CHILDREN'S LITERATURE - BOOKS TO SING

Countdown to Easter
Written by AnnMarie Harris
Illustrated by Claudine Gevry
ISBN: 0-8431-0757-X

This wonderfully colored seasonal countdown can be sung to the familiar folk melody of "Skip to My Lou." Along the way there are wonderful surprises to discover.

At the beginning of each page, there is a short number sentence (i.e. 3 Easter baskets).  After singing "skip to my lou . . ." on the previous page, turn the page and invite children to sing the beginning number sentence on mi-re-do.  Use colored eggs patterns the rearrange the pattern or invite children to move the colored egg patterns to create new  mi-re-do patterns.

Enjoy the story and keep singing!

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MELODY - SOLFA MATCH-UPS

Take foam hearts and cut them into 2 equal pieces.  On one set of halves, write the solfa letters that you are working with.  For example, in GR 1 you might only use so and mi.  In GR 3, you might want to use do, re, and mi.  On the other sets of halves, write the absolute letter names.  Have children match up the solfa letter to the corresponding absolute letter.

The challenge will be in the class ability to "change keys." If you tell them that do is G, then mi is B, re is A and do is G.  However, if you tell them that do is C, then they must be able to change their match-ups to reflect the new key.

I use the solfa letters for the keys of C, F and G since pentatonic scales won't include any sharps or flats.  However, you can certainly add more challenging keys for upper grade levels.  You can also color code your hearts to make them easier to identify when choose "sets" of match-ups (i.e. GR 1 is Green, GR 2 is yellow, etc.).  Once children have completed the match-ups correctly, have them PLAY their solfa patters on Orff instruments or recorder (whichever fits or is appropriate for the age).

STEADY BEAT