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HI J

Welcome to Dees’ Ditties! The following educational songs, chants, rhymes (ditties for short) resulted from finding ways to transform those awkward “transitional” moments into interactive, motivational, and FUN learning experiences that Kids will transfer to “Long Term Memory” quickly! According to brain research the more body parts you get involved in the learning the more the learning “sticks”. That is the reason that most of the Ditties have an “action” association along with some sort of rhythmic pattern.

MOST of these Ditties are ORGINIAL while others have been shared by other teachers on that “finding a better” way path. Since “We Are Our Own Best Resource” I hope you will add these Ditties to your personal bag of teacher tricks. Keep them “as is” or change them in any way to fit YOUR teaching style. Hey, we’re all about THE KIDS right? You bet your best Ditty We AreJ

So get ready to “Fill each unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run” and have a whole lotta fun! Oh, thanks so much to the genius of Rudyard Kipling for the “unforgiving minute” quote!

It is essential that you establish a sense of “community” and “belonging” with your class EARLY!

The very best way to accomplish this is to NAME YOUR CLASS! My class name is “The Two~Gether Express”. Our symbol is a train and our song is “The Two~Gether Express Song” which goes like this:

We’re The Two~Gether Express

And We’re the Best

At E.E. Miller we pass the test!

Whenever they ask if we succeed

We proudly say “Oh Yes Indeed”!

Our day is filled with work NOT PLAY

But if you’d see us you’d say “NO WAY”

That work can be made that much fun

Just come inside we’ll show you how it’s done!

We sing Our Song several times each day. It provides a positive Identity for US and establishes comradely and promotes teamwork. It is also used as a signal to “Stop what you are doing and come join your teammates on the whole group carpet”. So you don’t have to rush to the light switch to “blink” them, you don’t have to raise your voice or any other means of getting group attention. All you need to do is start singing your “song” softly, others chime in as they leave their areas to join the entire group on the whole group carpet (or any area where you meet together as a group)! What a powerful tool that is effective in so many ways and on so many levels…..

Please visit us online at:

www.twogetherexpress.com

email deborahdees@ccs.k12.nc.us

Math Ditties

For Rounding

5, 6, 7, 8, 9 round up

4, 3, 2, 1, 0 round down

5 and above

Give it a shove

4 and below

Let it go…..

Place Value

Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, and Ones

Ten Thousands, Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, and Ones

Hundred Thousands, Ten Thousands, Thousands, Hundreds, Tens, and Ones

(you get the idea ;-) Be sure to get the hand motions involved and “plant that grass” which means put the comma after each group of three numbers)

You have 3 houses in each block

And you plant some grass

(the “grass” is the comma between each three numbers~You form a comma with your index finger as you’re singing the song)

If your kids confuse an apostrophe and a comma then you just do the “Apostrophe and comma ditty)

An apostrophe is UP

And a comma is DOWN

Apostrophe is UP

And a comma is DOWN

(as you do the ditty make apostrophes and commas in the air)

ANGLES

Show me a Right Angle (students hold out their arm with hand in a fist in a 90 degree angle)

Show me an Obtuse Angle (students extend their arm past 90 degrees and say that it is greater than 90 degrees)

Go back to a Right Angle (students bring arm back to 90 degrees)

Show me an Acute Angle (students bring arm towards face)

How do you know that is an Acute Angle? Students say “Cause’ you’re lookin’ at a Cutie!

Triangles

Triangles
isosceles 2

Triangles

Equilateral 3

Triangles

Scalene

No sides the same

LINES

A line segment

Has two end points

(Students extend both arms out in front of them with both hands in fists and rock them back and forth as they are saying the ditty)

A ray tries to run away

(Students extend one arm with hand in fist while the other hand forms a V showing the line with an arrow on the end extending from the point)

A line goes on forever

(Students make both hands into V’s to indicate arrows going in opposite directions to demonstrate that a line is infinite)

Parallel, Intersecting

Per pen dic u lar

Parallel, Intersecting

Per pen dic u lar

Parallel, Intersecting

Per pen dic u lar

Lines!

