First Lesson - for a couple of minutes
- I introduce the song by singing it I ask the students to listen for the rests.
- When I sing it again, students whisper "rest" in the spaces.
- We discover there are two rests in the song.
- We stand in a circle. As I sing again, students bend their knees when they whisper "rest."
Second Lesson - for a few more minutes
- After reviewing the song and finding the rests again, students are in a circle holding hands and walk to the right, bending their knees on the rests.
- Then we play the game:
- I choose one student to be the "naughty kitty cat" and sit in the middle of the circle. Another student is the "old man" or "old lady,"who stands outside of the circle.
- Students sing the song once as they walk around the circle and bend their knees on the rests.
- Students sing the song a second time as they stand still in the circle and raise their hands up, allowing the "old man" or "old lady" and "cat" to run in and out of the circle. The "old man/lady" tries to tag the "cat" before the song ends.
- This song is better played in a space with enough room for the kids to run around. I found it to be a little rowdy in the music room. :-)
Subsequent Lessons - I usually play this game the last 5 minutes of several lessons. Each time, I choose different students (and make a mark of who has had a turn - because they always "forget!").
I have adapted the game for inside play.
- The class sits in a circle with a student in the middle with eyes closed. As students sing the song, the "kitty cat" hides behind a riser in the room. When the song is over, the student in the middle of the circle makes a guess as to which riser the student is hiding behind. You could even have the "cat" make a small "meow" to help the student guess.
Other lesson
