[Pix]

I am having a job finding good songs for young children because I find that most songs out there just have too many words in them. By the time the children have learned the first verse and chorus they have had enough exposure to the song and any more would be a killjoy.

Of course you can do repeat the same verse after the chorus, but take a song like jingle bells - I mean look at all the words there for young beginners.

I do edit the words and make up simpler ones, but then I don't have the music to go with it.

Does anyone know of a CD of songs which do not have lots of words, and preferably which does have someone who can actually sing on it, and who does not talk in a stupid voice!

Thanks
Shelley

PS Since I wrote this question years ago I produced three albums of songs for exactly what I needed for my teaching.

Here they are:
https://teachingenglishgames.com/pro...ategory/songs/

[musica]

You could try my CDs. You can listen to some of the songs and chants at http://www.pamseslclassroom.com

Songs like Tommy Thumb have lots of repetition and pronunciation practice.
I know my songs work with young children because my daughter taught with them in Taipei and presented the CD to Chinese English teachers there and they all bought them.

The little children were walking around singing the songs after class.

Head and Shoulder is another easy song to present to young children.

I have also got flashcards and worksheets that can be used alongside these songs, as well as a detailed lesson plan for each song on my 'Five Little Finger RHymes and Lots of Circle Games' CD.

You can now access individual song packages that can be downloaded, so shipping is avoided.

[musica]

OK
I have the links to listen to these songs for you.
This might be easier for you
Head and shoulders is here
http://smedia.vermotion.com/media/12...and%20Toes.mp3

Tommy Thumb is here
http://smedia.vermotion.com/media/12...my%20Thumb.mp3

Please let me know if there is any problem listening to them this way. I never know if different computers have problems of not.
Thanks

[cjj]

I think the following links might have what you are looking for.

http://www.supersimplesongs.com/

http://www.drjean.org/

http://www.yadeeda.com/

cjj

[Pix]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I shall check out the links now.

I want accompaniement though Pam - not just a voice on its own.

Also I want a CD I can buy and not just stuff to download - so I will check those other links out.

Thanks
Shelley

[Pix]

I have checked out the links - thank you both cjj and pam for taking the time to give me those.

Here are my comments for the benefit of all the people viewing this besides ourselves.

The super simple songs are excellent for preschoolers and young ESL children but might be too babyish for around 8 years upwards at a guess.

The Yadeeda songs are better for intermediate children as they have quite a few words. Unfortunately they are obviously sung by a foreigner! But he does have a nice voice at least.

As for Dr Jean - there are no samples and the link to her order page was dead so I couldn't check them out.

[musica]

HI
I actually do sell actual cds. I just put the downloads on to help people to listen to the melody in a convenient format.

There is also accompaniement on my cds called, 'The Monster Dance,' and 'Growing Up Green'.
They are upbeat songs, with a mix of guitar, accordian, some trombone on one or two and banjo on others, every one is different and lots of fun.
The Monster Dance is a mix or well known or traditional songs such as Pick a Bale of Cotton, and some or my own songs such as Pick A Peach, which is a very simple but beautiful song.

Growing Up Green has also got some simple lyrics for younger kids, 6 to 13 or so.
The Weather song about sun, rain, wind etc is sung slowly and easy to follow.
The Walking Song asks the question,
"when I go out for a walk, what do you think I see?
I see the green green grass",
and the children echo, "green green grass"
"That's what I like to see"
Then it repeats adding more and more things you can see

You could let your kids come up with some ideas for this one.

So give the songs from these cds a listen and see if they suit your needs more.
Thanks for the feedback by the way
To find the CDs for sale just go to the products page.

[DevonT]

Hi! I was thrilled to stumble across this thread and see Super Simple Songs recommended. I'm one of the collaborators on the CDs, so let me throw my two cents in and give a few more suggestions.

