Sunday, July 26, 2009

What Kind Of Cat Are You?

As I was driving home this evening after visiting my son, I was listening to one of my favorite radio programs, the Playground on WERS (http://wers.org/music/The-Playground.cfm). WERS is available via the internet, I encourage you to tune in to their wide variety of music at all hours! The song "What Kind of Cat Are You?" by Billy Jonas came on and I began to think as I listened to the lyrics, this song would be a great starting point for a really cool Project Based Learning mini-lesson. So, I pondered for the rest of the drive, and I am now going to give you the link to Billy Jonas' web site where you can listen to the song and look at the lyrics, and some of my thoughts about activities and ways to use the song as a curriculum tool. I encourage you to think of more and post them back if you like!
http://www.billyjonas.com/index.php?page=cds&display=13
Click on song title to see lyrics.

Create your own what kind of CVC word are you song. Divide class into small diverse groups. Have them listen to the song and read the lyrics (or use text to speech) Print out lyrics in needed formats (large print, Braille, etc.) Have each group choose (or assign) a CVC word that has multiple opportunities for use in a "Cat Song." Have the students use dictionaries and encyclopedias both paper based and electronic to develop their own "Cat Song" which they will eventually record with Garage Band. Students who use AAC could use their devices to participate. Students who are more significantly involved could use a "Big Mac" or other communicator to lead the call part of the song and peers do the response for the recording. Extension activities could include vocabulary and writing activities with new words learned.

2 comments:

  1. I love this song. We used to hear it when we still had XM radio. I miss that radio. This is a great song to use with my TAG students too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Absolutely, I thought it would be fun to use with students of many different levels! There are just so many cool aspects to it!

    ReplyDelete