Eclectic Approach in Elementary General Music: Folk songs by grade level

Introduction: Eclectic Approach for Comprehensive Curriculum in Elementary General Music

At my school, I only teach three different elementary music classes: Preschool/Kindergarten, First/Second, and Third/Fourth grade. This poses some unique challenges and opportunities, the first of which is curriculum. Let's suppose that I have a great third grade curriculum from some book resource that I want to use. I can teach it to the third and fourth graders this year, but then next year the fourth graders will have already gone through the entire curriculum and would just be repeating every lesson. Okay, now suppose that I can take my third grade curriculum and split it up between two years, that way the third graders will get half of it this year and the other half when they are in fourth grade. I think we're on the right track, but what about my fourth grade curriculum? If I try teaching it to the third graders, then I'll have to modify it because otherwise it would be too advanced (hypothetically). If I try splitting it between two years again, then the students will struggle through the first half of the fourth-grade curriculum (again, hypothetically). This same problem affects my kindergarten/preschool curriculum and my first/second grade curriculum. What is there to do?

In order to solve this problem, I have been working on what I would call a "three-tiered" curriculum. The first tier is a large collection of songs, lessons, and activities for preschool and kindergarten. The second tier is a collection for first- and second-grade students, and the third tier is for third- and fourth-grade students. Here's the mathematical breakdown: if I have the students for 40 weeks in a school year, minus about five weeks for the Christmas program, and each class learns about three or four songs and/or activities per week, that means that each year, I will need to have between 120 and 125 songs and activities for each tier. Multiply that number by two so that the curriculum is not repeated while a student is in the same tier, and that brings the number to about 250 songs and activities for each tier, or 750 songs and activities for the entire curriculum. Ideally, each of these activities would have a detailed lesson plan and music notation and/or a recording to accompany each lesson plan. Many activities would also require additional materials such as ribbons and scarves, worksheets, recorders, and a variety of other instruments.

My three-tiered curriculum is based on the eclectic approach to music education - that is, each music lesson should include (a) singing [Kodaly], (b) playing instruments [Orff], (c) listening and movement [Dalcroze] (d) rhythm and pitch training [Gordon/Feierabend], and (e) music appreciation/theory/history. Furthermore, it is designed around (a) folk songs, (b) folk dances, and (c) Western and world music. The curriculum also includes a book/binder of notation and lesson plans for all 750 songs and activities organized into three tiers.

The book/binder begins with 250 folk songs with notation and lesson plans in each of three sections: Level One (Preschool/Kindergarten), Level Two (First/Second grade), and Level Three (Third/Fourth grade).

