I am proud to present the very first MelodySoup “Yummy Award”. I call it the “Yummy Award” because when you read this very musical book with students it is a “Yummy” experience!
The first book to receive this award is “The Cheese” by Margie Palatini. This book is just AWESOME! As part of my work with Education Through Music, I play “The Farmer in the Dell” with my students regularly. In fact, EVERY time my kinder, 1st and 2nd grade students come to class, someone will ask, “Can we play farmer?” No matter what else I am teaching, I almost always manage to fit in at least one round almost every lesson. I think that THIS years kindergarten has played it every single day of music. If you would like more information about how to play “The Farmer in the Dell” well enough that your students ask to play it again and again, please have a look at my ETM page.
Because the song “The Farmer in the Dell” is near and dear to the hearts of my students, we can use it as a gateway to explore all types of learning in music, math, and language arts. As we experience the musical elements of the song, because the song is so accessible, we also use it to practice making predictions, using ordinal numbers and patterns and each time we play we retell the story over and over again.
Imagine the delight of my students when after playing “The Farmer in the Dell” for weeks and weeks, I pull out this book and let them tell me what they see….. They are tripping over themselves to tell me the story! This is a perfect book for children who “own” the story of the Farmer because it takes something that the students know and it extends it and re-arranges it into something new and exciting. You see, no one has ever told the story of “The Farmer in the Dell” from the perspective of the Rat before……
Don’t hold back! Read this hilarious book with your older students also…. IF they know “The Farmer in the Dell” Although not nearly as often, even my older students play “The Farmer in the Dell” so they are ready to compare and contrast this book not only to the game that they play but other books they have read.
Did I mention that this is an incredibly funny book? It’s just hilarious and it’s one of those books that adults can appreciate just as well as the children they read to. This is one of the best books ever!
