that was one of the reasons for writing our primary book.)

Once your students have learned this melody, teach them the following poem and have them sing it to the tune for "Pussy Cat".

Snowflakes are filling, are filling the air,
Look at the footprints I see over there.
Is it a rabbit, or is it a bear?
Come let us follow it back to its lair!

I taught my students to play some of the songs they learned on the glockenspiel. They loved playing this song. I transposed it to the Key of C so that it would work on the glockenspiel in our classroom.

You don't need to be a musician to do this(but you do need to be able to count!): just count down 4 from every note. The starting note would then be G and so on.

For the students to play the notes on the glockenspiel, I printed the words on a card with the corresponding note names above.

Click on the image to enlarge and print.

Reading Aloud to your Baby and Preschooler

2009-01-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

We have an overabundance of available reading material for babies and preschoolers. We are bombarded with the importance of reading to our children right from the beginning, and this is definitely true. However, many of the books on offer lack the criteria that would give them lasting value.

Books that are meant to be read aloud need to contain a cerain kind of language: the words need to flow, the story needs to be simple, and the illustrations must be appealing to the young child.

Surprise, surprise! Our culture has two great resources that tend to be forgotten in our tendency to look for something new and better: nursery rhymes and fairy tales!

Since many parents know some of these rhymes and stories, storytime can happen in the car or the kitchen, while your hands are busy.

The nursery rhymes have a rhythm and flow that appeals to the very young. If they hear them often, they can begin to fill in words that the parent omits. I would recommend that every new parent read the book by Mem Fox:"Reading Magic". She makes the case for nusery rhymes very effectively. Children who learn nursery rhymes can eventually "read" their collection of nursery rhymes.

The fairy tales must not be ignored either! You can tell these stories to your child even without a book, and change them and embellish them if the need arises!

Don't be concerned about political correctness and gender inclusiveness! These rhymes and stories are part of our oral heritage and parents need to keep them alive! They were the basis for learning to read for many generations: they have proved their worth!

Air and Simple Gifts

2009-01-20T19:08:00.000-08:00

I was watching President Obama's inauguration today and I was thrilled to discover that the four-piece ensemble was going to play an arrangement composed especially for the occasion called, "Air and Simple Gifts".

The song, "Simple Gifts" is a beautiful Shaker melody which we included in our book, The Key to Your Primary Music Program.

The melody and the lyrics are beautiful, and although it appears to be a difficult song to teach, my grade one classes seemed to love it instinctively and learned it quickly. This proves to me that a love of good music is inherent in all children.

The following is the sheet my grade one students completed and placed in their poetry duotang after they learned the song. The music with the lyrics and the lesson plan can be found on page 60 in our primary book.

Click on the image to enlarge and print the lyrics.

A great math game for number facts

2009-01-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

I have discovered a great game for consolidating the number facts to twelve. This game can be used at home or in the grade one classroom. It would be fun for buddy classes to do together.

It is a simple game called "Shut the Box" (see picture below). Since the game moves quickly,the players remain involved and interested. At the beginning, students would need bingo chips or bottle caps for concrete support. Students in an older buddy class would benefit as well, because we all know that teaching is a good way to learn! It isn't necessary to own the actual game: write the numbers from 1 to 9 on a sheet of paper and strike them out as they come up on the dice. Individual chalkboards or whiteboards could also be used for the game.

I am including a simplified explanation of the game and its rules. Click on the image to enlarge and print.

Using Concrete Objects to Teach Math

2009-01-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

This does not translate into using fingers for counting and addition!

As a grade one teacher, I spent a lot of time teaching my students to forget this habit. It was a difficult enterprise, and not always successful.

Do your child and yourself a favour, and use anything but fingers! There are lots of little items that please a child: plastic bottle caps, buttons, small lego blocks, pennies, etc. Your child can move these items around on the table, and the count isn't limited to ten items only!

I used bottle caps in my classroom to teach addition and subtraction. In my classroom, I used dominoes and dice frequently as well, and was absolutely amazed to see children using their fingers to add instead of counting the obvious markers: the dots!

The use of concrete items worked perfectly for teaching equations (for the number facts to 12). For example, the students had ten bottle caps and were instructed to write all the possible addition equations for the ten items. Of course, this was a final task after practising on the carpet with the class. We usually experimented with five caps each, and worked our way up to ten.

When the class had learned to build addition equations, they learned to move the bottle caps around to build subtraction equations.

They were essentially doing algebra! They could see patterns develop as they moved the caps around and recorded their discoveries. The ability to see patterns in numbers is a basic skill for learning math.

I encourage parents to discourage the use of fingers for math activities. Your preschooler will very quickly start to follow the first method that you choose to use.

