I learned a beautiful new folk song this weekend while visiting my little niece, Jordan and my sister. "Little Bird" is a traditional folk song, however the arrangement that hooked me on the song was done by singer Elizabeth Mitchell (if you don't own any of her CD's yet, I HIGHLY recommend them! They are full of beautiful renditions of traditional folk songs, as well as original tunes as well).
So, after going home and learning it on the guitar, I decided to share it with Ms. Garvin's Young 5's and it is safe to say that it is now one of my favorites. First, I sang and played the song for them, and then we each got two scarves to be our bird wings. We practiced moving to music, and because it is an unusual meter (9/8), we emphasized this by waving our wings up on the word "fly." I am always in search of children's music in unusual meters and tonalities to expose the students to a rich musical language, and this song worked perfectly for that. Next, we replaced the words "little bird little bird" with each child's name and when it was their turn they got to "fly" in and out of the windows (we held raised hands in a circle). It was wonderful to see the joy on their faces when it was their turn to fly in and out of the windows and we had a great time. Here is a video of the song so that you and your families can sing it at home.
So, after going home and learning it on the guitar, I decided to share it with Ms. Garvin's Young 5's and it is safe to say that it is now one of my favorites. First, I sang and played the song for them, and then we each got two scarves to be our bird wings. We practiced moving to music, and because it is an unusual meter (9/8), we emphasized this by waving our wings up on the word "fly." I am always in search of children's music in unusual meters and tonalities to expose the students to a rich musical language, and this song worked perfectly for that. Next, we replaced the words "little bird little bird" with each child's name and when it was their turn they got to "fly" in and out of the windows (we held raised hands in a circle). It was wonderful to see the joy on their faces when it was their turn to fly in and out of the windows and we had a great time. Here is a video of the song so that you and your families can sing it at home.