It’s the Year of the Dragon!

January 1st marks the beginning of the year. Each year one of the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac calendar is celebrated, and this year’s animal is the Dragon! We have a special place in our home where we display a small ornament for the new year. People celebrating the Lunar or Chinese New Year will welcome the new year of the Dragon on February 10th.

This is a simple song to celebrate the new year. It borrows two familiar melodies to create one new song. The Google slides for this song are here.

It’s the Year of the Dragon By Kathy Kampa

Part A: For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow

It’s the year of the Dragon!

It’s the year of the Dragon,

It’s 2024. (twenty, twenty-four)

Part B: BINGO

I like to have students move with music whenever possible. What kind of movement can you do? Here are some suggestions.

In Part A, on the words “It’s the year” students can stand tall with their hands at their sides.

On the word “DRAGON,” make a dragon pose or movement. My students made a wavy movement with their arms.

For the year 2024 (twenty/ twenty-four), students can write the numbers in the air or hold up their fingers to show the numbers. We made the shapes two-zero-two-four.

In Part B, students can add body percussion sounds. What’s body percussion? Sounds students can make using body parts, such as clapping their hands, patting their legs, stamping their feet, or snapping their fingers. They can play the rhythm of the letters when spelling the word “dragon.” Practice spelling the word with many different sounds. Since this repeats three times, you can repeat it with a different body percussion sound each time. Some of my students even tried body spelling by making each of these letters with their fingers or whole body. Challenging!

If you have unpitched instruments, like rhythm sticks, drums, tambourines, or shakers, play the rhythm with the instruments. You might even add a big cymbal sound on the word, DRAGON.

Since this song comes around once every twelve years, it hasn’t been professionally recorded. Enjoy it with your students to celebrate the new year!

Here’s a video from my online class with my Japanese students. We tried to capture both my students’ movements and my movements.

It’s a cold winter day here! I made a video of the song from the front so that you can see the movements more easily.

Beautiful videos capture authentic dragon dances. Here’s one that you might share with your students.

Go to Kathy’s Spotify playlists to find more music for young learners.

If you’re looking for a craft project, check out this one which uses paper towel rolls. You can use construction paper in lieu of the pom poms.

Kathy currently teaches young learners in her hometown of St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA as well as classes online. She is passionate about creating memorable songs for children that build language as well as music and movement skills. Kathy creates songs that stick in children’s heads long after class. We hope that you enjoy her music, too.

Contact us at magictimekids@gmail.com if you’re looking for a song about a specific idea or topic. We’ll try to write one with that idea in mind.

Celebrate Thanksgiving Day with “The Turkey Dance!”

Celebrate Thanksgiving with this lively song for children! This song is called “The Turkey Dance” and it’s one of my students’ favorite songs.

So use your imaginations and dance like . . . . turkeys!! Get a little silly and have a lot of fun!

Here are the lyrics, which go to the tune “Turkey in the Straw.”

The Turkey Dance

Words by Kathleen Kampa and Charles Vilina, music adapted from Turkey in the Straw

Spoken: It’s Thanksgiving Day. Let’s move like turkeys.

First, Move your elbows! (Imagine that these are wings!)

Move your elbows, do the Turkey dance

Stamp your feet and shout “Hooray!”

It’s Thanksgiving Day.

(You can add “Thank You” in any language you know. Or add a “Gobble! Gobble!)

2. Now move your hips. (Imagine that this is your tail.)

Move your hips, do the Turkey dance

Stamp your feet and shout “Hooray!”

It’s Thanksgiving Day.

(You can add a “Thank You” in any language you know.)

3. Now move your knees. . . .

4. Now move your head . . . .

5. Now move your whole body!

Teacher’s Notes:

In this dance, students are pretending to be turkeys.

Before playing the music, show students a picture of a turkey like the one in this blog.

I usually start with a little TPR by teaching this part of the song first– “Stamp your feet, then shout ‘Hooray!'” Stamp your feet, then jump in the air on “Hooray.” On “It’s Thanksgivixng Day!” put your hands together.

My students added their own ideas between the verses. Some children enjoyed saying “Gobble! Gobble!” while others liked to say “Thank You” in a language they know.

Now teach the body part movements. Say “Move your elbows.” These are the turkey’s wings.

Repeat with each body part listed below: hips/tail, knees, head, and whole body.

