Submitted by Patty O., Arkansas
Idea posted October 11, 2005
Here's an idea for "The Apple Song" from Music K-8, Vol. 14, No. 1 that worked really well with fifth grade. We learned the song then added the PowerPoint by Monica Autry, available on http://musiceducationmadness.com
I bought nine different types of apples from the store. The students were already excited coming in as they saw printed on my board, "4. Try apples." (I always write on the board what we are doing that day.) I bought an apple cutter, and as I cut the apples we talked about the colors and taste of the different varieties. With the apples all cut, the kids lined up, went through the line, and picked one piece of apple that they wanted. As they ate that piece of apple, they got back in line and came through again for a second piece from a different apple. They got back in line again and came through a third time. After that treat (they were so excited!), we sat back down and changed the song to "The Chocolate Song." We changed all of the words to chocolate things we loved and changed the refrain to "I love chocolate!" / "A bar a day makes me smile at you!" and at the end we changed the words to "A bar a day makes me hyper too!" We had an absolute blast with the song, and MAN did they sing out!