PreKandKSharing

Sing a Song of the Sea!   
  

     Ahoy from Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup!  Here I sit, born East Coast Carole, transplanted to the Midwest via Florida, New York City and Iowa – singing songs of the ocean I grew up near!  After your done playing Deb Chitwood’s excellent Montessori-Inspired Ocean Math Games, SUPER-SIZE the lesson by singing a sea song – or two!  Then add a book!  Super-sizing extends the learning across mediums. (A shout out to musician Susan Salidor who first used this term in this context!)

      Summer camp, summer school - it's a great time to daydream about the sea, even if you're far from it!

SEASHELL, SEA SHELL

    A flannelboard is a great place for children to create an ocean filled with sea creatures.  Don’t have a felt or flannelboard?  It’s easy to make!  You’ll need:

• A rectangular piece of foamcore board
• 5/8 of a yard of blue flannel
• 2”-wide packing tape
• Felt for sea creatures (for this activity)

1. Cut flannel 3” larger than foamcore board on all sides

2. Iron out all creases on flannel

3. With flannel face-side down, center board on it.  “Wrap” as you would a present.

4. Secure edges of flannel to board with packing tape.

    VOILA!  You have a flannelboard!  For this song, cut multiple copies of various sea creatures – a crab, octopus, shark, starfish, dolphin, whale, angelfish, etc.  Be sure to have enough for each child participating to have 1-2.  Need patterns?  This song was the Song of the Month on my website Aug/05.

    I place my flannelboard on a small table easel on the floor (got it at Office Depot for about $15.)  Hand out the sea creatures to children sitting on the floor.  When I have more than 18 children, they each get one.  Less than 18, they each get 2.  Children LOVE coming to the board to add their creature to the ocean!

LYRICS:          Sea shell, sea shell, sing a song for me.

                        Tell me about the ocean, tell me about the sea!

                        In my ocean there are starfish!   (you can do two fish in a verse, too!)

We place our felts on the floor to start.  As a creature is named in the song, children quietly come forward to put it on the board.  Repeat the song until all the creatures are on the board.  We sway from side to side as we sing the choruses.

If you can get your hands on a large conch shell, a nice introduction to this song is to listen to the shell – everyone must be silent to hear the sound of the” ocean“ in the shell.  This activity sets a quiet mood for the gentle song.  Can YOU hear the sound of the sea?

Here are two of my favorite companion songs:

“ThePirate Song” – great for gross motor movement.

“A Sailor Went to Sea Sea Sea” – a classic with hand motions.

I’d love to hear about YOUR FAVORITE SEA SONG. 


And how about your favorite ocean-themed BOOKS?  
My fav’s:

Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan 
   

Over in the Ocean in a Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes – you can sing this one to “Over in the Meadow!”

I look forward to hearing from you – I love finding new songs and books to supersize my music lessons! 


Tell me about your ocean, 
                 tell me about your sea….

Yours for a Sea Song!

“Miss Carole” Stephens
Macaroni Soup! Active Music for Kids!