Current Playlist

These are the songs I want played at the reception (in no particular order):

- My Girl
- Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie :Bashful Blond
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Be My Baby
- Daydream Believer :The Monkees
- Do Wah Diddy Diddy
- Leader of the Pack
- I Get Around
- Twist and Shout
- Pretty Woman
- Ticket to Ride
- Help! :The Beatles
- Give Love :Andy Grammer
- Ride Wit Me
- Semi Charmed Life
- Jump Around :House of Pain
- Yellow Submarie :Beatles
- Mmmbop
- (Everything I Do) I Do it For You
- One Week
- Bye Bye Bye
- Truly Madly Deeply
- Tubthumping
- Vogue :Madonna
- I Would Walk 500 Miles
- Wonderwall
- Good Vibrations
- Closing Time
- Stacy's Mom
- Mambo No 5
- All Star
- No Scrubs
- Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)
- Gold Digger
- Beautiful Day
- E.I.
- Lady Marmalade
- Complicated :Avril L
- Where is the Love?
- Ignition
- Wouldn't it be Nice?
- Fun Fun Fun
- Help Me Rhonda
- Here Comes the Sun
- Surfin USA
- We're Not Gonna Take It
- Barbara Ann
- American Woman
- You and Me :Dave Matthews Band
- Tainted Love
- Brighter Than Sunshine :Aqualung
- Bette Davis Eyes :Kim Carnes
- Wonderawll
- What's Love Got to Do With It
- Say Amen (Saturday Night)
- Shout
- Burn the House Down:AJR
- What a Wonderful World
- I Melt With You
- Jump Rope :Blue October
- Walk Like an Egyptian
- I Hope You're Happy :Blue October
- &Run :Sir Sly
- 8675309/ Jenny
- Wannabe :Spice Girls
- Fear :Blue October
- This is Me :The Greatest Showman
- My Sharona :Get the Knack
- Red Red Wine
- Love Shack
- Centerfold :J. Geils Band
- Play that Funky Music
- Never Gonna Give You Up
- Killing Me Softly
- Dancing in the Dark
- Mamma Mia :Abba
- Brown Eyed Girl
- You're the One that I Want :Grease
- Jessie's Girl
- Ring My Bell
- Uptown Girl
- The Greatest Show
- Don't Go Breaking My Heart
- American Woman
- Summer of 69
- Hooked on a Feeling
- Material Girl
- When Doves Cry
- You Give Love a Bad Name
- Billie Jean
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Livin on a Prayer
- All the Small Things
- Walkin On the Sun
- Amazed (Lonestar)
- I'm a Believer
- I Love Rock n Roll
- Sugar Sugar :Everything's Archie
- Sweet Dreams (are made of this)
- Every Breath You Take
- I Got You Babe
- (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
- The Twist
- Kiss Me
- Good Vibrations
- Jump :Van Halen
- Wild Thing
- Girls Just Want to Have Fun
- You Can't Hurry Love
- I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
- High :Sir Sly
- I'll Be There For You
- Don't Stop Believin :Journey
- Natural
- Simplify
- Keeping Score
- Your Man
- Rich Girl
- 1950
- Something Human :Muse
- Burin It Down
- Sunshine and Whiskey
- Gimmie That Girl
- Show You Off
- She's Dope
- Nothing's Going to Change My Love For You :Westlife
- Crazy Lucky
- I Want Crazy
- Beautiful Day
- We Will Rock You
- Marry You :Bruno Mars
- God Gave Me You
- Love Runs Out
- The Wire
- I Wanna Get Better
- Keep On Keeping On :Travie McCoy
- Body Talks :The Struts
- Runaway Baby :Bruno Mars
- Wanted : Hunter Hayes
- Beautiful in White
- I Wanna Grow Old With You :Westlife
- Little Bitty Pretty One
- How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You
- Rockin' Robin :Bobby Day
- Ain't to Proud to Beg :Temptations
- Happy Together
- She's So Mean
- The Fighter
-  Accidentally in Love
- Sweet Home Alabama
- Beverly Hills
- Wobble Baby :V.I.C.

