If you subscribe to MusicK8, then I know you are as big a fan as I am. What a great resource for all things music, kindergarten through 8th grade. My school has subscribed for years; we have volumes 6-18, with a few years skipped here and there. We no longer subscribe, as the cuts in education funding have limited what we can purchase each year (but that’s another story…don’t get me started!).
Anyway, Monday I was poking around the St. Patrick’s Day songs on MusicK8.com when I discovered this little gem – The Little Leprechaun, from Volume 18, No. 4. What a fun little tune that outlines the legend of the leprechaun.
The best part about this little tune is that it only consists of 3 chords: Dmin, Cmaj, and Fmaj. This works perfectly for Boomwhackers. I made up some chord cards to use real quick (I used my wonderful Mr. Sketch markers and some printer paper and it took no time – sometimes the “old fashioned way” is the best!)
For the lesson, we talk about the term chord and define it as “three or more notes played at the same time” (conveniently, this was a vocabulary word for 4th grade this week). We then explore playing different chords on our Boomwhackers and settle on the three for the song – Dmin, Cmaj, Fmaj. I go over the chord progression – which I simplified as
Refrain/Verse: D / / / C / / / / :|| Bridge “Can you catch…”: F / / / C / / / :||
Then we play the chords along with the recording. We also try singing the lyrics while playing It’s super fun, not to mention working towards standards: playing with others, singing with others, reading music.
If you don’t already subscribe to MusicK8, I highly recommend it. They also have a partner website, www.musick8kids.com when you can go to purchase and download their songs without a subscription. Go here to see “The Little Leprechaun” listing. I recommend this if you are considering a subscription; however, they state that these downloads are only for recreational purposes and that if using in a classroom, you must purchase the rights to the songs through a subscription. Thanks!!
One more thing….for more St. Patty’s Day ideas, check out Make Me Musical by Susan Seale. Some great ideas going on over there!!
winsomemusic.blog 
I have that volume but I don't think I've ever used it – thanks for pointing it out! Look up \”Jolly Jack the Leprechaun\” in MK8, too, if you don't already know it – it's in the \”Network\” section of the March/April issue, probably around vol. 11 or 12 or so (it should be in the index, though). That one is always a hit with the Ks and 1sts, particularly since there's a game involved, and you can even give out such nifty prizes for participation as a paper shamrock you cut out with the die cut machine… (I used to use stickers until I discovered that they get just as excited over construction paper :)It's a bit of a personal investment, but after my first year of teaching I started buying the MK8 subscription myself instead of through the school, and I'm glad I did because they got to travel with me when I changed schools. Thanks for sharing your ideas, Claire!~Ann W.
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