Gray Squirrel (Shake Your Bushy Tail)

Veronica T. sang a song for us today called Gray Squirrel.  The first time you sing this song, do it as written.  The second time, do the hand motions, but sing the notes on "la-la-la".  The third time, continue the hand motions while humming all the notes.  Finally, only do the hand motions in time without making any noise.




Here are the lyrics (with hand motions):

Gray squirrel (put right hand out in front of you with wrist bent down like a paw),
gray squirrel (put left hand out to join the right hand with wrist bent like a paw),
Shake your bushy tail (wiggle hands to left and right, wiggle hips, and bend your knees more on each beat).

<repeat>

Wrinkle up your little nose (point to your nose with one finger),
Put a nut between your toes (use your pincer grip to pluck an imaginary nut from the air and bring it down between your toes)

Gray squirrel (put right hand out in front of you with wrist bent down like a paw),

gray squirrel (put left hand out to join the right hand with wrist bent like a paw),

Shake your bushy tail (wiggle hands to left and right, wiggle hips, and bend your knees more on each beat).

Papá va en su coche

Here is a song that Corina and Lilia often sing in the Toddler room at MISD. The children love the different tempos (fast and slow) and the 'Peep peep's.



Here is the original recording by Trepsi:



Here are the lyrics:

Papá va en su coche
que rapidito va
Pues ya se le hace tarde
para ir al trabajar.
Peep peep!
(repeat)


Mamá en su coche nuevo
que despacito va
Viaja con cuidado
pues no quiere chocar.
Peep peep!
(repeat)


Papá va en su coche
que rapidito va
Pues ya se le hace tarde
para ir al trabajar.
Peep peep!
(repeat)


The meaning is something to the effect of:
Daddy drives in his car that goes fast
Since he is already late to go to work.

Mommy in her new car that drives slowly
Travels carefully since she doesn't want to crash.

The Donkey Song

Here's a song contributed by Debbie.  It's called "The Donkey Song".  The "hee-haws" are all spoken to emulate a donkey braying.  During each hee-haw you can put your hands up by the top of your head with your palms facing forward to represent donkey ears then alternate bending one forward and one back to the tempo of the hee-haws.

Irina found a video on Youtube of this song:

Slippery Fish

Here's a song by Charlotte Diamond that she titled "Octopus", but which everyone else seems to refer to as "Slippery Fish".  You can listen to her original song (and order her CD) through this website.

I've tried to transcribe the music for the benefit of those who might find it useful.  To play the music in the embedded application below, click on the orange triangle at the top left corner of the image.  You can either scroll along to follow the music or allow the application to scroll automatically.  You may notice little icons that look like sticky notes with one corner folded up.  These are notes which indicate the hand motions that can be used at that point in the song.

In this notation, the notes marked with x's are intended to be spoken rather than sung.



Here are the lyrics written out with some further instructions:


During the "gulp, gulp, gulp" part of the song, place one hand over your open mouth with fingertips pointing upward as if covering your yawn. During the "Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …" part of the song, put your hands on your cheeks. All other movement instructions are in parentheses within the song. 


(Put your palms together in a prayer position to resemble a fish and wiggle them together as if swimming)
Slippery fish, slippery fish, sliding through the water,
Slippery fish, slippery fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by an …

(Wave your arms up and down like the flailing arms of an octopus.)
Octopus, octopus, squiggling in the water
Octopus, octopus, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

(Put your hands together with your fingers slightly bent and spread, keeping your palms touching each other. Open and close your hands as you sing.)
Tuna fish, tuna fish, flashing in the water,
Tuna fish, tuna fish, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

(Place one hand, with fingers straight upwards, on top of your head.)
Great white shark, great white shark, lurking in the water,
Great white shark, great white shark, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by a …

(Make a large circle with your arms to make yourself into a humongous whale.  Also deepen your tone for this verse.)
Humongous whale, humongous whale, spouting in the water,
Humongous whale, humongous whale,
Gulp! … Gulp! … Gulp! … BURP!
(Cover your mouth.) Excuse me! 

Music!

Hello fellow MISD and USD Montessori students.  I hope you are happily readjusting to the concluding summer of our A to I training.   I humbly request your assistance in a project that I think can benefit all of us.

As a lifelong singer and college music major, I believe music and singing are an important aid to development and self-expression.  Yet I feel as though I don't know nearly enough songs to entertain the toddlers I will be teaching starting this fall.  Assuming I am not the only one with this feeling, I had the idea that we could all share songs with one another this summer.

Maybe each day someone could present a song or two to the rest of the class so that by the end of the course we are all 20+ songs richer.  As part of this project, I thought I would try to create a sign-up sheet (this Google document) and place the songs we learn on this website in a format that allows reading the music, reading the lyrics, adding hand/body motions, playing the music, and printing the music.

I think I have found a format that will allow all of those things, but if it doesn't work, please let me know.  You are welcome to leave comments on this blog, email me, or just let me know in person if you have suggestions.  I am hopeful this collaboration will be a fun way to enrich our education both this summer and in our own classrooms.