1. Make turkey wings by moving your elbows.

2. Make a tail by putting your hands behind your back, and moving your hips.

3. Move your knees like you’re strutting.

4. Move your head forward and back.

5. Choose your favorite movements, or make some new ones. Dance!

Here’s a video to show you the movements.

For this wonderful “hoedown” song that children LOVE to dance to, download The Turkey Dance on iTunes! You can find it on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. The arrangement is fun and lively.

And if you want to add an art project, check out Marnie’s blog, Carrots are Orange for some autumn Montessori activities focusing on turkeys. I especially like the Zentangle turkeys from Laura Hutchinson. There are more activities on my Pinterest page.

Have a wonderful day!

Kathy

Here’s a very short clip of my Magic Time students doing “The Turkey Dance.”

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! No matter where we live, we all give thanks this season for the blessings we have.

Kathy Kampa is a teacher, author, and teacher-trainer who specializes in working with young learners. As a former PYP (Primary Years Program) teacher in Tokyo, Japan, she uses a globally-minded and inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop 21st-century skills. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs.

Kathy and her husband Charles Vilina are also co-authors of Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover (ELTon award), Beehive, and Buzz, all published by Oxford University Press.

Everything You Need for Halloween

If you’re looking for easy-to-sing, easy-to-remember, fun Halloween songs for young learners, you’ve come to the right place! If you’re planning a Halloween party, you’ll find so many songs to use. I’ve been writing songs for my young learners for many years. These songs have grown in my young learner classrooms. I have taught many students over the years, so lots of students have added their ideas to make these songs exactly what you can use in your classroom.

In addition to being fun, each song boosts an English language goal, a music goal, and/or a movement goal. You’ll find lyric notes, Google slides, videos, movement notes and complementary arts activities. Just head over to iTunes to purchase the songs you like best. I hope that you’ll love them and use them for years to come! All of these songs come from my first album Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays.

Click on the link to each of the blog posts.

Skeleton Dance: Students learn about body parts and directional movements. My students ask to dance this song over and over throughout the year. Once your students learn it, use it as a “Brain Break” song. If you’re having a sports festival, get the whole school dancing to this song!!!

Trick or Treat: I created this fun song to help my Japanese students work on the sound /r/ and /l/. You hear /r/ in “trick or treat” and /l/ in Halloween. Students use functional language, I see a . . . to describe Halloween creatures. Use the Google slides to teach the characters in the song. Add your own Halloween picture cards or your own ideas to create a new version of the song.

After learning the song, we sang it the next time with our own ideas. I placed Halloween picture cards face down in a circle. Students took turns turning them over and singing about that character. You can also hang picture cards around your space.

Use this song to “trick-or-treat” with your students.

Marching Monsters: This song teaches phonemic awareness of initial sounds. It also practices locomotor and axiel movements of marching, skipping, waltzing and jumping. Use the colorful Google slides to teach the characters.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin: Autumn is a time for change, and this song surely demonstrates that! Change is a concept we teach in our young learner classrooms. Our pumpkins change size, growing from small to big. We change our body shape in this song. Pumpkins change into jack-o-lanterns. We change our faces. Our voices change from high, little voices to low, big voices.

I’m a Witch: It’s fun for young learners to use their imaginations to move like different Halloween characters. They can use different locomotor movements to move from one place to another and change the way they move (slowly/ quickly). Grab the free picture cards, too.

I’ve gathered a bunch of Halloween ideas on Pinterest, too.

Here’s my YouTube channel with some videos of my students. These songs are from my album Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays. You can grab my music on Spotify and Apple Music!

I love celebrating Halloween with my students! Throughout the entire month of October, we sing songs and use our imaginations. As a teacher of young learners, I find that songs with strong rhythm and repetition stick in students’ brains. Fun songs become well-loved. I hope that you’ll find my music a great tool for building students’ skills in language and the arts.

If you’re looking for a song about another lesson or topic, send your idea to me at magictimekids@gmail.com.

Pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns!

Halloween is right around the corner! Children love dressing up in costumes, trick-or-treating, and participating in all the wonderful Halloween activities teachers prepare in the classroom.

Halloween is filled with magical changes. Children put on costumes, and “change into” a princess, Spiderman, a witch, a ghost, or a character from their favorite Disney movie. We see the magical change of pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.

