Free “Feelings” Visual Aide Download

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Girl Showing Love

I love to sing The Feelings in My Heart around this time of year, what with so much talk about Valentine’s Day, hearts, and love.  This is one of my favorite Listen & Learn songs — it’s even featured on my studio album.

And that leads me to the highlight of this post: a visual aide download to go along with the song. I like to give my students an example of each emotion as it is mentioned in the song, and while in the past I’ve used illustrations, this year I wanted to use stock pictures of real children to which they could better relate.

Visual Aide Download: The Feelings in My Heart

As described in the PDF download above, I laminated the pictures, cut them out, and single-hole punched them so that I could keep them together with a binder ring. They were a hit when I used them for the first time yesterday afternoon with a group of young music therapy students. We used sign language for each emotion as we looked at the pictures during the song — talk about a multi-sensory experience!

Here’s the full song and lyrics, as well as the instrumental version.  I hope you can make use of this visual aide (and if so, please let me know in the comments how you plan to do so).

Speech Therapy + Music Therapy = <3

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Speech Therapy and Music Therapy

That’s the emoticon version of a heart, in case you were wondering.  Valentine’s Day is a week away, so this is the perfect time to talk about what a great pair speech therapy and music therapy make.

I love collaborating with the speech therapist at my school, so much so that I recently gave a presentation about music therapy for communication goals to her speech and language pathology association.  The children with whom we work respond to music above everything else, so incorporating music into speech interventions makes them even more effective.

This month, speech and language goals for our students are centered around the theme of friendship, and target words include I, you, friend, heart, and the colors pink, red, and white.  Our speech therapist put together some simple song ideas, and my job was the add the music.

I am your friend,
You are my friend,
We are all friends together.
Everywhere we go,
At work and at play,
We are all friends together.

I’m going to the store to buy candy hearts,
To buy candy hearts,
To buy candy hearts.
I’m going to the store to buy candy hearts,
To give to my friend on Valentine’s Day.

Some of the hearts are pink or red or white,
Pink or red or white,
Pink or red or white.
Some of the hearts are pink or red or white,
All for my friend on Valentine’s Day.

Both the speech therapist and I include these songs in our sessions so that the students are exposed to these concepts frequently throughout the month.  Collaboration is key in the classroom setting…plus I love being part of a team.  How do you collaborate with other professionals to enhance students’ progress?

Jumping for Joy

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Jumping for Joy During Music Therapy

Sometimes I wonder if I’m really making a difference.  That question ran through my head just last night, in the middle of a music therapy session.  I’ve been working with this particular child since she was 4 months old; she’ll turn 4 years old in May.  She’s making big strides, but how much of that progress can be attributed to music therapy?

Towards the end of the session, I decided that we needed to get up and move a little.  I could see that she had energy to burn, and I wanted her to use it productively.  So I sang the following song, which I adapted from the wonderful Cathy Bollinger:

I’ve got a wiggle wiggle wiggle in my feet
And I wiggle wiggle wiggle to the beat
I’ve got a wiggle in my toes, a wiggle in my knees
And when the music stops everyone freeze!

I’ve got a march march march in my feet
And I march march march to the beat
I’ve got a march in my toes, a march in my knees
And when the music stops everyone freeze!

I’ve got a jump jump jump in my feet
And I jump jump jump to the beat
I’ve got a jump in my toes, a jump in my knees
And when the music stops everyone freeze!

I’ve got a tiptoe tiptoe in my feet
And I tiptoe tiptoe to the beat
I’ve got a tiptoe in my toes, a tiptoe in my knees
And when the music stops everyone freeze!

I’ve got a tap tap tap in my feet
and I tap tap tap to the beat
I’ve got a tap in my toes, a tap in my knees
And when the music stops everyone freeze!

I’ve got a hop hop hop in my feet
And I hop hop hop to the beat
I’ve got a hop in my toes, a hop in my knees
And when the music stops everyone freeze!

My student’s big sister was participating in the session, so both girls danced, jumped and marched (and played the nearby tubano drum, which wasn’t part of the song but added a nice beat!) while I sang and modeled the movement.

After the song ended, my student motioned for her mom to bring my music stand over to our rug. (For some reason, my little ones really enjoy standing in front of it while they sing.) As I strummed my guitar and sang the goodbye song, she sang right along with me, pronouncing the words as best as she could.

After she had taken “goodbye” off of the schedule and chased after her sister into the hallway, her mom turned to me — and that’s when I realized she had tears in her eyes.

She told me that today was the first time she’d ever seen her daughter jump, which surprised me immensely, considering she’d made it look so effortless. She also told me that the way she sang the goodbye song was leaps and bounds above her usual level of word pronunciation, not to mention the length of time for which she sang. And then she told me that it was all because of music therapy.