A Little Bit Country

This summer I started listening to country music again and I wanted to jot down some of my favorites so I don't forget:

- Ready, Set, Roll
- Burnin' It Down
- American Kids
- When I Look at You
- We Are Tonight
- Beachin'
- Drunk On A Plane
- Something Bad (Is About to Happen)
- Sunshine and Whiskey
- Yeah!
- This is How We Roll
- Get Me Some of That
- Play it Again
- Leave the Night On
- I Don't Dance
- Whiskey in My Water
- Show You Off
- Summer Jam
- Bottoms Up  
- Feelin' It 
- House Party
- Dust 
- Hope You Get Lonely Tonight 
- Bottoms Up 

And these songs are not country but I love them: 

- She's Dope
- Crazy Lucky (This would be great for a wedding)
- I Wanna Get Better
- Turn Down for What
- Keep On Keepin' On
- Problem
- Fancy
- Boom Clap
- Love Runs Out
- Come With Me Now
- Really Don't Care
- The Wire
- I Want Crazy  
- God Gave Me You 

Echolation

Back in October we were reading tons of books about Halloween. One day we specifically focused on Bats. We read Stellaluna, made upside-down hanging bats and watched this YouTube video called, Echolation. We also had Mrs. R stand in the middle of the room and a student hide somewhere. The student and Mrs. R would "beep" at each other and eventually Mrs. R found her. The kids loved that and they really seemed to enjoy learning all about bats! 

Since I was in such a batty place, I wanted to introduce the 16 month old I nanny for to bats too. She enjoyed my singing of the Echolation song and the cute bat song below:

Flutter, flutter little bat,
How I wonder where you're at.  

Swooping through the darkest night, 
You find your way without a light.

Flutter, flutter little bat, 
How I wonder where you're at!

Popcorn!

Yesterday, in my first grade class we sang a song called, "Pop! Goes the Popcorn!" When I got home I wanted to find that song and print it out for future use with the girl I nanny for but I could not find it anywhere! This morning I stumbled across, Popcorn Storytime which included finger plays, songs, poems and more. On the list was the song I was looking for- YAY! I adjusted the actions to match what we did in class but you can find the alternative actions and other poems, songs, crafts, books and more here.

Pop! Goes the Popcorn!
(Tune: Pop Goes the Weasel)

Sizzle goes the popcorn oil (wiggle fingers over head)
Click clack go the kernels (snap fingers)
Now we're waiting, (look like you're waiting)
When will it start? (Put up hands like you are wondering)
Pop! Goes the popcorn! (clap hands)

Buzzzz!

Start this rhyme by putting on the glove and hiding your hand behind the beehive.  Then say something like this: Do you know what this is? It’s a beehive!  Do you know what lives in a beehive? Bees!  And what sound do bees make? Buzzzzzzz.  Everybody buzz like a bee!  Keep it going…

Here is a beehive. Where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees.
Soon they come creeping out of the hive (have one bee peek out)
1-2-3-4-5! BUZZ! (bring each finger out as you count)
(make your bees fly all around the hive)

Thanks, Sunflower Storytime for this great idea!

Leaf Songs

Today, http://www.survivingateacherssalary.com found a great collection of leaf songs and poems at the Busy Teachers Cafe. Here were a few of my favorites:

Leaves Are Falling
to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"
Leaves are falling, leaves are falling,
All around, All around,
Brown and yellow leaves, red and orange too,
On the ground, On the ground.

Raking Leaves
I like to rake the leaves
(Make raking motion with hands.)
Into a great big hump .
(Pretend to pile leaves.)
Then I move back a bit,
(Take a step or two back.)
Bend my knees and jump!
(Bend knees, then jump.)

Ten Little Leaves
to the tune of "Ten Little Indians"
One little, two little, three little leaves,
Four little, five little, six little leaves,
Seven little, eight little, nine little leaves,
Ten little leaves fell down.

Five Little Leaves
Five little leaves so bright and gay
(Hold up five fingers.)
Were dancing about on a tree one day.
(Dance in place.)
The wind came blowing through the town,
(Sway with the wind.)
And one little leaf came tumbling down.
(Gently tumble to the ground.)

Four little leaves . . . 

The Leaves Are Falling Down
to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"
The leaves are falling down,
The leaves are falling down,
Fall is here, and winter's near,
The leaves are falling down.