Greater Than, Less Than

Aligator cage

Alligator cage

‘Cause an alligator

Eats up the biggest number

(as you are doing this ditty point to or draw an alligator cage, which is the square that you put between the numbers that you are comparing; put your hands in the form of an alligator’s mouth; make mouth open and close as you say the ditty)

When you create the greater than/less than symbol (that you put in the alligator cage which is the square between the numbers you are comparing ie. < >) say that the biggest number gets two dots (then make two dots next to the largest number) then say that the smallest number gets one dot (then make that one dot next to the smallest number). Finally say, “Now you C O N N E C T the dots” (say this is a very DEEP VOICE)

REGROUPING IN ADDITION

As you’re demonstrating the procedure say that only members of the ones family can live in the ones house, tens family members can only live in the tens, hundreds family etc. Do the ditty:

Don’t let a stranger in your house

(Point and shake your index finger as you say the ditty~~~Any dramatic move helps to connect the learning!)

REGROUPING IN SUBTRACTION

As you’re demonstrating the procedure say that you can’t take 8 ones away from 3 ones so you have to go next door to Mr. Tens house and knock on his door. Physically knock on the board with the “knock, knock a knock knock” rhythm and say

Mr. 5 Tens they want to take 8 ones from me and I only have 3 ones; could you please let me have one of your tens? And Mr. Tens says, “Sure you’ve been a good neighbor! You keep your yard looking nice and you’ve got the cutest little Pug! Here’s one of my tens.” Well you get the idea J

DIVISION

The problem 6 divided by 3 would be:

3 people at your house with 6 pieces of pizza. Say this as you write the problem on the board:

3 people (you write the 3) at my house (you draw the division symbol) with 6 pieces of pizza (you write the 6 inside the pizza house) With this problem there would be no remainder. If the problem were 7 divided by 3 you would go through the same procedure but you would say this about the one left over. Oops we have three people and each person got 2 pieces of pizza what to do with this extra piece? There is just no way you can cut one piece of anchovy pizza into 3 exact parts so we’ll just have to put this one in the refrigerator! That’s when you write the r. (for refrigerator) next to the 2 on top of your pizza house J

This beginning exposure to division ALWAYS accompanies PHYSICAL OBJECTS like unifix cubes. Unifix cubes can be easily linked together for longer “pizza” problems which keeps you from pulling your hair out too much ~~~ wacca wacca

Oh!!!! Unifix cubes are also a great visual for odd and even numbers. I always do the odd even thing whenever we use them……..

For longer division problems use the following:

“Dirty Monkeys Smell Bad Really”

to indicate the procedural sequence of long division.

Dirty=divide Monkeys=multiply Smell=subtract Bad=bring down Really=Repeat

You can still use the same procedure described above with the “pizza house” concept just treat each “bring down” level as another pan of pizza!

Sounds crazy I know but it really does work J

When you have more than one digit

And you wanna divide

Take a close look

At the first pan of pizza (this first pan of pizza is the first number in your dividend….students cover up all numbers except the first digit to see if there is enough “pizza” there for everyone, which is the divisor, for everyone to get at least one piece of pizza. If not they have to look at the second pan of pizza which is the second digit in the divisor)

As you are writing the division problem say and point to:

Di vi sor

Div i dend

Quotient

Be sure to teach writing the problem both ways:

6 ÷ 3= 2

Get those calculators in their hands as soon as possible too! J

ORDER OF OPERATIONS

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

Order of Operations

(Write Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally on the board, point to the words as you do the ditty, underneath the words write the first letter of each word~~~PEMDAS~~~so you’ll be ready to explain each operations once you finish the ditty)

MONEY

You put the change to the side

And the dollar up front

You put the dot, dot, d-dot, d-dot, d-dot, dot, the de cimal

(Repeat the above as many times as you would like and then add)

Dot, d-d-d-dot, d-dot-dot, d-dec imal

I like money to buy things at the store

Money, Money, Money

I always want more (chorus)

A penny’s worth one cent
A nickel's worth five
A dime’s worth ten cent
A quarter twenty-five

Repeat chorus

Lincoln’s on one cent
Jefferson’s on five
Roosevelt’s on ten cent
Washington twenty-five

Repeat chorus

A building’s on one cent
A building’s on five
A torch’s on ten cent
State’s on twenty-five

TIME

(just like the Money Ditty exceptJ)

You put the minutes to the side

And the hour up front

You put two dots, two dots, two dots mean time

You put the minutes to the side

And the hour up front

You put two dots, two dots, two dots mean time

(As you’re doing the ditty use hand motions to indicate two digits for the minutes and one for the hour~~~As dramatic as you can make them the better~~I always roll my wrist…kids are amazed at this because most of them can’t do it yetJ)

