Bark, Bark

This delightful tune can be used with your youngest students to celebrate Arbor Day or to just learn about the parts of a tree. To make it extra fun, we have a most interesting accompaniment on the recording this time. It features our wonderful string players grooving along to a bit of vocal beatboxing. It's totally cool!

What are the parts of a tree? And just what does that bumpy skin do anyway? Not only does this song answer those questions, it helps clear up any confusion about any other kind of bark we had fun suggesting it might be. While every kid knows about a dog bark, you might want to have a chat about what candy bark is, if your students don't already know. (It's very yummy! But it doesn't belong on trees...)

As you teach the tune, pictures or some type of representation of trees (ones with leaves and ones with needles) might help your students remember the lyrics/parts and learn their places on a tree. Consider starting with name labels on the leaves, roots, and so forth. Point to each part as it is mentioned. Let them point, too, as they learn while singing. If you have a school yard with trees in it, take your students outside and use the real things!

As an extension of your lesson, talk about the importance of trees. This would be a good way to get even very young kids involved in your Earth Day program or your school's focus on the environment, even long after Earth Day or Arbor Day are over. Anything we can do to instill an understanding and love for our planet will help children have a healthy respect for it and treat it responsibly. But you know that.