Counting- V

The leaves are starting to change color here in Maryland- creating a beautiful context in which children can learn. Seasons are a wonderful way to draw from children's awareness of their surroundings to make learning abstract concepts like numbers more relevant. Here are a couple of autumn number songs- one you'll probably know- "5 Little Pumpkins," and one maybe not- "5 Little Leaves."

"5 Little Pumpkins"
5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "But I don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run! Let's run!"
The fifth one said, "It's just Halloween fun!"
Then, "OOOooooooo," went the wind, and out went the light
And 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

"5 Little Leaves"
5 little leaves, dancing in the tree
5 little leaves, happy as can be!
Along came the wind-
"OOoooooooooo!"
1 leaf came tumbling down.
4 little leaves, dancing in the tree...
(Repeat until you get to- "No little leaves," - I usually do that verse in a whisper).

In these videos, you'll find slight variations on the words above- the way I do these songs. I also do both songs as a chant, except for "'OOoooooooo!' 1 leaf came tumbling down," for which I sing a little minor-sounding melody. I like the way the videos demonstrate movements to do with the songs. I also use a felt board with 5 pumpkins and leaves so children can have a visual way to keep track of the quantity. Stay tuned for next time- I'll have more autumn songs for you- making this the last number song article (for now). Happy autumn!

Counting- IV

Well, I just got back from a music trip out west, (flew there and back in one day!) and I'm feeling fine (relatively)!! So, today I'm going to write about a number song called Dr. Knickerbocker. Here is the way I've done this song with kids:

Dr. Knickerbocker, Knickerbocker, number nine
I just got back and I'm feeling fine.
Let's put the rhythm in our ________.*
*Repeat until you "put the rhythm" in your hands (clap), shoulders (alternate shoulders up and down),  feet (walk in place to the beat), head (nod), and hips (shift hips right and left).

I've always said the words as a rhythmic chant, and kept the movement going until it changes to a different body part. The words were fun to say and made pretty much no sense at all- kids loved to move and say the words! Sometimes children asked- who is Dr. Knickerbocker? I had no clear answer.

After some searching I found out that Knickerbockers are a type of colonial style pants worn just over the knee, and a man wearing this style of pants (Mr. Knickerbocker) was a symbol of New York- (a la the New York Knicks baseball team). And apparently there were nine original New York Knickerbockers (later shortened to Knicks).

Maybe "getting back" means getting back to home plate? I'm still unsure how "Mr. Knickerbocker" got changed to "Dr. Knickerbocker," but the point is- this is a fun song with lots of movement AND there's more!!!

I just discovered that you can practice counting to the number nine with this song, and that is extra exciting because that makes it a great activity for getting those kids with a lot of energy to focus and count with you. To do this, you "put the rhythm" in the "number nine" itself. Here are two examples of this- one from the Wiggles and one from Alina Celeste.

Here is also a new one by Liz Buchanan that is a counting backwards from 9 song.

More fun with number songs next week!