Liz Kitchen returns with more songs, rhymes and listening games to join in with and a story from India called ‘The Rajah’s secret.’
Suggestions for classroom use
Introduction:
Listen all around: Indian music. Individual sounds: tabla drum, flute, sitar.
Song:
Oh, I can play the tabla drum
And this is the way I play it –
BOOM DI YA BOOM.Goes the tabla drum.And that’s the way I play it.
Oh, I can play the wooden flute.And this is the way I play it –
TOOT TOOTLE TOOT
Goes the wooden flute
And that’s the way I play it.
Oh, I can play the big sitar
And this is the way I play it –
ZING ZANGLE ZING
Goes the big sitar
And that’s the way I play it.
Oh, I can play the tambourine
And this is the way I play it –RATTLE SWISH BOOM
Goes the tambourine
And that’s the way I play it.
Once children are familiar with this rhyme, devise a sequence of mime and movement, preferably accompanied by the actual instruments, or something similar.
Rhyme time:
Toot tootle toot goes the wooden flute.
Boom di ya boom goes the tabla drum.
Zing zangle zing goes the big sitar.
Rattle swish boom goes the tambourine.
In the forest there grew a very tall tree.
One day the Rajah made a decree.“This tree is too tall, it makes the forest dark as night.We’ll cut it down and then we’ll have light.”
So along came the woodcutter with his axe
Chop chop chop, he didn’t stop
Until…creeaaak…whoosh!
The tree toppled down with a huge big crash.
Recite the poem while the children mime: a tall tree; the Rajah decreeing; the woodcutter chopping; the tree falling to the ground.
Story time: The Rajah’s Secret
Once upon an Indian time… To hold attention on first hearing show the appropriate pictures for the Rajah - Gopal - and the three instruments. Use a story map, drama, hot-seating, etc to familiarise children with the story, then listen to it a few times, helping them to join in.
Small group discussion:
- What do the children know about India?
- What colour hair do people you know have?
- Was Gopal right to tell the tree about the Rajah’s hair? Why/why not?
- Invent silly secrets using a repeating phrase, e.g. I saw a cloud giggling. I saw a kettle singing to itself. I saw a purple cat running down the lane.
See the Teachers' Notes (pdf) below for more suggestions.
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