The concept of change is one of the “big ideas” we teach young learners. Babies grow and change. Bean seeds planted in the soil in little paper cups grow into bean plants. Caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies. Small pumpkins grow into big pumpkins and pumpkins turn into jack-o-lanterns!

Halloween is also a perfect time to teach new English words and the concept of change.

The song “Pumpkin, Pumpkin” is a fun Halloween song to do! The children experience change:

-from a pumpkin to a jack-o-lantern

-from small to big

-from a quiet voice to a loud voice

-from tiny, high voice to big, low voice

-from sitting to standing

To begin, make two paper pumpkins — a small one and a large one. Each of the pumpkins should have two sides — one plain side, and one side with a face (jack-o-lantern). This pattern by Shala on Pinterest is helpful. Show the students the plain side of the “small” pumpkin and say “pumpkin.” Then turn it around and say “jack-o-lantern.” Once students know these two words, put them into this simple chant:

Jack-o-Lantern Chant by Kathleen Kampa

Pumpkin, pumpkin, (turn picture around) jack-o-lantern
Pumpkin, pumpkin, (turn picture around) jack-o-lantern
Pumpkin, pumpkin, (turn picture around) jack-o-lantern
Happy Halloween!

Now you’re ready to expand upon the language and sing the song “Pumpkin, Pumpkin.”

Use this slide show to teach the song. The lyrics and ideas for movements are below:

Pumpkin, Pumpkin
(words adapted by Kathleen Kampa, music: traditional)

(Sit with students in a circle. Sing quietly.)

Pumpkin, pumpkin small and fat,
(With fingers, make the shape of a small pumpkin.)

Turn into a jack-o-lantern,
(Roll hands. Spread fingers out wide.)

Just like that!
(Tap two fingers on the palm of your hand as you say each word.)

(Sing the verse again!)

Spoken: Grow and grow and grow and grow
and grow and grow and grow and GROW!
(Slowly stand up while making a big pumpkin shape. Get louder!)

(Sing loudly.)

Pumpkin, pumpkin big and fat,
(While standing, make the shape of a big pumpkin with your whole body.)

Turn into a jack-o-lantern,
(Turn around. Jump into a big shape.)

JUST LIKE THAT!
(Clap and stamp on each word.)

(Sing the verse again!

Here’s a video of my Japanese students singing this song.

Thanks to my dear friend Setsuko Toyama for creating this pdf of the song lyrics.

“Pumpkin, Pumpkin” is one of many holiday songs featured on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays CD available on iTunes and Apple Music. Here’s the link on Spotify. Four more Halloween songs are featured, so check out recent the blog posts.

Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays

I have numerous activities saved on my Halloween Pinterest board.

Thanks to my dear friend Setsuko Toyama for creating this pdf of the song lyrics.

Let me know how your children enjoy “Pumpkin, Pumpkin.” Happy Teaching!

Kathy

Kathy Kampa is a passionate educator of young learners. She seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. Kathy believes that music and movement should be a part of every young child’s learning.

Kathy is the co-author of Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover (ELTon winner), and Beehive (published by Oxford University Press). She has been teaching young learners in Tokyo, Japan for over 30 years. Kathy has composed educational music for Tokyo Shoseki and recorded songs for Learning World. She is active as a teacher trainer, inspiring teachers around the world. Kathy and her husband have currently returned to her home state of Minnesota in the US.

If you’re interested in more of Kathy’s work, check out her YouTube channel at Kathy Kampa and subscribe to this blog at magictimekids.com. Her second album, Jump Jump Everyone, is available on iTunes and Apple Music.

Just in case you didn’t find enough goodies here, check out this video of Kathy teaching her Japanese students the song “Pumpkin, Pumpkin” without the recording. Enjoy!

Marching Monsters?

Are you ready for Halloween? Add “Marching Monsters” to your Halloween activities It builds phonemic awareness and is super fun to do!

I’m gifting you with these Google slides. You can print them or just share on your device. You can easily sync your music to these slides.

Marching Monsters Halloween Slide Show: Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays

There are four Halloween characters in this song–monsters, skeletons, witches, and jack-o-lanterns. Have fun pretending to be the four characters. Practice the four verbs– march, skip, sway side-to-side in a waltz, and jump! Now put them together.

“How can we march like monsters? (Who doesn’t love marching like monsters???!)

How can we skip like skeletons?

How do you waltz? How can we waltz like witches? (sway side to side)

How can we jump like jack-o-lanterns?”

