Submitted by Connie Herbon, Iowa
Idea posted April 30, 2002
Since "Speckled Eggs" (from Music K-8, Vol. 12, No. 4) is not an Easter song, I thought some might find the following useful for the upcoming weeks of spring. It worked well with 1st and would be even easier with 2nd.
I added the Arabic numerals one - ten, plus the written Spanish numbers, uno - diez, to the eggs in the magazine visual (page 55). I printed them on computer in a large, plain font suitable to fit each egg, then did a cut-and-paste into the eggs in a clockwise spiral around the page. Before starting the song, I had each student color egg #1 pink and egg #10 blue for quick reference.
First time through the song, we listened and touched eggs as named. Second time, we joined in singing, getting the feel for the rhythmic flow of the numbers. Third time same, to get everyone up to speed.
At that point, the students colored the rest of the eggs in colors of their choice, and I distributed speckled candy bird eggs as a treat. We also practiced saying the numbers in Spanish in the same rhythm they are spoken in the song. Forward was easy for them, since we learn Spanish counting in K. Backwards was a real challenge, and we haven't made it up to song tempo yet. I know some will practice on their sheets at home and master it.
What did we accomplish? Well, manipulating numbers is good practice in general for 1st graders. Adding the Spanish language encourages them to exercise the "little gray cells." Doing the Spanish backwards requires use of reading skills, as my students are all English-speaking. Musically, there is a lovely little repeated motive in the song (C'_ B_ A_ C'_ B___). There's also room in the middle of the song for some hand jivin', either teacher-created or student-created.