Submitted by Andrea
Idea posted September 19, 2001
At our school, I'm teaching everyone, including faculty, secretaries and custodians three songs - "America The Beautiful," "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing," and something I have been calling the peace round, but I'm not sure that's the name. "What a goodly thing if the children of the world could live together in peace." The original plan was to perform them as an entire school community for Freedom Week (next week.) We will all come into the central hall (wraps around the building) and link hands as we sing. The peace round will be done as a canon beginning in 5th grade and moving around the school. It will end with K and 1 singing the final line. As I work with each class, an amazing thing has happened. First, the children asked to come in before school to practice. Yesterday morning almost 40 kids showed up half an hour before school started. This morning there must have been 60 kids. Since we couldn't fit in my room and get the full effect, we went into the hall and tried it as a rolling canon. Four teachers joined us. This afternoon I had a dozen staff members ask what time they could sing with us in the morning. It's become the most wonderful way to start the day I could ever have imagined.