Music and Reading - No. 2

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mary had a little lamb

Whose fleece as white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went,

The lamb was sure to go!

It followed her to school one day,

which was against the rules.

It made the children laugh and play,

To see a lamb at school.

            Teach your child a song, for example  “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” When they are able to sing the whole song, write out the words on a large piece of paper or cardboard.  Now, sing it very slowly and point to each word as you sing.

           There are many great activities you can use based on this song. There is a cute video with words that you might want to show your child after you have taught him/her the words slowly.

Full version:
Written by Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book (1830s) | Copyright Unknown

Mary had a little lamb,
Little lamb, little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went,
Mary went, Mary went,
Everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go

It followed her to school one day
School one day, school one day
It followed her to school one day
Which was against the rules.

It made the children laugh and play,
Laugh and play, laugh and play,
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school

And so the teacher turned it out,
Turned it out, turned it out,
And so the teacher turned it out,
But still it lingered near

And waited patiently about,
Patiently about, patiently about,
And waited patiently about
Till Mary did appear

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"
Love Mary so? Love Mary so?
"Why does the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."
Loves the lamb, you know, loves the lamb, you know
"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know."
The teacher did reply

***

 

Now, try the same exercise with “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”

Old MacDonald lyrics

Old Macdonald had a farm ee-eye, ee-eye-oh.
And on that farm he had a duck ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.
With a quack, quack here and a quack, quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack.
Old MacDonald had a farm, ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.

Old MacDonald had a farm ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.
And on that farm he had a cow ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.
With a moo, moo here and a moo, moo there.
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo.
Quack, quack here and a quack, quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack.
Old MacDonald had a farm ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.

Old MacDonald had a farm ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.
And on that farm he had a dog ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.
With a woof, woof here and a woof, woof there.
Here a woof, there a woof, everywhere a woof, woof.
Moo, moo here and a moo, moo there.
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo.
Quack, quack here and a quack, quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack.
Old MacDonald had a farm ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.

Old MacDonald had a farm ee-eye, ee-eye oh.
And on that farm he had a pig ee-eye, ee-eye oh.
With an oink, oink here and an oink, oink there.
Here an oink, there an oink, everywhere an oink, oink.
A woof, woof here and a woof, woof there.
Here a woof, there a woof, everywhere a woof, woof.
Moo, moo here and a moo, moo there.
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo.
Quack, quack here and a quack, quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack.

Old MacDonald had a farm ee-eye,ee-eye-oh.

             Kids will have great fun making the barnyard animal sounds. Then you can have them try to write their sounds. They can also  try spelling words that rhyme with these sounds. For example, “peep”  rhymes with “jeep,” “sleep,” “creep,” etc.

            Then try writing out the song with some missing words. Have the children sing the song and when they come to the missing word, have them fill it in. Most of all, have fun!

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