Head, Shoulders, Knees, and all that

Knock Knock News

I haven't been able to post as much I'd like the past month or so because we've had a lot of projects going on at our school, Knock Knock English. Hence the heavy doses of youtube, the lazy bloggers' new best friend. Hope you are enjoying the clips.

Our second CD, Super Simple Songs 2 is available at iTunes now (direct link). Please check it out if you have toddlers in your life. It's ideal for following up on and reinforcing some of the basic skills they are learning in pre-school and kindergarten...counting, weather, shapes, body awareness, etc. And the songs are at a level where even emerging speakers will take pride in being able to sing them.

If you already have the CD, please take a moment to write a short review for us at iTunes or CDBaby. We'd really appreciate it.

In other Super Simple Song news, we've got a website up. We're still building and adding and probably always will be, but if you are interested in some activity ideas to accompany our Super Simple Songs, you'll find them at www.supersimplesongs.com.

A big thanks to everyone who has downloaded our podcast,　こどもと英語で話そう！. We've had over 1,000 subscribers in the first few weeks and it's been a lot of fun making them. Again, it's primarily for Japanese speakers interested in learning some simple English expressions to use with their children, but English speakers can pick up some simple Japanese as well. You can subscribe through iTunes here. Our fifth episode will be out in a couple days and it focuses on simple expressions you can use when your child needs to use the bathroom. If you ever wondered how to say pee-pee and poo-poo in Japanese (come on, you know you did), your lucky day is almost here.

Our school manager, Ayako (that's her on the podcasts), has a new blog out for those of you who read Japanese. 日本語を読める方、あやこのブログをぜひcheckしてください。

And finally, a big thanks to all of our students and their parents. We've had a great first term. Thanks for all your efforts and making classes such a blast!

Have a great weekend!

Pancake Mountain

Pancake Mountain is a name I've heard bandied about here and there, but never really knew much about. 

Well, I know a little bit more now.  My friend and D.C. girl Tanja sent along this WaPo article that gave me the background on this Washington D.C. based DIY show which features (among other things) indie bands playing in front of an audience of young children and their parents.

Here's a clip from the show of Craig Wedren performing "Stuck"   

There are few more Pancake Mountain clips at youtube including great clips of the Subways and Bright Eyes.  Or head over to the Pancake Mountain website where you can watch clips of perfomances and skits, as well as buy Pancake Mountain DVDs.   Always great to see kids dancing and enjoying music.

Kindie Rock

Stefan links to a nice article on the state of children's music over at Salon, touching on the big hitters (Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, Milkshake, Justin Roberts, TMBG, etc.).   Check it out!

Here's a little Justin Roberts from youtube.  Enjoy.

(Artists and managers, if I ever post something from youtube or another source that you'd like taken off the site, please let me know and I'll take it down immediately.)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

This week and next, I'm reading the Bill Martin/Eric Carle classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do Dou See? in some of my classes.  It's amazing how quickly even some very young non-native English speakers respond to and "learn" this book.  Eric Carle's art is simple yet vivid, and the repetition in the words is so comforting and confidence-building.  The simplicity of the book makes it one of those classics that children can read by themselves before they can actually read words. 

We like to listen to Greg and Steve's song version of the book off of their CD Playing Favorites, which also has a nice version of Woody Guthrie's Put Your Finger in the Air (with an Obla-di, Obla-da riff) along with other classics.  Click here to hear a short sample of Greg and Steve's Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

Or listen these kids give it a shot.

Being a staple of kindergartens and primary schools around the world, there are a ton of great lesson plans, activities, and crafts available on the web to support the book.  Start with DLTK and check out Eric Carle's site.  The Virtual Vine is another good resource.

 

Learn by teaching

Some food for thought...Beth at Beth's Blog (amazing coincidence that!) posts a really helpful chart on learning retention rates that is a nice reminder to teachers of all ages. People retain knowledge and skills the most when they teach others...it's something that most of us consciously are aware of but often somehow lose sight of when planning classes. Keep it in mind!

(Happy Birthday to Sara!)

Eleven Twelve

From the 70s American children's program The Electric Company...here is how I learned to count to twelve.

What are some of your favorite counting songs?

Update: Correction...this song was featured on Sesame Street, not The Electric Company. And I neglected to mention that the song is performed by none other than the Pointer Sisters (something that my friend Tanja told me long ago but I forgot). Go here for a re-mix version of the song complete with footage from the Beatles' Yellow Submarine movie. And go here for the story on the song's creation from its composer and producer.

Songs for Dad

Stefan has a few suggestions over at Zooglobble.

I'm Gonna Catch You

I wrote last month about how I feel good kids songs, especially good songs for the under 6 crowd, often have the part where.  The part where we walk like elephants, or the part where the music gets faster and faster, or the part where we sing really quietly and then really loud! 

I mentioned I felt Laurie Berkner excelled at that.  Here is a clip that demonstrates what I was trying to talk about.  Simple, repetitive lyrics with variations thrown in and fun little actions to do for each day of the week.  And the tempo change at the end tops it all off.  Some songs really fit well in the classroom, some better in the car or at home.  This one works everywhere.

Here are the lyrics if you'd like to sing this song with your kids/students.

Thank You Daddy

The first official observance of Father's Day in the U.S. was in 1910 in Spokane, Washington.  Sonora Louise Smart Dodd came up with the idea while listening to a Mother's Day sermon at church in 1909.  She rounded up community support and the following year on June 19, the birthday of her revered father who raised six children on his own after his wife died during childbirth, Father's Day was observed. (Thanks to Kids Domain for the info.) 

With Father's Day a few days away, check out Nancy Stewart's very sweet song of the month, Thank You Daddy, a definite ear-worm with a chorus that even emerging speakers will enjoy singing.  You can also find some more ideas for Father's Day  Songs at Preschool Education.com.

Nancy also links to a site I use a lot when choosing gestures to use with songs we sing in class, the ASL Browser.

For more on children and signing, have a quick listen to NPR's story from a couple of weeks ago, Toddlers Find Their Voice in Sign Language.  And for some Father's Day activity ideas, start here.

English for young children podcast

We've made a new podcast at Knock Knock English for Japanese parents/teachers interested in using some simple English expressions with their young children/students.  The podcast features some basic expressions, in English and Japanese, adults can use with children naturally throughout the day.  For English speakers, you can use the podcast to pick up some simple Japanese expressions you can use with your children!

We'd love to get as many subscribers as possible the first week, so please take 10 seconds right now to subscribe with iTunes  by clicking here, and pass it on! 
If you don't have iTunes, you can access the podcast at podomatic.

日本のiTunesをつかう方、ぜひぜひsubscribeして、友達に教えてください！日本のiTunesのtop 100に入りたい！

The podcast features some clips from our CD, こどもと英語で話そう! (Let's speak English with the kids!...or something to that effect.)  The CD features all of the expressions in English-Japanese and Japanese-English so you can practice in an audio flashcard style, and it comes with a laminated poster including all of the expressions, great for putting on the refrigerator or using as a placemat at the dinner table.   Although designed for parents, it was recorded in a gentle tone that kids enjoy as well.  Unfortunately, the CD isn't well designed for English speakers looking to learn Japanese, but again, you can pick up some simple expressions with the podcast.

Thank you!  よろしくおねがいします！

Update:  If you are having trouble reading the Japanese characters in this post, try setting your browser encoding to "default".