Storytime Ideas for Books About Singing

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

First, sing the song correctly

Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
life is but a dream. 

Then sing the song again, but changing the first sound of each word (example below)

Bow, bow, bow, bour boat, 
bently, bown be bream 
Berrily, berrily, berrily, berrily; 
bife bis but ba bream. 

Then sing it again correctly

Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
life is but a dream. 

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain and
washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and 
dried up all the rain, and
the itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the spout again.

Flannel pieces: spider, water spout, clouds, rain drops, sun

Five Little Ducks

Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only four little ducks came back

Repeat and count down until…

Sad mother duck went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And all of the five little ducks came back

Flannel pieces: five little ducks, one mama duck, hills

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on that farm he had a [animal], E-I-E-I-O
With a [noise] [noise] here
And a [noise] [noise] there
Here a [noise] 
there a [noise] 
Everywhere a [noise] [noise] 
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O

Flannel pieces: barn & farmer, different farm animals

Recorded Music:

Make Your Own Kind of Music by Cass Elliot

Sing by The Carpenters

Singin’ In The Rain by Gene Kelly

You’ll Sing A Song by Raffi & Good Lovelies

Relevant Caregiver Asides:

(credit: www.earlylit.net)

• Many of us cannot sing on key. Don’t let that stop you! Singing slows down language and there is often a different note for each syllable. Both of these help children hear the smaller sounds in words. This will later help them sound out words as they learn to read.
• Singing slows down language so children hear the smaller sounds in words. Let’s say the words to this song [example London Bridge Is Falling Down]. Now let’s sing the song. Hear the difference in the way we hear the words? Because children can hear the sounds of the words more easily, you are helping them develop phonological awareness. This will help them later to sound out words when they learn to read.
• Singing the alphabet song is one way that children learn the names of the letters. You can sing the alphabet to different tunes—try singing it to Mary Had a Little Lamb. It’s not as easy as it sounds! Let’s try it together.
• Singing or saying nursery rhymes expose children to words that are not used in everyday conversation. Researchers have found that children who know nursery rhymes find it easier to learn to read.
• As you sing songs and say rhymes together, over and over again, children come to know these rhymes and songs. It becomes part of their world knowledge. 
• Some songs tell a story or have a logical sequence. Children learn what comes next. By having them retell a story using a song helps them understand how stories work and what is happening in the story.