Stories and Music offer lots of opportunities to teach and learn.
The song "Over in the Meadow", which is also in book form (many many books), offers many chances to do simple math, everything from simply counting the animals to adding and/or subtracting animals. And, if you're really ambitious you can do a little science, studying the different animals and their habitats.
Be sure to check out the links at the end of the blog for worksheets and other fun stuff.
OVER IN THE MEADOW was written by Olive A. Wadsworth in the 1800s
Copyright Unknown
Over in the meadow,
In the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother toadie
And her little toadie one
"Wink!" said the mother;
"I wink!" said the one,
So they winked and they blinked
In the sand in the sun
Over in the meadow,
Where the stream runs blue
Lived an old mother fish
And her little fishes two
"Swim!" said the mother;
"We swim!" said the two,
So they swam and they leaped
Where the stream runs blue
Over in the meadow,
In a hole in a tree
Lived an old mother bluebird
And her little birdies three
"Sing!" said the mother;
"We sing!" said the three
So they sang and were glad
In a hole in the tree
Over in the meadow,
In the reeds on the shore
Lived an old mother muskrat
And her little ratties four
"Dive!" said the mother;
"We dive!" said the four
So they dived and they burrowed
In the reeds on the shore
Over in the meadow,
In a snug beehive
Lived a mother honey bee
And her little bees five
"Buzz!" said the mother;
"We buzz!" said the five
So they buzzed and they hummed
In the snug beehive
Over in the meadow,
In a nest built of sticks
Lived a black mother crow
And her little crows six
"Caw!" said the mother;
"We caw!" said the six
So they cawed and they called
In their nest built of sticks
Over in the meadow,
Where the grass is so even
Lived a gay mother cricket
And her little crickets seven
"Chirp!" said the mother;
"We chirp!" said the seven
So they chirped cheery notes
In the grass soft and even
Over in the meadow,
By the old mossy gate
Lived a brown mother lizard
And her little lizards eight
"Bask!" said the mother;
"We bask!" said the eight
So they basked in the sun
On the old mossy gate
Over in the meadow,
Where the quiet pools shine
Lived a green mother frog
And her little froggies nine
"Croak!" said the mother;
"We croak!" said the nine
So they croaked and they splashed
Where the quiet pools shine
Over in the meadow,
In a sly little den
Lived a gray mother spider
And her little spiders ten
"Spin!" said the mother;
"We spin!" said the ten
So they spun lacy webs
In their sly little den
This is a lovely version using John Langstaff's book illustrations.
There are many versions of this song, some in book form.
Here's another version to use or you can have fun making up your own version with animals your children may know.
Over in the meadow
In the sand in the sun, lived an
Old mother turtle and her
Little turtle one.
"Dig," said the mother,
"I dig," said the one, and they
Dug all day in the sand in the sun.
Over in the meadow where the
Stream runs blue, lived an
Old mother fish and her
Little fishies two.
"Swim," said the mother,
"We swim," said the two, and they
Swam all day where the stream runs blue.
Over in the meadow in a hole in the tree, Lived an old mother owl and her
Little owls three.
"Whoo," said the mother,
"We whoo," said the three, and they
Whooed all day in the hole in the tree.
Over in the meadow by the old barn door,
Lived an old mother rat and her
Little ratties four.
"Gnaw," said the mother,
"We gnaw," said the four, and they
Gnawed all day on by the old barn door.
Over in the meadow in a snug beehive,
Lived an old mother bee and her
Little bees five.
"Buzz," said the mother,
"We buzz," said the five, and they
Buzzed all day in the snug beehive.
Over in the meadow in a nest built of sticks,
Lived an old mother crow and her
Little crows six.
"Caw," said the mother,
"We caw," said the six, and they
Cawed all day in the nest built of sticks.
Over in the meadow where the grass grows so even,
Lived an old mother frog and her
Little froggies seven.
"Jump," said the mother,
"We jump," said the seven, and they
Jumped all day where the grass grows so even.
Over in the meadow by the old mossy gate,
Lived an old mother lizard and her
Little lizards eight.
"Bask," said the mother,
"We bask," said the eight, and they
Basked all day by the old mossy gate.
Over in the meadow by the old scotch pine,
Lived an old mother duck and her
Little duckies nine.
"Quack," said the mother,
"We quack," said the nine, and they
Quacked all day by the old scotch pine.
Over in the meadow in a cozy, wee den,
Lived an old mother beaver and her
Little beavers ten.
"Beave," said the mother,
"We beave," said the ten, and they
Beaved all day in their cozy, wee den.
MotherGooseCaboose.com has a wonderful book that you can print out.
EnchantedLearning.com has a fabulous Rebus version o the song.
Crow and Owl illustrations are by Jan Thornhill from her version of Over in the Meadow
"Why the Sun and the Moon live in the Sky"
an African folktale from Nigeria.
