Ready To Learn

Written as a beginning-of-the-year inspirational song, we think this upbeat, lively tune could be used anytime your students are on the brink of a learning experience. A couple of times listening to and singing along with the CD, and we feel relatively sure your students will pick this one up quickly. It is a little tricky in a couple of spots due to the repetition. But with practice, and perhaps some well-placed hand cues from you, they should get it. If you do use hand signals, let students imitate them as you make them so that everyone knows where in the song they are. For example, as you approach the coda (which alters the chorus slightly and adds claps to distinguish it) make a signal such as a fist or mimic the letter "C" with your hand. (Note: A system like this could be very useful in just about any song.) We have also included other suggestions for the performance of this song on the music itself.

To keep things really interesting, we have decided to add sign language to this song. You will find the signs on page 36. You don't have to feel you must employ every sign for every word. In fact, just picking a few key words might be better in your circumstances. We provide them all, just in case.

Regarding the word "clicking" - our artist tells us that this is an unusual word for signing as it typically represents a sound. In this case though, it's a slang expression which is more appropriately defined by something like "happening," which we have included the sign for. If you prefer, you can just have your students snap their fingers for "clicking" instead.