DAYS OF THE WEEK

(Song sung to the tune of The Addams Family~~~also cross your arms in front of your body and snap your fingers in true Addams Family style J)

Days of the week

Days of the week; days of the week; days of the week

There’s Monday and there’s Tuesday

There’s Wednesday and there’s Thursday

There’s Friday and there’s Saturday

And then there’s Sunday

Days of the week

Days of the week; days of the week; days of the week

(Once your kids get the hang of this song start with whichever day of the week it is….great for sequencing the days of the week and that means they really know it J)

ODD AND EVEN NUMBERS

1, 3, 5, 7, 9

Odd numbers are just divine

0,2,4,6,8

Even numbers are really great

(mix this ditty up…begin with the even numbers sometime as well)

If there’s a 0, 2, 4, 6, 8

In the One’s place it’s an even number

If there’s a 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

In the One’s place it’s and odd number

(as you’re doing this ditty display number on your fingers and indicate where the ones place would be with your right arm extended to the farthest right position to show where the ones place would be)

SYMMETRY

(With this ditty you need to be standing and run your hand down the front of your body to split it in half vertically)

Sym me try

Same on both sides

Sym me try

Same on both sides

Sym me try

Same on both sides

( as you say the same on both sides part you indicate that with the waving of your left arm for your left symmetrical side and your right arm for your right symmetrical side)

CONGRUENT

Congruent

Same size, same shape

Congruent

(as you’re doing this ditty extend your arm palm up and then palm down in rhythm to the ditty)

FRACTIONS

Numerator

And denominator

Numerator

And denominator

Numerator

And denominator

The numerator is the parts

Denominator in the whole

(as you’re doing this ditty you put your left arm out in front of you for the line between the numerator and denominator~~~with your right hand you indicate the parts of the fraction with hand open and fingers waving above the fraction line….next you punch your fist underneath the fraction line to indicate the dominator)

GRIDS AND X AND Y AXIS

You’ve got to crawl before you climb

X Y Axis

(as you’re doing this ditty you put one arm out straight for the X axis and put the other arm at a 90 degrees angle for the Y axis~~~ALWAYS ASK WHICH ONE DO YOU RECORD FIRSTJ)

Working with graphs that have “Keys” always

Say “Show me your Key” (here you put your hand in the form of key to a lock)

What does your Key do?

(kids have their fingers in the shape of a key and say: It unlocks the graph)

MEASUREMENT

2 cups

Equal a pint

2 pints

Equal a quart

4 quarts equal a gallon

Equal a gallon

(show numbers on your fingers as you do this ditty…Roll your wrist or some other method of making the movements memorable J)

***Tip*** If you have a “Gallon” Man you have a great class group incentive program! Just make the cups, pints, quarts, and gallon into pieces that you can add to “Gallon Man”. When class, group, and/or individual does “the right thing” reward the behavior by saying something like: “ Wow that was an awesome class participation! Shane go trade in 2 cups for a pint on “Gallon Man”! Remember when we trade in all cups, pints, and quarts for that gallon we’ve earned a Pizza Party! I have been using this strategy in my classroom this year and Man has it worked J)

Tally

(have students put “Magic Chalk” in the air which is their open hand, so they can make the tally marks as you sing and act out this ditty)

One, two, three, four

The fifth one tries to touch the floor

One, two, three, four

The fifth one tries to touch the floor

Vertical, vertical, vertical, vertical

Diagonal

Vertical, vertical, vertical, vertical

Diagonal

(go through the tallying motion in the air with “your magic chalk” through the whole ditty)

Doubles

(Have your kids face a partner for this ditty)

First bump fists together and say:

Zero plus zero is zero

One plus one is two

Two plus two is four

Three plus three is six

Four plus four is eight

5 plus 5 is ten

6 plus 6 is twelve

7 plus 7 is 14

8 plus 8 is 16

9 plus 9 is 18

10 plus 10 is 20!

