BRIDGES – CONNECTING MUSIC TO CCSS!
Below you will find a list of songs that can help reinforce the specific Core Standards. The lyrics and familiar tunes are available on my website. If you are interested in downloading the arrangements, you can do so at my Song Store.
Code for CDs where the songs can be found.
SS – Silly Songs
DF – Dr. Jean & Friends
KS – Keep on Singing and Dancing
SL – Sing to Learn
IH – Is Everybody Happy?
NR – Nursery Rhymes
KB – Kiss Your Brain
AD – All Day Long
JF – Just for Fun
TM – Totally Math
TR – Totally Reading
HE – Happy Everything
GG – Going Green
BB – Better Bodies and Brains
ML – Move It! Learn It!
READING LITERATURE
Key Ideas and Details
RL1
Many of the songs provide a springboard for asking questions. For example, in “The Cool Bear Hunt” (SS) - What were we hunting for? Where did we go first? What happened in the cave?
Nursery rhymes also offer a simple story plot that children can relate to. In “Jack and Jill” (NR) – Where did they go? Why? What happened to Jack? (Click to hear a clip of "Jack and Jill")
RL 2
After singing songs similar to those below, children can retell the story and key details.
Frog Went a Courting (NR)
Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (KS)
Coming Round the Mountain (NR)
The Cool Bear Hunt (SS)
The Three Little Kittens (NR)
My Aunt Came Back (GG)
RL 3
Prompt children to think about characters and events before singing a song or saying a nursery rhyme.
Who, What, Where, When, Why? (TR)
Craft and Structure
RL 4
As you come to unknown words in songs, write them on the board and explain the meaning.
Home on the Range – roam, range, antelope, discouraging (NR)
Dinosaur Boogie – herbivore, carnivore (JF) (listen)
Endangered Species A-Z – condor, manatee (GG)
RL 5
Have children name nursery rhymes, songs that tell a story, alphabet songs, songs that teach information.
Fact and Fiction Time (TR)
Read a Book (JF)
We Like Books (ML) (Click to listen to a clip)
*Make a T-chart of Dr. Jean’s “Silly Songs” and Information Songs
RL 6
Hi Ho Librario (TR)
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RL 7
Invite children to close their eyes and make pictures in their brains as you sing songs. Give them a sheet of paper to illustrate the song and then encourage them to tell their classmates about their drawings.
RL 9
Compare “Three Boppin Bears” (SS) with a book about “The Three Bears.”
Compare “Katalina Matalina” (SS) with “Patalina Matalina” (DF)
Compare “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” (KS) with “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie” and other versions.