Practice “Turn around and stop!”

Note: Moving and stopping is an essential movement skill for very young learners.

For very little ones, skipping is a new skill. Try walking with a little hop. Or galloping.

Here are the lyrics. You can also find them in the slide show above.

Marching Monsters

Words and music by Kathleen Kampa

1. Marching monsters! Happy Halloween! Boo!

Marching monsters! Happy Halloween! Boo!

Marching monsters, Turn around and stop! (hold)

Marching monsters Happy Halloween! Boo!

2. Skipping skeletons! Happy Halloween! Boo! . . .

3. Waltzing witches! Happy Halloween! Boo! . . . .

4. Jumping jack-o-lanterns! Happy Halloween! Boo! . . . .

Just watch the video and have fun!

Did you notice that you can build phonemic awareness with this song too? The word pairs begin with the same initial sound. You can separate the verbs and nouns. Students match.

Marching Monsters worksheet and flashcards

For a bigger challenge, write the letters m, sk, w, j, and h on the board. What pair of words begins with these letters in the song?

m-> marching monsters

sk-> skipping skeletons

w-> waltzing witches

j-> jumping jack-o-lanterns

h-> Happy Halloween!

Want to add a cute monster craft? http://acupcakefortheteacher.blogspot.jp/2012/07/my-frankenstein-craftivity.html

Monsters by Gunder on Flickr Attribution CC 2.0 license

http://bit.ly/Gundermonstersdrawing

We hope that your students enjoy singing and dancing throughout the month of October. The music for this song and other Halloween favorites (Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Skeleton Dance, Marching Monsters, I’m A Witch) are available on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays.

You can search for my music on iTunes. or Apple Music.

If you like this, my second album has more happy songs for children that have grown in my young learner classroom. Dance like falling leaves, bloom like a spring flower, move through the butterfly life cycle . . . . you’ll find LOTS of fun and magic in this album, too.

Happy teaching!

Kathy Kampa

Kathy Kampa is a passionate educator of young learners. She seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. Kathy believes that movement should be a part of every young child’s learning.

Kathy is the co-author of Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover, and Beehive (all by Oxford University Press). She has composed music for Tokyo Shoseki’s English language courses.

The Cow Says “Moo”

Young children LOVE to learn about farm animals. When our sons were little, their favorite children’s stories about farm animals included Oh Dear by Rod Campbell and The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. There are many traditional farm songs, too. I’d love to have you try out this one, The Cow Says ‘Moo’ from Jump Jump Everyone by Kathy Kampa (available from ETJbookservice, CD Baby, and iTunes).

Let’s get started. Show pictures of the various farm animals from a picture book or from these blog images. Children might suggest additional animals from the farm, too.

black and white dairy cow s head — Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com

cow

sheep

horse

beagle puppy — Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

dog

nature animals pig alp rona — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

pig

rooster

Name the animals. What does each animal say? Even animals make different sounds in English! You can make a game matching the animal picture with its sound or with its name.

Display the vocabulary words. Print the images in this blog and put them into clear file folders. I put magnets on the back of mine. I can use the files with different vocabulary. Hang the picture cards on the board in the order of the words.

Children can stand and sing the song. There are two parts to the song.

The first part is the animal name and sound. Do you see the pattern in the song?

The cow says “Moo”

“Moo! Moo! Moo! Moo!”

The cow says “Moo”

The second part includes TPR actions. Practice these with the children. Did you notice the rhyming words (floor/ more/ four)? That’s important for our students!

When the cow says “Moo” you’ve got to clap, clap, clap,

When the cow says “Moo” you’ve got to pat, pat, pat,

When the cow says “Moo” you’ve got to touch the floor,

Are you ready for more? Count 1-2-3-4!

Children listen for the next animal sound. In this song you’ll find a sheep (baa), horse (neigh), dog (woof), pig (oink), and rooster (cock-a-doodle doo). The verse with the rooster is slightly different.

Once children know the song, you can add some props.

Make these animal masks from LifeoverCs. I put a piece of yarn on each mask so that the children can just put them over their heads. You can put a number on the masks to help you remember the order of the animals.

2. Use Beanie Babies, stuffed animals, or puppets. Children love to hold these.

Small groups: Give each child one animal card or puppet. Listen for the name of each animal. When each animal is called in the song, the child with that animal card/puppet goes to the middle of the circle. The other children can walk in a circle around the child.