(next relate those facts to multiplication)

(Start with groups of two with each student holding up 2 fingers)

You have 2 in a group and you have two groups

2 times 2 is 4

You have 3 in a group and you have two groups

3 times 2 is 6

You have 4 in a group and you have two groups

4 times 2 is 8

You have 5 in a group and you have two groups

5 times 2 is 10

You have 6 in a group and you have two groups

6 times 2 is 12

You have 7 in a group and you have two groups

7 times 2 is 14

You have 8 in a group and you have two groups

8 times 2 is 16

You have 9 in a group and you have two groups

9 times 2 is 18

You have 10 in a group and you have two groups

10 times 2 is 20

(This can be done in any number of group configurations of course J)

Great math websites to support the learning:

http://www.rainforestmaths.com/

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/maths/dictionary.html

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Clap you hands on your legs as you chant:

Figur a tive lang uage

Then start the following ditties:

Idioms

Idioms

Bull in a China Shop

Idioms

Raining Cats and Dogs

Idioms

Heart on your Sleeve

Idioms

The road is waiting

Idioms

I’m all ears

(etc. etc, You get the picture ~~ Hey isn’t that an idiom?) You can do as many or as few as you’d like

Personification

Per son i fi ca tion

(as you chant this run your hands and arms down the sides of your body; start at your head where you wave your hands back and forth beside your ears. Do this waving motion each time you come to the top of your head. It is supposed to look like Animal Ears! I know you need a visual….. Don’t forget to ask me to do this one J)

Personification means giving human characterists to an animal, object or idea.

(as you say the above bold sentence get your Animal Ears going…. Yup you’d better ask me to do this one)

Onomatopoeia

O no mat o poe ia

Crash, bang, boom

O no mat o poe ia

Buzz, roar, woof

O no mat o poe ia

(Keep going as long as ya want~~~Your kids will help you out remembering many other Onomatopoeia words)

Alliteration

Al lit er a tion

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers

Donald Duck

Mickey Mouse

Al lit er a tion

The wild and wooly walrus waits and wonder where we went!

Al lit er a tion

Al lit er a tion

(again it’s up to you where to stop…)

Oxymoron

Are you an Oxymoron?

Sad joy, the sound of silence

Are you an Oxymoron?

Wise fool, cruel to be kind

(etc.)

Similies & Metphors

Similies use as like or than to compare

Metaphors Do Not!

Exaggeration

Ex ag ger a tion

The fish was this BIG

Ex ag ger a tion

The fish was this BIG

Ex ag ger a tion

The fish was this BIG

(as you are saying this ditty put your hands in front of you about chest high and go from about 1 inch apart to as wide as your arms will go as you are chanting the ditty)

Hy per bol e

Mile-high ice-cream cones

Hy per bol e

Mile-high ice-cream cones

Hy per bol e

Mile-high ice-cream cones

(A hyperbole is a type of figurative language. It is often confused with a simile or a metaphor because it often compares two objects. The difference is a hyperbole is an exaggeration. For example: His feet were as big as a barge. It looks like a simile. It is comparing foot size to the size of a barge. Everyone knows that a barge is approximately 700 feet long. Imagine getting a pair of shoes that big!

Activity: Draw a cartoon about school or your favorite sport that includes a hyperbole (You might draw and exaggerate a humerous situation that you saw or were a part of the action.). Put the hyperbole in a different color so that it is obvious to your teacher.

Definition:
Hyperbole is a figure of speech which is an exaggeration. Persons often use expressions such as "I nearly died laughing," "I was hopping mad," and "I tried a thousand times." Such statements are not literally true, but people make them to sound impressive or to emphasize something, such as a feeling, effort, or reaction. )

Cliche’

Cliché did you say…

No pain, no gain
No pain, no gain

No pain, no gain

Cliché did you say…

Flat as a pancake

Music to my ears

Dead as a doornail

Cliché did you say…

Take a chill pill

Assonance

Repeat the vowel sounds

Assonance

Repeat the vowel sounds

Assonance

Repeat the vowel sounds

Free and easy

Make the grade

Free and easy

Make the grade

Free and easy

Make the grade

Assonance

Repeat the vowel sounds

Assonance

Repeat the vowel sounds

Assonance

Repeat the vowel sounds

Great websites to support the learning:

http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/LitTerms.html

http://www.kidskonnect.com/FigurativeLanguage/FigurativeLanguageHome.html

I’m putting this ditty here but it can go anywhere:

S E Q U E N C E

Sequence 1, 2, 3

First, second, third

S E Q U E N C E

Sequence 1, 2, 3

First, second, third

S E Q U E N C E

Sequence 1, 2, 3

First, second, third

(then go on to say the order of coming eventsJ)

