Teaching in China (rhythm, pulse, structure) - Video

Teaching in China (rhythm, pulse, structure)

Here's an idea from Michael Roxas, teaching little children to speak English in a playful way, using an action song. The musical value is in matching actions with the rhythm, pulse and structure of a song. It's also an ideal way to help children whose first language is not English, who attend an English-speaking school.

Learning through songs is very powerful - I know the German alphabet much better than the French one because that's how I learned it! The song used here is Frere Jacques, a tune you will know, so you could also use this model to create your own action song for things you want the children to learn, such as right and left. It's important to have a helper to do the actions in front of the children, facing the same way as the children otherwise left and right will become very confusing! Here's an example:

• Wave your right hand
• Wave your left hand
• Touch your nose
• Touch your toes
• Now stand on your right foot
• Now stand on your left foot
• Sit down please
• Stand up please

Songs like this are best sung unaccompanied (as are most songs for this age-group) - this gives you much more freedom to stop and start according to the children's needs.