Level One: Preschool/Kindergarten

1. A Peanut Sat - one verse, very short song, simple and humorous, 2/4 major I-V-V-I
2. Ally Bally Bee - Scottish folk song, short melody, 1-3 verses
3. Alphabet Song - major key, AABA form 4/4, same tune for “Baa Baa Black Sheep and Twinkle Twinkle”
4. April Cuckoo
5. Bingo - repetitive, omission of letters on repeat, 4/4 major
6. Birthday Song
7. Dance Thumbkin Dance - finger play and song, repetitive, 4/4 major
8. Do As I’m Doing
9. Down By the Station - short and simple, DRM
10. Eensy Weency Spider - major 6/8, short song and actions
11. Five Little Monkeys - can be sung to Hush Little Baby, or spoken
12. Frog in the Meadow
13. Head Shoulders Knees and Toes - short song, body parts, quick melody
14. Hokey-Pokey - song with dance
15. How Many Days - short, days of the week, 12/8, major
16. Hunt the Cows - “wake up you sleepyheads”
17. I’m a little teapot - 4/4 major, short melody
18. If You are wearing Red - action song with colors, same melody as Happy and You Know It
19. If You’re Happy and you Know It - multiple verses, short and easy melody, repetitive
20. It’s Raining, It’s Pouring - short melody
21. Little Bo Peep - short melody, several verses
22. Little Red Cabose
23. Mary Had a Little Lamb - MRD melody, 4/4 major, repetition, several verses
24. Merrily we Roll Along
25. Mister Sun - simple song, some repetition and contrast, 6/8 major, I-IV-I-V-I
26. Old Brass Wagon
27. Old MacDonald - animal sounds, multiple verses, simple melody, 4/4 major
28. On My Head My Hands I Place - DRM melody, action song, 4/4 major
29. One Two Three or Four
30. Pony Macaroni - short MSL melody, tempo stops “he trots and trots and then he stops.”
31. Shoo Fly - short folk song, two sections, 2/4 major
32. Skip to My Lou - folk song, three verses and chorus
33. Taxi, Taxi Stop for Me
34. Teasing Mr. Crocodile - five little monkeys, repetitive with countdown verses
35. Teddy Bear - song with actions, SM melody
36. Ten In the Bed - short melody, very repetitive, countdown verses
37. The Muffin Man - repetitive 2/4 major, 2-3 verses, short melody
38. There She Goes
39. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - simple melody, 4/4 major
40. Walk and Stop
41. Welcome Boys and Girls - “can you clap and count to eight”
42. What Shall We Do When We All Go Out?
43. Wheels on the Bus - song with actions, repetitive, many verses
44. Yankee Doodle - traditional American, 2/4 major, AB form
45. A Sailor Went to Sea
46. Aiken Drum - quick 6/8, short melody with repetition, multiple verses
47. Can You Follow Me? - “it’s always 1, 2, 3” song with actions
48. Circle Round the Zero
49. Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands - same tune as “old joe clark”
50. Closet Key
51. Did You Ever See a Lassie
52. Drive Your Car, Do-oh Do-oh
53. Fiddle-Dee-Dee
54. Five Little Ducks - 4/4 major, repetitive verses, counting down
55. Good Night Ladies
56. Ha-Ha This-a-Way
57. Hello Everybody
58. Here We Go Loopty Loo - can be sung with Hokey Pokey actions
59. Hey Betty Martin
60. Hop on One Foot
61. Hop, Old Squirrel
62. I’m Gonna Sing - spiritual
63. Mouse Mousie
64. Mulberry Bush - repetitive, song with actions, verses and chorus
65. Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone - short melody, 6/8 major
66. Polly Wolly Doodle - folk song, quick melody, several verses, 2/4 major
67. Pop Goes the Weasel - short song, 6/8 major
68. Sally Go Round the Sun
69. The Boatman Dance
70. This Little Light of Mine - traditional spiritual, multiple verses
71. Willaby Wallaby - an elephant sat on me
72. Hot Cross Buns

