Snow Around the Clock - Let's Dance!

    Hello from snowy, cold Chicago! It's Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup, and I've got a lively dance for you to warm up your students AND encourage them to listen to instruction.

   I recorded "SNOW Around the Clock” on my Season Sings cd, but you could use any lively music that you can stop and start. No, it’s not a freeze dance exactly, but it does have an element of “freeze” – to listen for the instruction. On a wintery day if you can’t get outdoors, this activity will get some of the wiggles out!

The song (yes, the original which I recorded with permission was sung by Bill Haley, new lyrics by me):

"Freeze!  Blue!"

1-2-3 o’clock, 4 o’clock – SNOW!

5-6-7 o’clock, 8 o’clock – SNOW!

9-10-11 o’clock, 12 o’clock – SNOW!

When is it going to stop?  FREEZE!

I’ve got snow on my hands, snow on my toes

Everywhere I look there’s more snow snow snow!

I’ve gotta shake my hands and shake my feet

I’ve gotta shake snow off to this jazzy beat

I’m gonna shake’n’shake’n’shake from my head down to my feet!

   You’ll need:  colored circles or shapes in 4 or 5 colors.  I picked up the 6” fun-foam dots pictured here in the clearance bin of a teacher store - cheap!  You could use construction paper, but it probably won’t be good for more than one use. You could also buy the foam and cut squares or circles.

I invite the children to name the colors we’ll be using, then help place the dots on the floor. The rules of the game:

1. You can dance anywhere without stepping on a dot while the music plays.

2. When the music stops, listen for the teacher to call out a color.  

    (I pause the music until everyone has found a dot.)

3. Put one foot on a dot of the called color. Dots can be shared.

4. When the music resumes, DANCE!  Repeat sequence.

  

Be-bop together!

   It’s that simple! Some children dance together. Some solo. Everyone has fun!

   I love it because we share, we listen, we communicate (“Hey Martin – there’s room for you on my dot!”) AND we are getting our brains and bodies fired up with Active Music!                          Hooray!

   At the end of the dance, each child brings me 1-2 dots and we’re ready to sit and do something less active, but just as exciting – a fingerplay, song with motions or sing-a-book. How about The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, with a Snowball Freeze Fight in the middle?  Check out my FEBRUARY 16, 2014 BLOG for that one – it’s my claim to fame!

   "SNOW Around the Clock" is also fun at home or for a birthday party!  Come on, let's have fun and celebrate winter - whether you live in a snowy part of the country or not!

    I'm working on booking a tour in Colorado at the beginning of July! Want to have a Macaroni Soup concert at your camp, library or summer school program?  

...AND I may be heading to Upstate NY at the beginning of May - call me if you'd like to bring fun and learning through music and movement to your town!

Yours for a Snowy Song!

Carole Stephens

Macaroni Soup! Active Music for Active Learners!

847.384.1404

FREE Printable for FUN January Greetings

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!!!  Time to head back to school after a LOOOOONNNNGGGG Winter Break!!!  In our house the day is full of mixed emotions!  While we are all excited about getting back to the routine and seeing friends again after the long break we are also a bit sad to see the days of long naps, playing as long as you want, and time with family come to an end! (sniff, sniff)

Hopefully this post will PERK you up a bit with a FREE PRINTABLE!!!  Who doesn't LOVE FREE STUFF!!!  :)

One of the most important things you can do tomorrow morning is remember to GREET your students warmly as they arrive!  As difficult as it may be for you to get out of bed and come back to school after so many days at home, it is just as challenging or maybe even more so for your students!!! 

These fun new JANUARY greetings will help you reconnect with your students and warm things up before you begin your activities for the day!!! 

Remember, always include eye contact, touch, being present, and playfulness in whatever connecting activities you use with your students! 

The little bit of time that you invest in creating these meaningful connections with your students will pay back BIG dividends!!!  When you connect through playful activities and build relationships with your students you are actually creating neural pathways in the brain!!!!  WOW!!!  How cool is that?!?  Those are the same neural connections that lead to willingness, impulse control, attention, and cooperation!!!  Now who doesn't want that the first week back from Winter Break????? 

Just follow the link below to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to get your FREE Printable so you can start tomorrow right!!!!  It has everything you need for FREE!!!! 

 

This post was written by Jenny Spencer, Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor, at Ignite Learning LLC.  Connect with Jenny at her blog www.ignitelearningllc.blogspot.com!!!