Saturday 30 April 2016

The Galaxies and The Friends of 20

A few weeks ago I received a very nice message on my YouTube channel from a wonderful teacher named Gillian Keir. Gillian teaches a special group of ten children from  The Glenleighden School, in Brisbane, Australia called "The Galaxies". In her message she mentioned that "The Galaxies" really enjoyed singing along to my  song The Friends of 10.  Click on the link to go to Rocking Dan Teaching Man's YouTube channel.


The children enjoyed learning their addition facts of 10 with The Friends of 10 so much that they decided to write a song to help them learn their addition partners of 20. With the help of their teachers Gillian Keir and Belinda James the children wrote a song called The Friends of 20. When they had completed the song the school's very talented Music Therapist, Vanessa Jouet recorded it and emailed it to me. Wow, it was amazing to hear The Friends of 20 for the first time! The music and lyrics are based on my song The Friends of 10 and it sounds great! 


Gillian asked me if I could animate The Friends of 20 and post it on my YouTube channel. I was more than happy to do this. The amazingly talented teacher and artist Susanna from Whimsy Workshop Teaching very generously gave me some of her number clip art to use for the video. Thanks so much Susanna! Click on the link to go to Whimsy Workshop Teaching's TPT store.


Here it is! The video for  The Friends of 20 Written by the children of "The Galaxies" class and performed by Vanessa Jouet. Enjoy!




Gillian let me know that the children are very excited about performing the song at an upcoming school assembly. They are also writing more songs to help them with their learning! Great job Galaxies. Vanessa is also starting to write some educational songs too! I look forward to hearing them all.
Here are two of "The Galaxies" showing everyone The Friends of 20. 

I've also got a new song about the addition partners of 10 called Do the 10 dance. It's a super fun groovy tune to get the children up and dancing while they are learning their addition facts of 10. Check it out.



Until next time Rock on,
Rocking Dan Teaching Man.







Tuesday 12 April 2016

Get your class moving with these seasonal energizing songs! Bounce up and down it is Spring and Dance like a Scarecrow

Have you just started back at school after Spring Break? Here is a fun way to energize your class, get the wiggles out and stimulate brain function. Bounce up and down it is Spring is a catchy song with a Spring theme to get your kids up and moving and ready to learn. Give it a try in your classroom!


Maybe you're down in the Southern Hemisphere, where the weather is turning cold and the Autumn season has just arrived.  Dance like a Scarecrow is a really fun movement song with an Autumn theme to get your class up and moving so they can refocus and get ready to learn again!  Sway in the breeze, catch the falling leaves and Dance like a Scarecrow!


Brain research indicates that we learn with our whole bodies. Movement set to music is very beneficial in stimulating cognitive function. It also helps children to regulate themselves and creates a good balance between alertness and calmness. So it's a great idea to incorporate movement and music as part of your daily classroom routine.
For more great music and movement song for the classroom check out my YouTube Channel

Until next time Rock on,
Rocking Dan Teaching Man