Blog Posts

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Denise Gagne

Lucky Little Leprechaun - Musicplay 1

Game Directions: Have the class form a circle. Choose one child to be a leprechaun. The leprechaun marches around the inside of the circle. At the end of the second phrase the leprechaun stops in front of a child. They join hands and they “jig” - left heel forward, right heel forward, etc. The children in the circle should do a “sailors hornpipe” at the same time (fold arms and jig in place). Now two children march in the inside circle. They choose two more partners and jig again. Continue with four, then eight, until the entire class has had a turn.

This game is played like the St. Patrick's Day jig in Musicplay 2. There is a kids demo video of St. Patrick's Day jig at www.musicplayonline.com.

Kids Demo

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John John the leprechaun
Went to school with nothing on.
Teacher said, “That’s not fair!
Give him back his underwear!”

Suggestions: Have the children take off one shoe and step the beat while they say the leprechaun poem. The foot with the shoe on will make a louder noise, and will emphasize that that beat is accented.Have the children take off one shoe and step the beat while they say the leprechaun poem. The foot with the shoe on will make a louder noise, and will emphasize that that beat is accented.

Create accompaniment for a poem:

1. Create accompaniment with an Ostinato:
- Have the students think of an ostinato to say with the poem For example: Will you please be fair? or Leprechaun had nothing on!

- Choose non-pitched instruments and have a small group play the ostinato on instruments while the rest of the class says the poem.

2. Create an Accompaniment for the Poem with Word Highlights:
1. Teach the poem.

2. Play the poem on non-pitched percussion instruments. (Play the rhythm of the poem as shown above.)

3. Review families of classroom instruments: metals, woods, drums, shakes and scrapes Try playing the poem on each instrument family. Try playing one line 1 on metal, 2 on woods, 3 on drums, etc.

4. Have the class circle or underline words in the poem that they feel are the most important. In your class, students could use different colored markers to underline words.

5. Choose rhythm instruments, found sounds or body percussion for each highlighted word. Play and say the poem using all the rhythm instruments that you’ve chosen.

6. Just play the poem - think the words.

7. Decide on a final form. You could say the poem, say the poem with all instruments, say the poem with highlighting instruments, just play the poem with the highlighting instruments. The creators should decide on the form. As an extension to this activity, create a simple song using the lyrics. When students have tried either rhythm ostinatos with a poem or word highlighting a poem as a class, it will be easier for them to try doing this with a group.