Submitted by Judy Jackson, Springfield, Virginia

Idea posted September 6, 2007

I worked with two classes of Life Skills children for the past couple of years. They are very low functioning and mostly non-verbal. At first, it is rather intimidating because they do not sing at all. After you get the hang of it, it is extremely rewarding. When you can see signs of growth, no matter how small, it is cause for rejoicing. Because one of my students would become very impatient and throw tantrums when I would change the CD, I put all the songs I used with them on a play list on my iPod. Once I did this, it freed me to interact with them physically, and everything became much easier. Here are some of their favorite activities from my last play list:

1. "Good Morning" - (Greg and Steve) This was our warm-up song which never changed throughout the year. I would go to each student with palms of hands facing out, and we would sway to the beat of the music. By the end of the year they would put their hands out to meet me when I came to them. This was huge!
2. "My Head And My Shoulders" - We pointed to body parts. During the interlude, we'd play the drums.
3. "ABC Rock" - I laminated cards with letters of the alphabet on them, and I let them point to the letters as the song played.
4. "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" (from Music K-8, Vol. 11, No. 1) - We used puppets for this one.
5. "The Wheels On The Bus" (from Music K-8, Vol. 13, No. 4) - I had a squeeze-type bicycle horn that we sounded at the end of each verse.
6. "Freeze!" (from Music K-8, Vol. 12, No. 2) - I used a, elastic stretchie circle, and we all held on to it and moved and then froze.
7. "Elephants Have Wrinkles" - (Movement Songs Children Love) - This was their all-time favorite! I had a beanie baby elephant that I would use to touch the parts of the body named in the song.
8. "Snowpants" (from Music K-8, Vol. 13, No. 2)
9. "Rainbows Rock!" (from Music K-8, Vol. 14, No. 4) - waved streamers.
10. "Ring Around The Rosy" - Use the elastic stretchie mentioned above. Everyone holds on, walks in a circle, and falls down at the same time.
11. "Jingle Bells"
12. "Clap Stamp Shake" - (Movement Songs Children Love) - This was our ending song which never changed all year. They loved this song!

These are just some of the activities I used. In general, anything about following directions, body parts, nursery rhymes, animals, colors, numbers, and/or letters. Use visuals, manipulatives, and stuffed animals. Some of my students could even read a bit, so I made visuals of reoccurring words. Think K or even Pre-K type activities. The aides that came with them took care of any behavioral and physical needs, so all I had to do was teach music. The biggest problem is you become bored, because when you have heard the song so many times you want to scream, the students are just beginning to recognize and enjoy it. Hope this helps, and have fun!!!