CHILDREN'S LITERATURE - BOOKS TO SING

Raindrop, Plop!
Written by Wendy Cheyette Lewison
Illustrated by Pam Paparone
ISBN: 978-0-670-03620-X

Begin with a yellow hat, a red raincoat and a special dog.  Then add one little raindrop at a time until there are so many that you must run, run run.  This enchanting springtime story takes us on a journey of the many things a little girl and her dog encounter on a rainy walk.  The language of the story can be adapted to sing to the familiar folk melody of "Chicken on a Fence Post."

Between each 4-line stanza, invite children to sing the song "Rain, Rain, Go Away!" to create a B Section or refrain between verses.  When you begin singing about the eighth raindrop, you will find that there are only words for 3 of the 4 lines -- so after singing "too many raindrops run, run, run . . . " invite children to play the following pattern on xylophones - l s m r d d d.  Invite children to create words for the descending l-d  melody or simply sing the title of the song as they play.  For example, "Raindrop, Raindrop, Raindrop, Plop!"

Enjoy the story and keep singing!

MELODY - IMPROVISATION RAIN DROPS

April showers come to life in this activity.  After the first page, ask children to sing a simple sol-mi arrangement of "Rain, Rain, Go Away."

Before the book is shared a second time, cut out patterns of rain drops.  I found precut raindrops at my local teacher store.  Laminate and place magnets on the back to create a magnetic white board manipulative.  When presenting the book a second time, place a long piece (at least 12" to 18") of blue painters' tape on the magnetic white board or on the floor.  Have children place 8 rain drops above or below the line to create a sol-mi melody.  This time, sing the folk song as an A Section, inviting children to sing the created sol-mi pattern as a B Section.  Repeat the A Section to complete an A-B-A song.

Form:
A Section - Rain, rain, go away.  Little children want to play.
B Section - Sing sol-mi pattern created by 8 raindrops above or below the tape line.
A Section - Rain, rain, go away.  Come again another day.

EXTENSION 1:  Prepare bar instruments in C pentatonic.  Invite children to play any pentatonic note each time they hear the word "rain" as the story is told.

EXTENSION 2: Invite children to find a partner.  Working with a partner, write down a new sol-mi melody.  Provide an opportunity to practice the new melody on bar instruments.  Have children exchange the new melodies and play them as the story is told.  Children will enjoy hearing their classmates playing their melody patterns.

EXTENSION 3:  This is a great story to prepare a listening activity of The Moldau by Smetana as the story starts with a drip, drop, splash that eventually travels from a puddle into a pond, a brook, a lake, and a river until it finally reaches the sea.  As you tell the story, invite children to choose non-pitched percussion instruments to play each time they hear the words "drip," "drop," and "splash."  My children used a finger cymbal, triangle and smaller hand cymbal to represent the dynamic growth from "drip" to "splash."

STEADY BEAT - RHYTHM SEED PACKS

This week, I'm reflecting back on a wonderful session I saw at a national Orff conference.  With apologies to the young lady that presented (since I don't remember her name) -- I give credit to her for sharing the book Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert as it inspired my activity.

I recently found that with the new spring, lots of local shops have flower seed packets available for very affordable prices.  I purchased several different flower seed packets -- each seed packet having a different rhythmic value.  For example, rose = quarter note, iris = eighth notes, etc.

After removing the seeds, some of which I planted, I laminated the packets with the rhythmic values printed and affixed to the back of the packet before laminating.  After reading the story, ask children to create a "garden of rhythmic flowers" to be spoken and/or performed in a B section of a piece like "Chain, Chain, Daisy Chain" or "All Around the Buttercups."

Extension:  Add different flower seed packets with more difficult rhythmic names to increase difficulty levels.

Assessment:  Have children create rhythmic flower lines and write the rhythmic notation without turning the packets over.  Once complete, turn the "sentences" over to self-assess work.

MELODY