Palindrome

Palindrome

Forward

Backward

The same

Forward

Backward

The same

(give examples of words and numbers that are palindromic like Mom, Dad, racecar, 101, 494,)

Fact & Opinion

A fact is true

Opinion’s about you

A fact is true

Opinion’s about you

A fact is true

Opinion’s about you

(as you’re doing this ditty point up with your index finger in the air as dramatically as you can when you say “A fact is true” and point at yourself when you say “Opinion’s about you”)

Biography/Autobiography

Bi og ra phy

(as you chant Bi og ra phy point to someone in the room once when you say Bi and then point to yourself 3 times when you say og ra phy…meaning that someone else writes a story about YOU)

Auto bi og ra phy

(as you chant Auto bi og ra phy pretend to drive a car as you say Auto and then point to yourself 4 times when you say bi og ra phy ….meaning that YOU are the only person driving your car SO it’s YOU writing the story about yourself)

NOUNS

Show me NOUN

(Hold up three fingers)

A noun is a person, place, or a thing

(as you say this count them with your three fingers)

There are 3 kinds of nouns

A proper noun begins with a capitol letter

(point to your middle finger as you’re still holding up your 3 fingers; and say examples of proper nouns)

Then there is a plain, ole’, common noun

(point to another one of your raised 3 fingers and give examples of common nouns)

And then there are pronouns

(point to another of your raised 3 fingers and say)

A pronoun takes the place of a noun

(as you say this roll your wrist and bring all three fingers into a fist to indicate “taking the place of”; give examples of pronouns while doing this….. I know pronouns are separate parts of speech but I find it more effective to teach it this way….more connections you know…. This may not be a ditty you want to use for that reason…)

VERBS

A verb is a doing word

(as you chant this one sentence VERY SLOWLY dragging out each word as you say it; put your hand in front of your mouth and wave it up and down quickly like you have something extremely hot in your mouth and you’re trying to cool it down. This action distorts what you’re saying enough to be novel for the kids to rememberJ)

ADJECTIVES

(Say, “Show me adjective”; then point to your eye, ear, nose, mouth, rub fingers together, and wave all five fingers in the air as you chant the following ditty)

Jec

Tive

And how many

Jec

Tive

And how many

Jec

Tive

And how many

‘cause an adjective tells what something

Looks like

Sounds like

Tastes like

Feels like

And how many there are

(number being an adjective is hard for my kids so I include number this way. Just leave number out if you have a more effective way…..AND SHARE IT WITH ME TOOJ)

HANDWRITING DITTY

Top to bottom

Not bottom to top

Top to bottom

Not bottom to top

Top to bottom

Not bottom to top

Touch, bump, touch, bump, touch, bump, touch, bump

(as you are singing this one put your index finger in the air and point to top and bottom while singing and then to touch bump each time J)

PUNCTUATION

Punc tu a tion

At the end

Don’t forget to put it

Be my friend

What do all sentences begin with?

Cap i tol let ters!

What goes at the end?

(make clicking sound with your tongue while you punch the air with your fist while saying:)

Period

(make question mark in the air and click your tongue with the dot under the question mark while saying:)

Question mark

(make exclamation mark in the air and click your tongue for the dot under the exclamation mark while saying:)

Ex clai ma tion mark

(when your kids are ready introduce the following in place of the names of the punctuation marks)

De clair i tive

Im pair a tive

In ter rog i tive

Ex claim i tor y

(with these do the same writing in the air and tongue clicking….the kids love it…and they remember~~~sometimesJ~~or and when it come to “testing” time they already know what the types of sentences are!!!!!!)

Great website for sentence structure:

http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/sntstrct.html

SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

You’ve got the subject

Which is the noun

You’ve got the predicate

Which is the verb

And that makes the sentence

You’ve got the subject

Which is (call someone’s name in the room)

You’ve got the predicate

Which is (call out something that person is doing)

And that makes the sentence

COMPOUND WORDS

You take dog and house

You put dog and house

Together makes

Doghouse

(as you chant this one put one closed hand in the air for dog then put the other closed hand in the air for house and bring them together when you say doghouse; repeat this with each compound word you want to use)

You take back and yard

You put back and yard

Together makes

Backyard

You take spit and ball

You put spit and ball

Together makes

Spitball

BUT I HOPE YOU DON’T MAKE IT IN HERE…

(this last one is a wacca wacca of course J)

PREFIX, SUFFIX, AND ROOT OR BASE WORD

Pre fix is at the beginning

Suf fix is at the end

Pre fix is at the beginning

Suf fix is at the end

(as you’re chanting this put your left closed hand in the air to indicate prefix then put your right closed hand in the air to indicate suffix)

What goes in the middle?

The root word!

Ok so put your root down!

(as you are chanting this part cup your hand to your ear when you ask, “What goes in the middle?” When the kids answer, “The root word!” make a downward motion with your right thumb to indicate a “root” being planted~~~next you say the word you are working and do the hand motions that you just did with this ditty~~~example)

Re do ing

Redoing

Pre treat ed

Pretreated

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

Sock means one

Sock is sing u lar

Socks mean more than one

Socks is plur al

(as you’re singing this ditty hold up 1 finger and and move it as you sing; hold up 2 fingers when you start to sing about the plural form moving your 2 fingers in time to the song ….)

Change the Y to an I and add ES

Change the y to an i and add es

To make baby

Be babies

To make lady

Be ladies

(you get the idea J)

CONTRACTION WORDS

This is more “an action” and say type thing. You extend your left arm with closed hand and say any beginning word of a contraction word like “has”. Then extend your right arm with closed hand and say the second word that makes up the contraction word like “not”. Next you’ll say that “You bump these two words together so that letters get bumped off”. Then you bump your two closed hands together as you say “has not”; once they bump you say “hasn’t” ~ immediately put up the thumb on your right hand in the “apostrophe” position! And you say that with contraction words they are bumped together so hard that some of the letters are bumped off. The “o” was bumped off of “not” and an apostrophe took it’s place. Write has and not and x out the “o” and put the apostrophe in it’s place. The physical action of bumping off letters and replacing it with your thumb which is in the same physical position as an apostrophe helps it stick in the mind’s eyeJ Then you can say “Show me” any contraction and your students will respond with exuberance ~ and red hands!

THINKING MAPS SONG

Ah, Thinking Maps

Let’s all talk about the Thinking Maps

Ah, Thinking Maps

Let’s all talk about the Thinking Maps

You’ve got the Circle Map

And the Bubble Map

And the Tree Map

And the Brace Map

And the Flow Map

And the Double-Bubble Map

And the Multi-Flow Map

And the Bridge Map

Circle map is used to brainstorm

Bubble map you use to describe

Tree map is used for classifying

Brace map goes from whole to the parts

Flow map gets it all in sequence

Double bubble map compares and contrasts

Multiflow map shows cause and effect

Bridge map works with an al o gies

(this works well with assigned parts; with each individual or small groups holding up examples of the map they are chanting about)

SCIENCE SONGS

The Water Cycle
tune is some Carmen Miranda banana song

Pre cip i ta tion

Ac cum u la tion

E vap or a tion

Con den sa tion

Pre cip i ta tion

Ac cum u la tion

E vap or a tion

Con den sa tion

Precipitation in the form of

Rain, snow, hail, or sleet

Accumulation in the form of puddles, streams, ditches, canals, ponds, lakes, bays,

All those water words

Evaporation in the form of

Water vapor

Condensation in the form of

Cirrus clouds, altocumulus clouds, stratus clouds,

All the different cloud forms

(This song has actions that go along. When you’re singing Precipitation you indicate that it is raining with your hands to the right side of your body. Accumulation is cupped hands down low in front of your body. Evaporation is your hands with fingers wiggling going up from the accumulation position. Condensation is both hands up high to indicate cloud position. So the whole thing is in a circular motion going clockwise to get the “cycle” relationship across. It is also a good idea to have a poster with the clouds/water cycle displayed somewhere in the room so the kids can reference it when naming the clouds.

PLANETS

Mercury

Venus

The Earth

And Mars

These are the planets

That dwell near the stars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus, too

Neptune

Pluto

I know them

Do you?

ANOTHER PLANET DITTY

Merc u ry

Ven us

Earth

Mars

As ter oid Belt

Jup i ter

Sat urn

U ran us (or Ur an us)

Nep tune

Plu to

(this is the ditty we use we play “Planetary Sparkle” ~ Hey ask me about playing “Sparkle” if you haven’t discovered it yet~ It’s a great game!)

THE VOLCANO SONG

Whoa o o

The mountain’s goin’ to blow

Pooph (throw hands in the air)

Whoa o o

The lava’s goin’ flow (make flowing motions with your hands)

Whoa o o &nbs