Shakin' Our Sillies Out in 2nd Grade

Friday was a red-letter day for me as I

returned to dear old Sandhills Farm Life

for a long-awaited singalong.  It was also

something of a reunion, since I was invited

by my longtime assistant Beth Taylor and

TWO former students who are now teaching

at their alma mater: Rachel (Black) Arrington

and Amy (Suddreth) Mathews.  Thanks for

the invitation ladies!

Mrs. Arrington gave me a glowing introduction,

mentioning her own fond memories, such as

nature walks, burning multiplication cards, 

storytelling, and singalongs.

These second graders sat very still and

attentive during those preliminaries.  But

I didn't come for them to just sit still . . .

So we began with a song called

"Shake Your Sillies Out."  And that's just

what we did!

. . . as well as clapping our crazies out,

jumping our jiggles out, yawning our sleepies

 out, and stretching our stretchies out.

I explained to the students my old trick:

if the principal or superintendent happened

to drop in, we would convince them that

our singalong was a READING lesson.

Which, of course, is the exact truth!

In fact, Miss McNeill and other principals

I served under, as well as most Moore County

Schools superintendents have been guests at

my singalongs over the years.  Not to mention

countless parents.

 At least half of the songs we sang today

involved motions.  The children were fast

learners.  In "Boom Boom, Ain't it Great

to be Crazy?" we sang 

"Way up north where there's ice and snow"

"There lived a penguin and his

name was Joe; he got so tired

of black and white . . ."

"He wore pink slacks to the

dance last night!"

All the teachers were entitled to request

their own old favorites.  Their selections

were "The Cat Came Back," "Rocky Top,"

"God Bless the USA," (you should have seen

those young patriots standing tall!) 

and "Jingle Jangle Jingle" (about the cowboy

whose jingling spurs reminded him 'ain't you

glad you're single?').

"And I'd gladly stand up next to you

and defend her still today,

'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,

God bless the U.S.A."

Our variety of songs are laden with subtle

messages-- and sometimes not so subtle:

"And by the way, if you hate to go to school,

You may grow up to be a MULE!"

A song I learned way back in 3rd grade

is "The Desperado." This big, bold man

came into Chicago just to give the West a rest.

"He wore a big sombrero and a gun

beneath his vest . . ."

"And he horsed around just like

a big tornado . . ."

"And everywhere he went

he gave his 'Wahoo!'"

About midway through our hour, we gave

our voices a rest as I shared a tale from my

new favorite storybook: "The Adventures 

of Molly Whuppie."

I love to dim the lights to remove the 

distractions of our surroundings, allowing

us to transport ourselves into the land

of make-believe.  In fact, a huge factor

in motivation, regardless of the subject

matter, is to properly "set the stage."

If you observe how the students hang on 

every word of these old tales, you'd realize

that children of today are still receptive to

the same things that they've loved through

the ages: surprise, adventure, new experiences.

Molly Whuppie is a new type of heroine,

but overcomes every obstacle in the tradition

of Jack in "The Jack Tales."

"Then the door opened and out stepped

a BIG . . . HIGH . . . TALL . . .

GIANT WOMAN!"

After the story's dramatic conclusion, we 

sang a few more tunes.  When it was time

to close, I taught the children an old John

Denver song that I traditionally shared

with my classes: "Friends With You."

"Friends, I will remember you,

think of you, pray for you . . ."

"And when another day is through,

I'll still be friends with you!"

Yes, I had a wonderful time with my

friends, old and new.  The fun of an

old-fashioned singalong never grows old!

Thanks for the invitation, and let's do it again!