Ten Sly Piranhas
Written by William Wise
Illustrated by Victoria Chess
ISBN: 978-0-14240-074-6
This wonderful waterland of reverse counting opens a waterway of creatures that children may find in a river. Each poem is 4-lines that can be sung to the tune of the familiar folk melody "Sweet Betsy from Pike." Read through the poems once before sharing with the class as the rhythm of words may need to be slightly adjusted to fit the familiar tune. Use each stanza individually or all together for a full springtime musical experience.
After singing each verse, invite the children to create a poem about either the piranhas or the creatures in the water. This poem can be spoken as a B section. Create additional ostinati parts to be performed on various non-pitch percussion instruments.
Enjoy the story and keep singing. :)
May I suggest a few books to sing from my classroom? Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin is a fave in my Kindergarten classroom, which uses Twinkle, Twinkle, Home on the Range and a little Born to be Wild in an engaging story. Another is The First Music, by Dylan Pritchett, which shows how animals discovered music and instruments, beginning with the elephant stubbing his toe on a log. We end up with a rhythm choir of sounds, and can also transfer the sounds to instruments. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete