I'm sure that, unless your ears are lactose intolerant, you are familiar with the chant that goes:
This chant is a well-known one, but an activity that goes with it comes from the incomparable Lucinda Geoghegan, director of NYCoS and all-round Kodaly games wizard. You can check out her publications of wonderful games here.
The activity is a kind of rhythm-passing game where all students stand in a circle and must say the chant one syllable per person. If a person speaks out of time or says the wrong thing, they are out and must sit down. I have seen variations where you continue playing with the people who are still in and skip over those who are out OR, a much trickier version where you still include those who are out but they don't speak their syllable, everyone must inner-hear it. Yikes!
To make this extra fun, I have a felt icecream cone that I pass around for students to use like a microphone. This led me to use this chant for a solo singing assessment!
Whilst it can be a controversial issue adding pitch to a spoken chant, I think that if it works for your students, then it's a-ok! I have the students pass the icecream, singing the song and at the end, whoever is holding the icecream has to improvise a short so-mi passage about their favourite flavour. It might be as simple as "I wish for chocolate" or as complicated as "I like mint, if I ain't skint, mint's the one for me" (yes, an actual grade 5 came up with that!)
It's amazing how much of a difference a little distraction like an icecream cone can make. Even the most nervous of singers will suddenly find the confidence to perform in front of the class. That's why I love puppets and props so much - they are often the key to your students' confidence and success!
Do you have a favourite icecream game or a memory of singing this chant? Comment below with your stories!
To check out the pattern for this cute little icecream go to my TpT store.