You can see my English class here.

Large class: If your students use desks, you can have each row designated as one of the animals. The child at the front of the row can hold the card. When each animal is called in the song, the children in that group can move around their desks.

You can also make a card for each student. When each animal is called in the song, the children with that animal card move around their desks holding their card up.

The music for this song is available on the CD “Kathy Kampa’s Jump Jump Everyone!”

You can find it on iTunes, CD Baby Store, and ETJbookservice as well as streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Have a wonderful time singing and moving with your students!

You can find Kathy on the farm in the summertime. There are no animals here, but lots of fresh veggies are growing.

Kathy is the co-author of Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover (ELTon winner), and Beehive (published by Oxford University Press). She has been teaching young learners in Tokyo, Japan for over 30 years. Kathy is also active as a teacher trainer, inspiring teachers around the world. She has currently returned to her home state of Minnesota in the US.

If you’re interested in more of Kathy’s work, check out her YouTube channel at Kathy Kampa

It’s The Year of the Tiger

It’s time to celebrate the Chinese New Year! We welcome the year of the tiger.

Let’s learn a song to celebrate! We’ll learn parts of the song first by making simple movements. Then we’ll put them together.

How can we move like a tiger standing in our space?

Make a movement while we say ti-ger. You could move your hands like paws. Change your expression

2. How can you show two thousand twenty-two or twenty twenty-two using your fingers? You could draw numbers in the air, or hold up your fingers (2-0-2-2).

3. Last of all, let’s spell the word tiger. How can you make each letter using your fingers? Try making the letters with your arms or even your whole body. Which way do you like to make these letters the best? If you’re making letters, take time to make them.

Or you can clap, pat, stamp, or snap the rhythm when you spell tiger. This rhythm repeats three times, so you could choose a different type of sound each time.

It’s the Year of the Tiger by Kathy Kampa
Part 1: (melody: For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow) It’s the year of the tiger. It’s the year of the tiger. It’s the year of tiger. It’s 2022!
Part 2: (melody: BINGO) t-i-g-e-r, t-i-g-e-r, t-i-g-e-r, It’s the year of the tiger!

Here’s a video of my Zoom Magic Time English class. We always do music and movement during our class. Together, we created these movements. These students really enjoyed making the letter shapes. You can find videos from my classes and specially prepared videos on my YouTube Channel (Kathy Kampa).

My online Magic Time class singing It’s the Year of the Tiger

I change this song annually, so you won’t find it on my CDs. I create a new version for you each year! You can, however, find my lively song “Happy New Year” on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays (available on iTunes).

Check out my music as a download on iTunes or order a CD complete with lyrics.

The songs on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays celebrate various special moments throughout the year–the New Year, Valentine’s Day, Girls’ Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, plus birthdays and a loose tooth!

Run, Run, Run!

I teach very young learners. I love the energy that these students bring to my class! The question is how to harness that energy productively. This chant from Magic Time One 2nd edition (OUP) is perfect for very young learners.

In the lessons prior to this, students learned about various pets, such as cat, dog, rabbit, bird, turtle, and frog. (Actually the artwork shows additional pets that the children find in the pictures). The four verbs in this lesson are jump, run, hop, fly.

First of all, students practice each of the four verbs–jump, run, hop, fly–standing in one place. It’s also important for young learners to learn “Stop!” It’s fun to make it a game by saying these verbs several times (Jump! Jump! Jump!), and then “Stop!” You can do this with music by starting and stopping the music. When my students, they love to make interesting poses, too.

Secondly, put these four words into the chant pattern. I like to do this as a fingerplay sitting with the students.

For jump, place two fingers in your palm, then pretend to “jump.”

For run, make your fingers move quickly in your palm.

For hop, place one finger in your palm, then pretend to “hop.”

For fly, move your fingers in the air.

You can place the four picture cards in the order of the song like this. Put the three verbs in one row, and run in another.

Jump Hop Fly

Run

You can see in the video that my students matched the animals to the picture cards.

Run, Run, Run! from Magic Time One 2e Unit 10

Jump! Jump! Run, run, run!

Jump! Jump! Stop!

Change jump to hop. Then change to fly.

Here’s a video of some of my very young learners performing this chant.

Students extend this language by putting it into the phrase, It can _______. Students are then able to talk about all of the pets they’ve learned about.

