Bat-Tastic!
by Tom & Lynn Crowell
Bat + Fantastic = Bat-Tastic!
This cross curricular song addresses the positive, interesting, and educational qualities of our friends, the bats. The song has a cool vibe to it, with a little bit of swagger, to match all of the cool facts we'll be learning about bats.
There is an optional part 2 that appears in the second verse and last chorus. The spoken/whispered part 2 in the second verse should be a "loud" whisper so the part can be heard. The "ooh's" in the last chorus follow the slide guitar in the backing track, so your students can focus on that as the pitch reference.
When people think about bats, the first things that come to mind might be spooky things or rabies. Yes, disease is a problem in the bat population, but the numbers consist of only a small percentage. Yes, vampire bats do exist, but they never turn into vampires, and they feed primarily on domestic livestock, as well as wild mammals and birds. There are many fun facts about bats beyond the few things we normally hear. Did you know that they are the only flying mammal? (Flying squirrels just glide, they don't fly.) You would be shocked to know how many species of bats exist, and that they are found all over the world.
A Bat-Tastic extension! - Since there is more to learn about bats than we could put in the song, we included a Bat Information Sheet and a quiz (with answer key) as an online extra for you to hand out to students (or even adults, if you'd like!). That way, you and your students can learn more about these wonderful creatures of the night.
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.