Level Two: First/Second Grade

1. A-Hunting We Will Go
2. Alice the Camel - same melody as “dem bones”, repetitive song with counting, DRM melody,
3. America - “my country tis of thee”, several verses, long phrases
4. America the Beautiful - “oh beautiful for spacious skies”
5. Apples and Bananas - various vowels, I-V-V-I, 6/8 major
6. A-Tisket, A-tasket - two short verses I-V 4/4, major
7. Au Clair De La Lune
8. Baby Bumblebee - three short verses with actions, quick melody, major 4/4
9. Bill Grogan’s Goat
10. Billy Boy - old folk song, multiple verses, slow 4/4
11. Boom Makaleli - song with game, short repeated melody
12. Criss-Cross Applesauce
13. Do Your Ears Hang Low - quick words and melody
14. Donald Duck - “one legged”
15. Down on Grandpa’s Farm - “we’re on our way, we’re on our way on our way to…”
16. Down to the Baker’s Shop
17. En Roulant, Ma Boule - repetitive chorus, multiple verses
18. Farmer In the Dell - 12/8 major, many verses with new characters
19. Five Little Pumpkins - can be sung to Twinkle Twinkle, halloween, soloists
20. For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow
21. Frere Jacques - french, round, major 4/4
22. Get On Board
23. Go ‘Round the Mountain
24. Go All Around the Village
25. Go Tell Aunt Rhody
26. Goosey, Goosey, Gander - short melody
27. Here Comes a Bluebird
28. Hush Little Baby - many verses, short melody
29. I Hear Thunder - same melody as Frere Jacques
30. I Want to Rise
31. I Went to the Animal Fair - 8ve melody, major 6/8, somewhat short
32. If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops - two/three verses, funny, easy melody similar to allouette, goofy “aah” section, 12/8 major I-I-V-I-I-V-I-I
33. Jim Along Josie
34. Jockie - “here comes jockey, bompsie bompsie”
35. John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt - repetitive, various dynamics
36. Johnny on the Woodpile
37. Johnny Works With One Hammer
38. Kumbaya
39. Lightly Row
40. Little Bunny Foo Foo - short melody with spoken interludes, counting down
41. Little Red Wagon - same melody as “10 Little Indians”, multiple verses, repetitive
42. Little White Duck - multiple verses, 12/8 major, animal sounds
43. Long, Long Ago - major 4/4, stepwise melody, AB form, multiple verses
44. Lucy Locket
45. Michael Finnegan - quick words and melody, folk song, 4/4 major
46. Miss Lucy - several verses “miss lucy had a baby”
47. My Hat has Three Corners - simple song, four lines, leave out words on repeat
48. Noble Duke of York
49. Old Grey Cats are Sleeping
50. Oliver Twist
51. On Top Of Old Smokey - ¾ major, multiple verses, alternative lyrics
52. Over In the Meadow - 10 verses, pleasant melody, animal song
53. Punchinella
54. Remember Me
55. Reuben and Rachel
56. Riding in Buggy
57. Ritsch Ratsch
58. Rock a Bye Baby - 6/8 major, traditional lullaby, 1-3 verses
59. Rocky Mountain High
60. Sally in the Kitchen
61. See the Kangaroo Go By
62. She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain - 4/4 major, repetitive, multiple verses, interjections
63. Shortnin’ Bread - repetitive, southern folk song, multiple verses and chorus
64. Six Little Ducks - three verses, same melody as Five Little Ducks
65. Somebody’s Knocking At Your Door
66. The Bear Went Over the mountain - repetitive, 3 verses, fermata
67. The More We Get Together - repetitive, same melody as “Ever Seen a Lassie”
68. The North Wind Doth Blow
69. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - additive, multiple verses, ¾ major
70. There’s a Little Wheel - repetitive, optional interjections, many verses
71. This is the Song That Never Ends
72. This Old Man - counting song, ten verses
73. Three Little Monkeys - “in a peanut shell”
74. Three Times Around
75. Tingalayo
76. Ton Moulin
77. Up the Ladder - to the tune of Shortenin Bread
78. What Will You Be (On Halloween)
79. When I First Came To This Land
80. When The Saints Go Marching - DRMFS melody, 1-3 verses, traditional
81. William He Had Seven Sons
82. Wishy Washy Wee
83. All Around the Kitchen (cockadoodledoodledoo) - verses with movement, repeated chorus, blues/minor key, shuffle beat
84. All the Pretty Little Horses - minor key, slower, ¾ time, A and B sections, long phrases
85. Auld Lang Syne
86. Captain, Don’t Side Track Your Train - “number 3 in line, comin in on time”, minor key
87. Cut the Cake
88. Draw a Bucket of Water
89. Froggie Went A-Courtin - story song, many verses, uh-hmm response part, 9th range, 4/4 major
90. Going Over the Sea - “when I was one I ate a bun, going over the sea” “going over going under stand at attention like a soldier with a 1 2 3”, 6/8 major arpeggio, actions
91. Grandfather’s Whiskers - same melody as “Noble Duke of York”
92. Home on the Range - classic folk song, ¾ major, 1-3 verses
93. London Bridge - multiple verses, short melody, repetition, folk song
94. Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be
95. Red River Valley - ¾ major, folk song, long phrases, several verses and chorus
96. Row, Row, Row Your Boat - 12/8 major, sung as round
97. Sailing, Sailing - short 6/8, folk song, repeat with changed melody
98. Skin and Bones
99. The Ants Go Marching - repetitive, many verses, minor 6/8
100. The Bear (The Other Day) - echo song, multiple verses, 2/2 major
101. There’s a Hole in the Bucket - many verses, repetitive, short melody
102. Welcome All - January, same tune as Make New Friends

