Are you thinking ahead to next year, and wanting to plan your musical programs? In today's post, I'm compiling blog posts--some written by me, and some by others--that detail programs based off of children's literature and themes, so that you can adapt and use if you'd like! Wangari's Trees of Peace : In this blog post, I detail using this book for a fifth grade program. Wonderful if you're looking to integrate multicultural music with your upper elementary students! On the Day You Were Born : In this blog post, I write about using this beautiful book as a basis for a fifth grade program. The Gratitude Tree : In this blog post, I discuss using this fun book--written by my friend Stacey at Expressive Monkey --as the foundation for a third grade program. You Belong Here : In this blog post, I compile ideas for a third grade program for the heartwarming book, "You belong here." Olivia's Birds : I loved this fourth grade program,......

If you've ever directed a musical program, you know how those "little" things can really add to a performance. In today's post, I'll discuss some special effects that I've tried for various performances, to add another layer to each musical! #1: Flashlights If you are planning any kind of firefly song at your program, flashlights are a really awesome addition! Here is one of my favorite firefly songs, a Japanese folk song called "Hotarukoi." A rough translation of the text is: Ho, ho, ho, firefly come, Here is some water that's bitter, Here is some water that's sweet to your taste, Ho, ho, ho, firefly come. You could hand out flashlights to all students or just some of the students, and for that song, have the lights turned off. Then, as they sing the song, they randomly turn the flashlights off and on! It's a really cool effect that looks very much like fireflies! You can purchase flashlights like the ones I used here . #2: White gloves ......

Need ideas for a third grade program? In today's blog post, I'm writing about my program, "You Belong Here." I created the program based on the beautifully illustrated book  by M.H. Clark and Isabelle Arsenault .  about how we are all unique, and how we are all loved!  Here is  a summary of songs and dances I used for the program (and make sure to keep reading to find out about a fun 5-day musical program challenge I'm hosting in a few weeks!) I did this program with third grade, but it could also work for second grade. I split the text up between 28 narrators. For the first part of the program, I had two narrators come up and read the text in the book from "The stars belong" to "here with you." After those two narrators, I had students sing "Who has seen the wind," which is based off of the text by Christina Rossetti. The notation can be found in this blog post . I taught the song to all of the third graders, but had one class arrang......

Today, I am writing about a program I created for my third graders, based off the book "The Gratitude Tree" by my friend Stacey Peters (known as Expressive Monkey on TpT .) You can view this book by clicking the image below. The book is a really cute and inspiring story about a tree who thinks he's ordinary, until he realizes that every time he feels gratitude, his leaves change color! It's a great way to talk about gratitude, kindness, appreciation, etc. with your students. This blog post will include  a summary of songs and dances I used for the program, as well as scenery ideas! I did this program with third grade, but it could easily be adapted for second or fourth. I split the text up between 22 narrators, and I also had one student who was a tree and another who was a bird. (I bought the tree costume and the bird costume on Amazon...if you are crafty, you could make them yourself!)  For the performance, I had Stacey's book projected onto the screen on our ......

Today, I am writing about a program I created for my third graders, based off the book "The Gratitude Tree" by my friend Stacey Peters (known as Expressive Monkey on TpT .) You can view this book by clicking the image below. The book is a really cute and inspiring story about a tree who thinks he's ordinary, until he realizes that every time he feels gratitude, his leaves change color! It's a great way to talk about gratitude, kindness, appreciation, etc. with your students. This blog post will include  a summary of songs and dances I used for the program, as well as scenery ideas! I did this program with third grade, but it could easily be adapted for second or fourth. I split the text up between 22 narrators, and I also had one student who was a tree and another who was a bird. (I bought the tree costume and the bird costume on Amazon...if you are crafty, you could make them yourself!)  For the performance, I had Stacey's book projected onto the screen on our ......