The reason Super Simple Songs was created was because I was in the same situation Shelley was in, having a bit of a hard time finding good songs for young beginners. Actually, there are a lot of good songs out there which are simple enough or close to it, but we were pulling one song from this CD, two from that CD, another from a different CD. We couldn't find a collection of songs on one CD appropriate musically and lyrically for very young learners. That made it hard for our teachers and when parents asked where they could get the songs we were using in class, we had to recommend like 10 different CDs, each of which only had 2 or 3 songs appropriate for their children's level.

We wanted our students to be able to take the songs we were using in class home on one CD. So we started making our own songs. All the songs were created or adapted for young learners. We use them in class with children as young as 2 years old, and even the children who aren't yet speaking are able to begin following along through gesture.

We've been adding video samples to our website so you can get can get an idea of how the songs would work in your classes. As Shelley noted, these aren't for older kids. Super Simple Songs 2 just won a Children's Music Web Award for Best Recording for Babies and Toddlers (native English speakers). For native English speaking children, the songs are best for pre-school and younger. And for ESL/EFL students, Shelley hit the nail on the head when she said 8 years old was about the upper end of the age range for these CDs. We've gotten great feedback from teachers and parents of young Autistic/Special Needs students as well.

These are a few other CDs/artists I highly recommend:

Genki English CDs were created more with elementary school aged students in mind, I believe, so they are very energetic and fun while remaining very simple. We use a lot of their songs in our elementary school age group classes, and few with some of the K and under students. And I don't think you'll find any other CDs which offer the kind of support that the Genki English website does. A lot of great stuff there.

Sue Schnitzer is probably our favorite artist. She doesn't write specifically for ESL/EFL, but her songs are all music and movement based so there is a lot of great TPR-ablity (yes, I made that word up, I think). She has a great voice and her songs aren't over-produced...they have a real warm feel. I definitely recommend her CD Wiggle and Whirl, Clap and Nap. Not every song is easy to use with beginners (a few have that "Jingle Bells" issue) but there are definitely enough songs that make it worth your while.

Wee Sing CDs are definitely worth having. The songs are all great for young native English speakers. For young ESL/EFL learners, there are a lot of songs which are either a little too difficult lyrically, a little too fast, or a little to hard to understand because many of the songs are sung by children and it's not always easy to catch their enunciation. Nonetheless, all of the Wee Sing CDs are packed with songs and very well produced, so I think they are definitely worth having if you are teaching ESL to youngsters. You'll find at least several songs on most of the CDs which you can use in class, and the rest of the songs work great as background music even if you don't "teach" them in class. Try "Wee Sing for Baby" "Wee Sing Children's Songs and Fingerplays" and "Wee Sing: 25th anniversary celebration" (all available through amazon.com)

Dr. Jean's songs are great, and she's legendary amongst kindergarten and pre-school teachers in the U.S. With Dr. Jean CDs you can find songs for every activity in your classroom. Songs for saying hello, lining up, cleaning up, naptime, etc. For ESL/EFL students, I think her CDs are best suited for full-time ESL students. EFL students and young students learning English just a few hours a week may not catch on a lot of the songs lyrically...again the Jingle Bells issue. She also operates an amazing website for preschool education with great ideas for songs to teach in class.

Nancy Stewart offers a ton of great, free songs perfect for the under 8 set at her website. Every month, she releases a new song of the month. Not only are these free for download, but her entire archive of songs of the month are free as well. Or, if you prefer just to have them all on CD already, you can purchase CDs through her store. Not all of the songs work well with ESL/EFL beginners, but a lot of them do, at least the choruses.

And then there are a ton of great children's music artists (Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, Raffi, Hap Palmer) whose songs are often too difficult for young ESL/EFL learners, but who maybe have a song here and there that works. You may not want to buy a whole CD, but you can download individual tracks through iTunes.

I made a couple of iTunes i-mixes of what I think are some great songs for young ESL/EFL classrooms. If you have iTunes installed, these links will take you to those lists:
U.S. iTunes
iTunes Japan

I write a blog about children's music and early childhood education, so if you're interested in reading more about kids music for the classroom, stop by from time to time: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and all that.

Happy teaching!

