What Do You Do?

by | Listen & Learn Music

Teaching social skills is high priority in the land of special education, especially when it comes to children with autism. Though many of the students with whom I work can be very social at times, it is a goal to teach the appropriate actions and responses in various situations. I was brainstorming this topic one day a few weeks ago and came up with this song, which I called “What Do You Do?”.

What do you do when you see a friend?
You wave, you wave.
What do you do when you see a friend?
You wave, you wave.

Waving’s what you do when you see a friend,
You wave using your hand,
So what do you do when you see a friend,
You wave, you wave.

What do you do when you’re feeling blue?
You cry, you cry.
What do you do when you’re feeling blue?
You cry, you cry.

Crying’s what you do when you’re feeling blue,
You cry, using your eyes.
So what do you do when you’re feeling blue,
You cry, you cry.

What do you do when you’re feeling glad?
You smile, you smile.
What do you do when you’re feeling glad?
You smile, you smile.

Smiling’s what you do when you’re feeling glad,
You smile using your mouth.
So what do you do when you’re feeling glad,
You smile, you smile.

What do you do when you hear a joke?
You laugh, you laugh.
What do you do when you hear a joke?
You laugh, you laugh.

Laughing’s what you do when you hear a joke,
You laugh using your voice.
So what do you do when you hear a joke?
You laugh, you laugh.

What do you do say right before you leave?
Goodbye, Goodbye.
What do you say right before you leave?
Goodbye, goodbye.

Goodbye is what you say right before you leave,
Goodbye only ‘til next time.
So what do you say right before you leave?
Goodbye, goodbye.

The staff and I encourage the students to act out each action (waving, “crying”, smiling, laughing, and waving/saying goodbye) as the song is sung, and they have such a fun time with this. There are many other situations you could sing about, so use your creativity. Those I included are pretty broad, but feel free to be more specific as you tailor the song to your own students. And don’t forget to share your ideas with me!

A New Day in America

by | Uncategorized

If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for this day for a long time now. Later this morning, Barack Obama will be sworn into office and can officially be called the President of the United States. Your classroom may be one of millions tuning in around the country, and if so, there’s no doubt that you will be witnessing history.

This morning as I got ready for work, I watched coverage of the masses flooding onto the National Mall – they are expecting 2 to 3 million people. Unbelievable! My father-in-law is there as a chaperone with his school’s student government association, and I’m sure he’ll have stories to tell when he gets home.

If you didn’t get a change to watch HBO’s free “We are One” concert on Sunday night, here is a link where you can watch it online. The lineup is pretty amazing, with performances by U2, Garth Brooks, James Taylor, Beyonce, and many more. It’s definitely a star-studded and moving program.

It will be interesting to watch the country slowly change under President Obama, hopefully for the (much, much) better. I’ll leave you with a YouTube video you’ve probably already seen or at least heard about: “Yes We Can”.

Everybody Has a Name

by | Uncategorized

Last month, one of the teachers at my school asked if I could work on names and spelling this semester. Of course, I gladly agreed and came up with a cute little tune to do just that. Many of the students here are nonverbal or cannot spell, but that hasn’t stopped them from enjoying the song. It’s so much fun to see a child light up when they hear their name being sung and spelled by me and the staff.

Everybody has a name, you know,
You hear people say it everywhere you go.
Some names are short, some names are long,
We’ll sing about your name in this song.

I see a boy named Nathan;
Nathan is sitting right there,
So please join in and sing with me,
As we spell his name with care:
N-A-T-H-A-N. Nathan!

I see a girl named Brooke;
Brooke is sitting right there,
So please join in and sing with me,
As we spell her name with care:
B-R-O-O-K-E. Brooke!

I see a boy/girl named _________;
________ is sitting right there,
So please join in and sing with me,
As we spell his/her name with care:
_-_-_-_-_-_-_. _________!

I used two of my own students’ names as examples, though obviously you’d replace these with your students. I go around the room and look directly at each child as I sing about him/her so that he/she knows that it is his/her turn. Many of the teachers or staff use sign language to spell out the names as I sing them.

Ten Little Snowflakes

by | Uncategorized

I walked outside this morning to find a dusting of snow covering the ground, something we haven’t seen in central Illinois for at least two weeks. Though I could definitely do without any form of winter weather, I thought it would be very fitting to post “Ten Little Snowflakes” here today.

Counting time, it’s counting time,
So let’s all sing this simple rhyme.
Ten little snowflakes in a row,
Now let’s count them nice and slow.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Again!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
How many snowflakes?
Ten litle snowflakes.
All lined up in a row.

Do you have any snowflake songs or activities that you use with your students? If so, I’d love to hear about them! Have a great day!

Today Is…

by | Uncategorized

Good morning! Like many of you, this is my first day back to school after a nice break, and I’m ready to dive head-first into the month. Today I’ll be introducing several new songs to my students, which is always exciting. And while new songs are great, it’s the songs that are familiar to the kids (and staff) that keep them engaged and eager to participate.

The hello song, weather songs, and a couple of the calendar songs are standards throughout the year, and I’m going to share one of those with you.

Each day after singing about the month, we sing the “Today Is” song. I chose to set the lyrics to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine” because it is familiar, and it just happened to fit the words perfectly.

Today is Monday, today is Monday.
Today is Monday, January 5th.
Yesterday was Sunday, tomorrow’s Tuesday.
But today is Monday, January 5th.

The song changes with the day, which definitely keeps me on my toes :) Some of the classes have even started doing sign language while singing the song, which is a great option if your students use that form of communication.

I hope your first day back is a great one! See you again soon.