Goin' On A Field Trip

by David & Anne Ellsworth

One of the most fun things a kid can do is board a school bus with friends and drive off to an adventure! A break from routine, a focus on something new - there's just nothing like it.

We've chosen for this tune an alto saxophone to carry the melody the kids sing. It's free and easy, hip and catchy. Especially the way Jim Farrelly plays it!

This simple rock song lends itself to many movement options if you so choose. Follow the lyrics or choreograph some of your own. Have students make a "bus" with chairs/desks in rows and acting out the lyrics, complete with a kid bus driver giving announcements at the start. If you have younger singers, let them bounce in their chairs as the bus takes them on a field trip during the refrain. When your singers get to "to-day" or "O-kay," let them put emphasis on it by bouncing higher or punching the air with their hands or stomping their feet.

This song could supplement any unit on travel or be the prep song for actual field trips. Teach it to the real grown-up driver and sing it on the bus!

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.