Barnyard Hoedown

This week we read Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton, a great book gushing with movement words. Because there were so many movement words, I decided to write them all on slips of paper and put them in a jar. After the story, each student had a turn to draw from the jar and tell us what movement to do. I used language straight out of the book like, twirl with the pig, bounce with the bunny, prance with the horses. The student would open the folded paper (a great fine motor challenge for this age group), I would read it aloud, and then the student would demonstrate the move for the group. Then, I would play the ukulele while all the children tried out the movement.

After each student got a turn, we all went down to the hoedown. I encouraged students to incorporate any of the moves we tried, or be any animal from the story, or just dance how they like. We did this for a few minutes until I had all the children hold hands in a big circle. We ended the class by having each student enter the circle and show-off their favorite moves while the rest of the circle clapped and cheered. For the hoedown music, I played Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' Throw down at the Hoedown off their album Left of Cool- how could I not? That quick banjo playing funk style is perfect for these classes!