[Whistleblower]

Hello. I thought I would add a link to some great free Nursery Rhymes. I have downloaded some Nursery Rhymes today for use in my beginner classes this week. Please click below:

http://www.ilovewavs.com/ForKids/KidsNurseryRhymes.htm

Hope this helps.

[musica]

You can also find nursery rhymes at http://www.pamseslclassroom.com/005C...ry_Rhymes.html. This is a CD with 65 Nursery Rhymes.

Lyrics for nursery rhymes are also available at
http://www.pamseslclassroom.com/Song_Lyrics.html

There are some free downloads on the free music page as well.
Check it out!

[DevonT]

Hi Pam...just wanted to let you know I did check out your site and it's full of great stuff. Thanks!

[musica]

Thanks Devon
It seems like we are kindred spirits, sharing a philosophy about early childhood education and the importance of music and creativity. Thanks for the comments. I had seen your award on the Childrens music web site and congratulations. I will take some time to give your songs a listen.

[simplyesl]

I used a CD/book set called 'FAB Red'. The CD is fantastic. The only thing is, it's produced by SHANE so it may be difficult to buy...

[nikoniko]

Wow, I found this thread looking for one thing, and came away with so much more....

I teach a lot of preschoolers, ages 4-6, and have been hemming and hawing over the Genki English set for a few months. I love the songs (have 1 CD) and the support, but I've been worried about having enough songs to use with such a young group.

I followed this thread to the Super Simple Songs, and have been sitting here for the past 2 hours watching every video clip and listening to every song demo... I LOVE it!! I've already ordered both CDs and can't wait to start bringing the songs into my classes!!

Just wondering with songs though... do you usually introduce a new song little by little, or just throw it at them and let them figure it out?

[mesmark]

I throw them on and just sing along. The kids like to sing and they'll hum along for a while until they can get the songs down. a few of Devon's song I just sing myself ('Clean up' as I claen up the cards and put them away) and the kids have started to sing along with me now.

If you can bring some resources that help make it real, then it's better but the songs are great! Just toss them on and sing along.

[shannonsensei]

i have to 2nd (or 3rd or 4th, whatever) the super simple songs recommendation.
i have been using these in my classrooms for about 6 months.
i teach a music class to about 40 2-4 year olds and this is the only CD that they regularly pay attention to. right now, they're begging me every day to do the rock, scissors,paper song.
this CD is also great in my baby classes, where i teach kids from 9 months and up.

i can see though that it may not work for kids that are a bit older. but i think it depends on the kids. generally speaking, the kids that i teach in the 6-8 year old range think that any song is terribly uncool.
for those ages though, you may want to check out a CD called "music and movement in the classroom". it's got some good songs that are a bit more advanced.

also...some general tips for teaching with songs:
*if you make up hand movements/dance movements to go with every song, kids like them better and learn them faster.
*i pick a set of songs for the month and repeat them every day. by the end of the month, the kids can usually sort of sing the song (i.e. if it's a fast one, they can usually sing a few of the key phrases and then mumble through the rest.)
*i also like to make up my own words to the tune of well known songs. for example at lunch i'll sing (to the tune of "where is thumbkin?":
where is lunch? where is lunch?
we don't know? we don't know?
are you hungry yuki? are you hungry rina?
yes i am. yes i am.

kids get a kick out of hearing their name in a song...

love,
shannon

[sanjajerem]

Does anybody know what happened to pam's classroom, I can't find it on the net.

[Pix]

Hi there,

Yes it had some useful lesson plans for songs but it disappeared at least six months ago, if not more because I too was looking for it - Pam must have given up with it because it can be quite a lot of work maintaining a site.

Kind regards
Shelley

PS I have three song albums for young kids that go with my stories. It was FUN making them and the feedback from kids and parents is great.

[sanjajerem]

Quote Pix

Hi there,

Because it can be quite a lot of work maintaining a site.

Kind regards
Shelley

I can only imagine.

Thanks for your answer.

Sanja

[mesmark]

That's too bad if it's gone for good ...