Resource 3: Classroom songs
‘Butterfly, Butterfly’
This was contributed from a rural school in Karnataka. The teacher has children chant each line after her, at first. Then she puts the children into groups and they take turns to say each line.
What gestures would you use for each line? Can you think of other ‘action’ words to use in this poem?
Butterfly, butterfly,
Where are you going?
Out in the garden,
Singing, singing,
Dancing, dancing!
Butterfly, butterfly,
What are you doing?
Sucking the nectar,
Flying, flying,
Jumping, jumping!
‘Our Zoo’
This is a song from a village school near Lucknow, but you can put in the name of your own town or village. The teacher and students sing it to the tune of ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’, but you can make up your own tune.
Lucknow City has a zoo
Ee-ai-ee-ai-oh!
And in this zoo are some tigers
Ee-ai-ee-ai-oh!
A tiger here! (make a tiger noise, roar and show claws!)
A tiger there! (roar!)
Here a tiger, there a tiger, Everywhere a tiger!
Lucknow City has a zoo
Ee-ai-ee-ai-oh!
Repeat with different animals, using sounds and gestures, for example: some monkeys (scratch and jump), some elephants (wave trunk), some lions, some snakes, etc.
‘The Wheels on the Bus’
The wheels on the bus go
Round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go
Round and round,
All through the town.
The wipers on the bus go
Swish, swish, swish,
Swish, swish, swish,
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go
Swish, swish, swish,
All through the town.
The horn on the bus goes
Beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes
Beep, beep, beep,
All through the town.
The lights on the bus go
On and off,
On and off,
On and off.
The lights on the bus go
On and off,
All through the town.
The driver on the bus says,
‘Sit, sit, sit,
Sit, sit, sit,
Sit, sit, sit.’
The driver on the bus says,
‘Sit, sit, sit,’
All through the town.
The people on the bus …
(Make up your own words.)
The conductor on the bus …
(Make up your own words.)
The wheels on the bus go
Round and round,
All through the town,
All through the town,
All through the town.
‘Action Song’
Hop a little, jump a little,
One, two, three;
Run a little, skip a little,
Tap one knee;
Bend a little, stretch a little
Nod your head
Yawn a little, sleep a little
In your bed!
‘Wiggles’
I wiggle my fingers,
I wiggle my toes,
I wiggle my shoulders,
I wiggle my nose.
Now no more wiggles
Are left in me
And I will be
As still as can be.
‘Dance Your Fingers’
(Have students mimic your actions – dancing fingers in the air and on the body.)
Dance your fingers up,
Dance your fingers down,
Dance your fingers to the side,
Dance them all around.
Dance them on your shoulders,
Dance them on your head,
Dance them on your tummy,
And put them all to bed.
(Rest head on hands together at side of face.)
Resource 2: Using pair work