by Rachel | Uncategorized
I really enjoy blogging about the resources I use most often, especially books, and apparently, people enjoy reading about them! My two top posts in terms of hits (usually as a result of Google searches) are
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie and
Is Your Mama a Llama?, which just happen to be two of my favorite books.
I have another book to add to the vault…one you’ve probably read or heard time and again. This particular version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is colorfully illustrated by Pam Adams and is from the Books with Holes series, published by Child’s Play International. You can find a link to the book on Amazon here. I love that this book has thick (but not overly so) pages and is rather large – it gets the attention of my student and keeps it for the duration of the story.
Each phrase in the book ends with “perhaps she’ll die”. I don’t feel that this is appropriate for young children (though it is the traditional verse), so I always substitute “cry” for “die”.
This book is a wonderful tool for animal and color identification, memorization skills, attention to task, reading sight words, and more. It is effective because the illustrations are visually stimulating, and the story is just plain fun :)
by Rachel | Uncategorized
I’m always looking towards the next major (or minor) holiday with anticipation, because holidays mean special songs to go with them. And everyone knows that one of the biggest days of summer is the Fourth of July. I love this particular holiday because there are so many great songs just waiting to be played and sung. Recently, Songs for Teaching asked me to record a few for their website, and I was more than happy to do so. Follow the links to listen to a sample of each:
America the Beautiful
The Star-Spangled Banner
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
I have strong memories that accompany many of the patriotic songs we all know and love, and I bet you do, too. A few include being the designated high note hitter whenever my high school choir performed the “Star-Spangled Banner” (though I doubt I could hit that note these days!), playing “Yankee Doodle” obsessively on the piano as a little girl, and middle school choreography to “You’re A Grand Old Flag”. Ahh, memories!
What are your favorite patriotic tunes?
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Happy Tuesday, everyone! I have a lot to do today, as my private practice’s summer session begins on Monday and this afternoon is my second round of music therapy classes at The Autism Program. But before I get to work on all of that, I wanted to share one of my very favorite resources with you:
The Story of My Feelings. It comes from one of my very favorite artists, Laurie Berkner, a name that should be very familiar around here!
I use this book with children of all ages and levels of development, as it appeals to almost everyone. I remember using it with a group of young children for the first time, and by the end of the story, several of the moms were tearing up. The illustrations in the book are great, and this is such a wonderful way to address emotions with children.
I have an older group of kids with whom I use this book, and they love to imitate each action in the book as I sing about it (especially YELLING!). It is definitely a resource that I will never retire.
by Rachel | Uncategorized
One of my very favorite websites for discovering great tunes – as well as sharing my own – is Songs for Teaching. I’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few Listen & Learn originals available for downloading (find them here) at Songs for Teaching, and recently had the opportunity to produce a few recordings of well-known songs exclusively for the website.
Here are the first three, which you’ll probably recognize:
German Cradle Song
My Country ‘Tis of Thee
Rock-a-Bye Baby
I’ll be adding several more over the next few weeks, so I will be sure to keep you updated! In other news, you might have visited earlier today and noticed that many songs did not play as they should have. This was due to a file server upgrade, which I’m happy to say is completed. All of the songs you’ll find here are now hosted by a much more reliable server, which should eliminate any problems you may have encountered in the past when listening. Thanks so much for your patience, and for visiting Listen & Learn Music regularly :)
by Rachel | Uncategorized
I’m feeling generous today, which is why I’m sharing all the details of my students’ favorite book, Eight Silly Monkeys. I picked this book up at Barnes & Noble three years ago, and it has held up through all this time in the hands of my students, who can be less than delicate :) Thankfully, the book has a hard front and back cover and the pages are made of sturdy cardboard, making it the perfect classroom resource.
The bright colors, 3-D monkeys, familiar words and tune make this a very popular book not only with my students, but with me, too. Why? Because there are so many objectives that can be addressed, including counting, tactile input, basic reading skills, and even movement. My kids love imitating the different motor skills the monkeys display in this book, like jumping, dancing, spinning, and sliding.I hope you and your students have the chance to enjoy this book as much as we do here at the Hope Institute. And speaking of Hope, today is our 2nd Annual All-School Singalong! I’m used to being a solo act, but today several of my coworkers – a drummer, guitar player, and bassist – will join me to present some of the “greatest hits” of the year. I’m off to practice with the band right now…have a great day!
