Category Archives: Music Smart

Cool “Jazz Baby”

“Brother’s hands tap.
Sister’s hands snap.
Itty-bitty Baby’s hands clap-clap-clap!”
I don’t think it’s possible to read Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler and R. Gregory Christie  aloud without bouncing a bit. This book, which earned the Geisel Honor Award, works on so many levels.  Your Music Smart kids will be pulled into the the rhythm of the rhyme (and no one does rhyme as well as Lisa Wheeler).  Your Body Smart kids can snap or tap along as you read. With all the “doo-wop-doo”s and “bop-bop-bop”s, this is a perfect springboard to introduce onomatopoeia. Brainstorm a list of sound words with your kids and have them find objects in the room (a pencil against an old coffee can) that make those sounds. Put on a jazz cd and let them experiment with keeping the beat. Take photos of your students making the sounds, print them off, and have the kids write the corresponding sound words to make a “Jazz Kids” class book. Cool, daddio!

Do Your Ears Hang Low?

“Do Your Ears Hang Low?” by Caroline Jayne Church is a great choice if you’re looking for a  preschool “print motivation” book. The art is big and bright for group sharing, the text is short and simple, and because it follows the classic song, you can sing-read this book. Books that can be sung will really connect with your Music Smart kids, and because lyrics are often easily memorized, song picture books support beginning readers as they learn to match spoken word to text. To maximize giggles during read-aloud and to guarantee your listeners will pick the book up after class is over, steal borrow this idea that I stole borrowed from ultra cool librarian, Ms. Claire, who stole borrowed it from reading guru Rob Reid. Yep, read the book with a pair of tights on your head, and act out the motions! Dignity is a small price to pay to motivate young readers.

What a Wonderful World!

Ashley Bryan gorgeously illustrated the classic song written by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele to make a picture book perfect for your music-smart kids. Play Louis Armstrong’s version of the song for your little ones, and then sing-read this book. After listening, take little ones outside and look for colors. Use the phrasing from the book: “I see stop signs of red!” You can write on a sheet of paper: “I see ____ of ____.” Kids can complete the sentence and illustrate it for a classroom book, personal “What a Wonderful World” book, or bulletin board. Play the song while you make the art, and you’ll find yourself agreeing – it is a wonderful world!