Storage Solutions

2009-01-12T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season of hyper buying and selling is over. The next thing is "storage solutions".

But what about this radical approach: you don't need to store more stuff! (Because that's what it is: stuff.) Once you store it, will you use it? I have decided not to buy any more storage items. If I don't already have a place for it, I don't need it.

Try to lighten your load and move it on out to the Goodwill or Salvation Army.

The Snowman: a January song for the music class

2009-01-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

This song is a great song for music class in January. If you own our primary book, The Key to Your Primary Music Program, refer to Page 36.

If you are not comfortable following the lesson plan, just teach the song to your class because they will love it. The last page is an activity to integrate language with your music class.

Just click on the images to enlarge and print.

The Key to Your Junior Music Program

2009-01-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

The second book we wrote is called "The Key to Your Junior Music Program".

It was written at the request of the superintendent of the school board of my co-author (Marie Skelding). We had already presented summer workshops with our primary book, and the superintendent requested a junior book and an accompanying workshop.

Once again, this book contains only songs from the public domain; songs that have survived for generations. These songs have real musical value, as opposed to many songs that are written to meet specific curriculum themes.

The Junior book differs from the Primary book in that it contains "reading songs" that may be photocopied in class sets by the teacher who owns the book. The Primary book, by virtue of the fact that it is for primary students, only contains songs that are to be taught as rote songs.

All these terms are explained in our books.

The Key to Your Primary Music Program

2009-01-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

I want to tell you about two music books for elementary classroom teachers that I co-authored. The first book is called The Key to your Primary Music Program.

I was a classroom teacher who loved music and wanted to teach my class according to the Ontario Curriculum. But I didn't know how, and I spent at least $100.00 on books that were either useless, or that I couldn't understand!

My sister (a principal at a senior public school in Guelph) was a music specialist. We combined what I needed to know with her knowledge and expertise and wrote the book, The Key to Your Primary Music Program. We chose songs that are in the public domain and that have stood the test of time.

I used the book in my classroom and finally felt capable and successful as a music teacher!

The Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor is now in their second year of using it as a course book.

Getting Started on the Music Class

2009-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Are you nervous about teaching music to your primary class?

Have you already pushed the time for music class to the end of the day and “run out of time”? You know you did that because you didn’t know how to get started!

I have some tips:

1. You are probably worried about whether you will sing in key.

Solution: Don’t worry, your students won’t care! They love any opportunity to sing, and the most important thing is to get started!

You will soon feel comfortable and find that music class is your favourite time!

2. What songs should you teach them?

Solution: Buy our primary book! The songs in our book have stood the test of time, and have been sung by generations of children.

Our book provides the words and melodies along with long range plans and lesson plans.
You will probably recognize most of the songs in our book (as will your students, hopefully!)
And that’s a good thing!
But do not be fooled by the apparent simplicity of the songs.
You will learn how to pitch your voice and how to read the notes.

3. Remember that your students will more easily learn to sing true with just your voice and no accompaniment. But playing just the melody on a keyboard can help you and your students learn the notes. (As an untrained singer, I used this method. But once the class learns the song, remove this crutch).

4. You will gain confidence to find other songs with musicality.

5. Also, remember to add tapes and CD’s that are musically appropriate for your students. Your music program will be enriched.

Copiable Dance for Primary Grades

2008-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

"Dance" is part of the Arts curriculum and this tends to be a problem for many of us teachers!
But you can simplify things for yourself when you remember that children love to sing and move. All you need to do is put them together!

In the primary grades, the best approach is to teach a song with movement in the lyrics.

The children need to learn the song well so that they can sing as they perform the movements.

They will enjoy themselves and experience a feeling of accomplishment at the same time. And you, as the teacher, will be teaching "dance" painlessly!

The following is a song my grade one students loved. The second page explains the movements along with diagrams.

Click on each image to enlarge and print.

Routines, routines, routines!

2008-12-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

The most important thing at the beginning of the school year is not the curriculum!

Rather, it is training your class that there is a specific routine and process for everything.

The first six weeks of grade one need to focus on classroom routines as well as language and math.

Students who know how the day will unfold feel secure and ready to learn.

Make singing a regular routine. Beginning regular music classes at this time is very important.

Use a picture book to introduce a new lesson. The picture book may be based on fact or fiction. This approach settles the students and focuses their attention.

Gradually introduce science, social studies and health. Use the students’ experiences as the foundation for beginning these subjects:

e.g.: Begin science in the earth and space strand by studying the changing seasons.
Begin social studies with “Me”.
Begin health with nutrition, using a harvest and Thanksgiving theme.
The story of “The Little Red Hen” is a great story to use to introduce
the cereals and grains food group.

Any time lost at the beginning will be quickly recovered because the students will know and understand the expectations in the classroom.