 The Leaves on the Trees
to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"
The leaves on the trees are changing color,
Changing color, changing color,
The leaves on the trees are changing color,
All around the town.

The wind makes the leaves say "Swish, swish, swish,"
"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish,"
The wind makes the leaves say "Swish, swish, swish,"
All around the town.

Then the leaves come tumbling down,
Tumbling down, tumbling down,
Then the leaves come tumbling down,
All around the town.

The leaves on the ground make crackling sounds,
Crackling sounds, crackling sounds,
The leaves on the ground make crackling sounds,
All around the town.

We'll rake them up into a pile,
Into a pile, into a pile,
We'll rake them up into a pile,
All around the town.

ECFE Songs, Fingerplays, and Recipes

Acorn Brown:

I'm a little acorn brown,

Lying on the cold, cold, ground,

Somebody came and stepped on me,

That is why I'm cracked you see,

I'm a nut

(knock head and click tongue)

I'm a nut

(knock head and click tongue)

I'm a nut, I'm a nut, I'm a nut!

Two Little Airplanes:

Two little airplanes sitting on a cloud,

One named quiet, the other named loud,

Fly away quiet. Fly away loud.

Come back quiet. Come back loud.

The Apple Tree:

Way up in the apple tree,

(point up high)

Two little apples smiled at me.

(index fingers at corners of smile)

I shook that tree as hard as I could,

(shake pretend tree)

Down came the apples,

(point finger up in the air, then point down)

Mmmm! They were good.

(rub tummy and smile)

Five Little Pumpkins:

Five little pumpkins were sitting on a gate.

The first one said, "My it's getting late."

The second one said, "There are witches in the air."

The third one said, "We don't care."

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run."

The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."

OOOOOOOOO went the wind.

Out went the lights.

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Five Green and Speckled Frogs:

Five green and speckled frogs, sitting on a speckled log,

eating the most delicious bugs.

Yum Yum! 

One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool...

now there are four green and speckled frogs.

Ribbit Ribbit!

(Repeat using four; three; two; one green speckled frog(s))

Grizzly Bear:

A grizzly bear, a grizzly bear, was sleeping in his cave,

A grizzly bear, a grizzly bear, was sleeping in his cave.

Please be very quiet, very, very quiet. For if you wake

him, if you shake him, he begins to roar!

R  O  A  R

Traffic Light Cookies:

(These cookies might be fun to try to help your child 

become more aware of traffic lights.)

Shape a roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough into 

a rectangle. Chill the dough until firm. Cut slices 1/4

inch wide. Press a red, yellow, and green M&M into the 

dough so it resembles a traffic light. Bake according to

package directions.

Traffic Rhyme:

Red on top means stop

Green below means go

Yellow in the middle means wait

Even if you're late!

Homemade Stickers:

(All children love stickers. Here's an easy recipe for you to

make your own at home. Children can draw pictures or

cut them out of magazines or wrapping paper.)

Dissolve 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin in 2 tablespoons of

very hot water. Brush the solution on the back of the designs 

or pictures. Let them dry; then simply lick the stickers. If

your child doesn't want to lick the stickers, use a sponge

moistened with water.

Glue Bottle Tip:

Do you get tired of glue caps getting plugged up? Simply

place clogged caps in a bowl of water and microwave

for about one minute. The glue will be much softer and

much easier to remove.

Detergent Scoops:

Don't throw out the scoops that come in detergent boxes. 

They can be used for many things. We love them for our

sensory tables at school. They work better than shovels

or spoons. They also can be used for sorting or counting

activities. Label each scoop with a picture or number.

Have your child pick up the appropriate items.

Counting Song:

Tune: Mary Had A Little Lamb

Lightly tap your foot one time,

foot one time, foot one time.

Lightly tap your foot one time,

Now let's count with two.

(Repeat changing numbers or use other body parts:

clap your hands, shake your leg, etc.)

Gray Squirrel:

Gray squirrel ran up the tree. He look all around.

"Oh dear," said little squirrel, "My lunch is on the 

ground." What did the squirrel see on the ground?

What kind of tree was it? 

**Content from ECFE District 279