Level Three: Third/Fourth Grade

1. Alabama Gal
2. Allouette - French, 2/4 - 6/8 time, additive, DRM melody, major, AB form
3. Ama Lama
4. Aura Lee
5. Battle Hymn of the Republic
6. Blow the Man Down - sea chantey, quick ¾, solo and chorus
7. Buffalo Gals - several verses, quick melody, 2/4 major, syncopated
8. Camptown Races
9. Chick-a-li-lee-lo
10. Dis Solda La
11. Doctor Bell
12. Do-Re-Mi-Fa - traditional round
13. Down In the Valley - I-V-V-I, ¾ waltz, major, two-three verses, classic folk
14. Ezekiel Saw the Wheel
15. Follow the Drinking Gourd
16. Good Morning - “i’m feeling good today”
17. Great Green Gobs
18. Green Grass Grew All Around - possible echo song, additive verses, fast
19. Hey, Ho! Nobody’s Home
20. I Got a Letter - “far away” vocal ostinato
21. I’ll Rise When the Rooster Crows
22. I’ve Been Working on the Railroad - three distinct sections, folk song
23. Kookaburra - short song, 2-3 verses, australian folk song
24. Little Tommy Tinker - short two/four part round
25. Littlest Worm - same melody as “There was a Bear”, echo song, multiple verses
26. Liza Jane
27. Lost My Gold Ring
28. Make New Friends - round
29. Mary Ann (Caribbean)
30. Miss Mary Mack - several verses
31. My Aunt Came Back
32. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean - ¾ waltz major, 2-3 verses and chorus
33. My Grandfather’s Clock - multiple verses, chorus, longer song, 4/4 major
34. Nobody Likes Me - funny song about eating worms
35. Oh My Darlin Clemintine - many verses, 8ve melody, ¾ major
36. Oh Susanna - folk song, several verses and chorus, quick melody
37. Oh, It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More
38. Old Joe Clark - folk song, 4/4 mixolydian, possible verses
39. Old Tom White
40. Once an Austrian Went Yodeling
41. Over the River and Through the Wood
42. Ram Sam Sam - nonsense syllables
43. Rig a Jig Jig
44. Risseldy Rosseldy - several verses, nonsensical syllables, repetitive
45. Sambalele
46. Sansa Kroma
47. Scotland’s Burning
48. Shake the Papaya Down
49. Take Me Out To the Ball Game - short traditional American song, ¾ major
50. The Elephant Carries a Great Big Trunk
51. There’s a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea - additive verses
52. There’s Music In the Air - hymn-like, 1800s american song
53. Three Blind Mice - quick melody, sung as a round
54. To Stop the Train
55. When Johnny Comes Marching Home
56. You Are My Sunshine - chorus and multiple verses
57. You’re a Grand Old Flag
58. Banana Boat Song
59. Come, Follow Me - round with three parts
60. Cumberland Gap
61. Dem Bones/Dry Bones - foot bone connected to the…
62. Dixie Land
63. Dona Nobis Pacem
64. Down by the bay - echo song, multiple verses, chromatic in melody, 2/4 major I-V-V-I-IV-I-V-V-I
65. Erie Canal
66. My Horses Ain’t Hungry
67. Old Dan Tucker
68. The Riddle Song - three verses, folk song
69. This Land Is Your Land
70. Tom Dooley

Level Five: Elementary School Concert Choir

1. All God’s Critters - religious, but could change to “all these critters”, difficult melody and rhythms, several verses
2. All Night, All Day
3. Big Rock Candy Mountains - multiple verses, folk song, major
4. Botany Bay - Australian folk song, chorus with too-ri-li, several verses
5. Cockles and Mussels
6. Do Re Mi - from the Sound of Music
7. Down By the Riverside - “Gonna lay down my sword and shield”
8. Fox Went Out on a Stormy Night
9. Had a Little Rooster - animal sounds, tricky melody, additive verses
10. If I Had a Hammer - four verses, folk song, 4/4 major
11. Jennie Jenkins - “will you wear” color and rhyme, nonsensical syllables
12. Now Let Me Fly
13. Old Folks at Home - several verses with chorus, folk song
14. One Bottle of Pop - three part round
15. One Finger, One Thumb - song with actions
16. Scarborough Fair
17. Shalom, Chaverim
18. Soldier Soldier Will You Marry Me
19. Somewhere Over the Rainbow
20. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - several verses and chorus, traditional spiritual
21. The Cat Came Back
22. Yo Ho Little Fishy - Australian folk song, short chorus, several verses

Montana Music Teacher