********************************************
Long, long ago, Sun, Moon and Water were the best of friends.
At that time, Sun and Moon, who were married, lived on the earth.
Sun went to visit Water, almost every day, but Water never returned the visits.
Finally, Sun asked, "Water, my friend, why is it that you never come to visit?"
Water replied, "Sun, I would very much like to come to visit. But you home is not big enough for me and all of my people. Were I to come visit, there would be no room left for you and your lovely wife, Moon."
Water then told Sun, "If you want me to visit you, you will have to build a very large house. But I warn you that it will have to be very, very large, as my people are numerous and take up a lot of room."
Sun was overjoyed that his good friend Water wanted to come visit.
"Do not worry, my friend," he said,"I will build a huge compound so that you and your people can come visit."
Sun soon returned home, where his wife Moon greeted him with a smile.
"My dearest Moon", he said "Our friend Water has promised to visit us but first we must build a larger house so that he and his people will fit."
"How wonderful!" said Moon.
The next day, they began building a very large house to entertain the water and all his people. When it was finished, it was the largest house in the area.
Sun then went to ask water to come and visit him.
Water said he would be there the next morning.
When Water arrived, one of his people called out "Sun, we are here. May we come in?"
"Yes," said Sun "Tell my friend,Water, that he is welcome in my home."
With those words, Water began to flow in. With Water came fish, crabs, otters and other water animals.
Soon, the water was knee-deep in the house.
Water called out, " Sun do you want me and my people to continue to come in?" Together Sun and Moon answered, "Oh yes, please come in to our home."
And more of Water's people poured into the house octopi, stingray, eels, starfish and more.
When the water was at the level of a man's head, Water,who was becoming a little concerned called to Sun and said, "Are you sure you want more of my people to come in?"
Wanting to be good hosts, Sun and Moon both said, "Yes, please, you are all welcome in our home."
More and more of the water's people came in, seahorses, whales, eels, anemone, sponges and more.
So many that soon, Sun and Moon had to sit on top of the roof.
Once again, Water asked, "Do you wish us to continue to come in?"
Sun and Moon answered "Yes,please, you are all welcome in our home."
So more of Water's people came in. Sea turtles, sharks,coral shrimps, urchins, lobsters......
By now Water overflowed the top of the roof, and the sun and the moon were forced to go up into the sky.
...and they have been there ever since.
Retold by LaurenLanita,Storysinger/Storyteller Copyrighted by LaurenLanita, Storysinger/Storyteller
I do a lot of my storytelling with preschoolers. The usual age is between 2 and 6 years. Sometimes older, sometimes younger. I like this age group which some storytellers don't deal with because they can be so much fun. And because they are…..fresh, interested in any and everything. Especially if the information is presented well with lots of enthusiasm and participation.
When I do storytelling with that age group, I use a combination of movement activities, circle games, props, songs, finger plays, a short story and a songbook. I am also very fond of themes.
So, I thought I would share a sample program with the theme of counting or numbers.
Once Upon A Song - (Sample) Counting Program
Opening Song - 1 little, 2 little, 3 little Children
(same tune as the "123 Little Indian" song)
use the song to count the children or if they are old enough have them count themselves
Finger Play - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
One, two, three, four five!
Once I caught a fish alive;
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on the right.
Story Songbook - The Ants Go Marching
Rhyme to Act Out - 10 in the Bed (bring 10 children up with you to help act out this rhyme/song. You can use a large blanket that the kids can hold up….looking like they are in bed….. Then sing or chant the song. As each child leaves, you can have the kids count to see how many are left.)
Story - Why Anansi Has 8 Legs
Finger Play or Acting Out Activity - 5 Green and Speckled Frogs
(You can have the kids do this as a finger play or bring kids up to play the frogs)
Five green and speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs...yum, yum.
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool.
Then there were four green speckled frogs.
(Continue until only one frog is left )
One green and specked frog.
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs...yum,yum.
He jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool.
Now there are no green speckled frogs.
Reprise of The Ants Go Marching
(sing the song with the kids…..depending on how many children you have, you can have the children walk in pairs or threes , etc. and march around the room while singing and acting out the movements in the song)
Closing Song
There you have it, a sample of the type of program I would do with young children. You can add or subtract songs and activities depending on how long the children can stay on task.
Here are a few other counting activities that you can do with children…………..
Sing-
10 Bottles of Pop on the Wall (change the number of bottles depending on the age of the child/ren) & 5 Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed
Use some of the Math books that use foods…..M&M Math; the Cheerios Counting Book; Hershey Book on Fractions ; the Goldfish Book and others.
Use Tanagram books. There are many.
Go for a walk and count the steps. You might also count jumps, skips, hops, turns or anything you can think of.
Have fun!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment