End of the School Year Recap

I finished my final concert this week, a sure sign that the end (of the school year, that is) is near. I thought I would share a few of my moments of amusement from the past nine months. Never a dull moment in the life of an elementary music teacher . . .

1. The Music-Literature Connection
My upper grades performed the musical Oliver! this spring. Oliver Twist was checked out of the school library for most of the year. Go me!

2. The King of Pop Visits
One day, a second grade boy showed up for music class wearing one white glove.

"What's with the Michael Jackson look?" I asked his teacher.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "I choose my battles carefully with that kid."

3. Translating Kinder Speak
When I demonstrated how to play a cabasa one day, a kindergartner exclaimed, "That's like a ramaca!" (Translation: maraca)

4. Selective Singing
During the Winter Program, the first graders sang, "Oh Christmas Tree."

One little girl belted out louder than everyone else, "Oh, Christmas tree! Oh, Christmas tree!"

But those were the only words she knew, so she would just stopping singing and click her pointer fingers at me until it came back around to, "Oh, Christmas tree! Oh, Christmas tree!"

5. Rock Star Music Teacher
The kids were singing "This Land is Your Land," and I was accompanying them on guitar.

"Mrs. Duggan, you should be in a band!" the kids told me.

"You have to know more than three chords to be in a band," I said.

6. What Does the Fox Say?
My sixth graders make music videos at the end of every year. One boy insisted that he was making himself a fox suit. I wasn't quite sure I believed him until he showed up last week, carrying in a pair of red, long-john pajamas with fur sewn on the front and a tail pinned to the back. He also had a fox-ear headband.

What song do you think he recorded?

(Hint: see below)

 

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