Have fun!!!

What Are You Going to Be For Halloween?

Image from Graphic Stock

Are you preparing for Halloween? I know that many of my teacher friends are. I love Halloween because it invites students to nurture their creativity through imaginative activities. Students move in more expressive ways and play with facial expressions. Let’s explore moving like various Halloween characters.

First of all, I like to gather students in front of me to teach the vocabulary. I sing the transitional song “Come and Sit In Front of Me.” (by K. Kampa) The professional version of this transitional song is here for you.

Come and sit in front of me, in front of me, in front of me.

Come and sit in front of me, in front of me,

You can print the I’m a Witch picture cards and teach students the following song.

I’m A Witch

Words by Kathleen Kampa and Charles Vilina,

melody: Skip to my Lou

Spoken: Let’s be witches and fly on our broomsticks.

Hee! Hee! Hee! I’m a witch

Hee! Hee! Hee! I’m a witch!

Happy Halloween!

2. Spoken: Let’s be ghosts and float gently through the air.

Boo! Boo! I’m a ghost! (3X) Happy Halloween!

3. Spoken: Let’s be bats and fly through the night sky.

Eeek! Eeek! I’m a bat! (3X) Happy Halloween!

4. Spoken: Let’s be owls and turn our heads from side to side.

Whoo! Whooo! I’m an owl! (3X) Happy Halloween!

5. Spoken: Let’s be black cats. Put on your whiskers and sneak around.

Meow! Meow! I’m a black cat! (3X) Happy Halloween!

I’m a Witch (picture cards)

Now it’s time to be creative and move. Decide on the space that your students can move in. I usually start with movement in a circle, and then allow students more freedom to move in an open space. You can use the spoken cues to help guide your students’ movements. Students start by posing like the characters, such as the witch, then move around in a circle. I often tap a drum to the rhythm of the movement. To make it more magical, add the words “Abracadabra! You’re a witch!” When you can see that students have moved enough, say “Stop!” Continue with the other characters. I like to recognize students who are really being imaginative and creative with their movement.

Finally, either sing the song acapella or play the song on the CD Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays. My students love the special effects.

If you’re interested in the music, you can download the song from iTunes or get the CD with lyric sheets from CD Baby and Englishbooks.jp. Find more Halloween ideas here on the blog and on my Pinterest page.

Happy Halloween! Kathy and Chuck

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! All around the globe the new year is celebrated in different ways. Here in Japan people celebrate o-shogatsu, the new year, with many special traditions. One of the important traditions seen all over the country is the celebration of the new animal for the year. This year it is the year of the sheep. Perhaps you’re familiar with the Chinese calendar of twelve different animals.

At our first class this week, we’ll begin by wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2015, the year of the sheep. I wrote a simple song to teach the year and how to spell the word “sheep.” We had fun creating a recording for you at home with our son Christian.

It’s The Year

lyrics by Kathleen Kampa Vilina, melody (For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow/ BINGO)

sung by Christian Vilina

Intro:

Baa, baa, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, sir, yes, sir.

Three bags full.

It’s the year of the sheep.

It’s 2015!

s-h-e-e-p, s-h-e-e-p, s-h-e-e-p,

It’s the year of the sheep.

1. Show students the picture of a sheep.

Image courtesy of TCJ2020 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When they sing the word “sheep” they can make a pose like a sheep or point to the picture. If you have lively students, they might enjoy skipping or galloping during this part of the song instead.

2. On the words, “It’s 2015,” students stop moving and make the numbers 2015 with their fingers. Very young students can stop and wave their arms in the air as if saying “Hooray!”

3. Write the letters for the word “sheep” on the board. Clap the rhythm below to accompany the letters. (slow, slow, quick quick, slow)

To make it more challenging, students can pat, stamp, or snap the rhythm. My students like to clap the first time they spell “sheep,” then they pat their legs, and finally they stamp their feet. If you have instruments in your classroom, you can play this part.

4. The song ends with “It’s the year of the sheep!” Students make the sheep pose, or point to the picture.

———————————————————————————————————————-

You can also celebrate the New Year with our song, “Happy New Year!” I wrote it with our son Christian, and it is always a hit with our students. You can find it on Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays. The lyrics are easy for students to follow.

Students like to pat their legs, then clap their hands to the beat.

On the last Happy New Year, they turn around and wave their hands.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hip hip hooray!