So much for those doubtful thoughts I’d been experiencing just minutes earlier. If my next student hadn’t already been waiting for me in the next room, I might have run outside and jumped for joy myself!

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

January Calendar Song

Lately I’ve had quite a few readers ask about my work at The Hope Institute, a residential school for children with multiple disabilities where I’ve headed up the music therapy program for the last (almost) 4 years.

I’ll be writing about the program in more detail throughout the year, but today I thought I’d share a simple yet important song that remains a staple in many of the classrooms with which I work.

Calendar time is an essential part of the school day around here (as it is in many schools), and I incorporate calendar songs of all varieties into my music therapy sessions.  Here’s one I’ve mentioned before — spruced up a bit for the new year:

Today is ______,
Today is ______.
Today is ______, January _____.
Yesterday was ______,
Tomorrow’s ________.
But today is ______, January _____, 2011.

So when I sing this with my students this morning, the lyrics will be:

“Today is Monday, today is Monday.  Today is Monday, January 10th.  Yesterday was Sunday; tomorrow’s Tuesday.  But today is Monday, January 10th, 2011.”

Each month, I record a new version with the correct month already included.  That way, when the teachers sing this song with their students on a daily basis, they fill in the day and date themselves.

I’ve been using this song (which I came up with it on my own, though I’m positive others have done something very similar if not identical) for years now, but am always up for new ideas.  If you’ve got another daily calendar song to share, please do!

Winter’s Here, All Right!

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Rachel in Winter

Ahh, just another day in the life of a midwesterner heading to work in the winter.  My husband managed to capture this oh-so-flattering shot of me around this time last year…a fashion statement that will become all too familiar over the next few months.  Can you tell how much I LOVE winter?!

Don’t get me wrong — I enjoy a white Christmas just as much as the next guy.  But the never-ending cold and snow just isn’t my thing.  I have to look on the bright side, though: the change of seasons gives me an excuse to write a new song!

Winter’s here, the first season of the year.
From the end of December until April’s near.
The birds have gone away, the cold is here to stay,
Day after day.

Brrr, the wind is blowing.
Brr, put your earmuffs on.
Along with your coat, scarf, hat, and gloves,
As we sing this wintery song.

CHORUS

Brr, the snow is coming,
Brr, my nose is red.
Gotta stay inside where the heat is on,
And get warm from my toes to my head.

CHORUS

As thrilled as I am to be off of work for Christmas break, I’m a little bummed that I didn’t have the chance to introduce this new song to my students before we left. However, the fact that we’ll have three long months to sing it when we return makes up for it. Oh, winter.

I’ll be spending the first day of the season doing last-minute shopping, wrapping presents, and writing thank-you notes to my students (they were quite the gift givers this year!). How will you spend this wonderful winter day?

Sydney the Snowman’s Nose

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

sydney-snowman

Poor Sydney.  All he wants in life is a new nose, but for now he’s stuck with this old carrot (like so many of his snowman friends).  Cute song idea, right?  But don’t give me any of the credit…that goes to my friend Brian, who suggested this topic on my Facebook page.

When I first started writing this song, I had the intention of letting Sydney find the new nose for which he was searching.  But then it hit me that I had an opportunity for a lesson in self-esteem (though I kept it subtle).  Notice the nods to “Frosty the Snowman” — I just couldn’t resist!

Sydney the snowman had one wish, just one,
And it didn’t have anything to do
With the bright, hot sun.
His wish was for a brand new nose,
Made of anything but carrots,
Which he thought were gross.

Oh, Sydney searched high and low,
He even asked people that he didn’t know,
If they could help fill in the space,
In the middle of his face.

Sniffity-sniff-sniff, sniffity-sniff-sniff,
Watch as Sydney goes,
Over the hills and around the town
In search of a different nose.

Sydney the snowman liked most things, it’s true.
Candy canes and lollipops
And pretzels and bananas, too.
But the vegetable he did despise,
Unfortunately, was the perfect size.

Oh, Sydney couldn’t think of anything less cute
Than a nose made out of an old orange root,
And then a stranger who was kind,
Gave a compliment that changed his mind.

What a beautiful snowman face have you,
With a nose so bright and button eyes so blue.
I can tell you were made with love,
And that’s something to be proud of.

Sniffity-sniff-sniff, sniffity-sniff-sniff,
Watch as Sydney goes,
Over the hills and around the town
Proudly showing off his carrot nose.

Big props to Brian for coming up with such a clever song topic! I hope I did it justice. I received quite a few additional ideas as a result of my call for song topics, so I’m trying to decide which to tackle next. Do you have any last-minute holiday song topic suggestions? Let me know in the comments!