MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1a: Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (e.g. taking turns in talking, listening to peers, waiting to speak until another person is finished talking, asking questions and waiting for an answer, gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
Head Start Outcomes:
Social Emotional Development/Self-Regulation: Follows simple rules, routines, and directions.
Language Development/Receptive Language: Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 1: Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (taking turns in talking; listening to peers; waiting until someone is finished; asking questions and waiting for an answer; gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 12: Listen to, recite, sing, and dramatize a variety of age-appropriate literature.
Sing Together: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Phonological Awareness (Rhythm, Rhyme, and Repetition), Vocabulary
Invite children to sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with you. Introduce the song by asking, Did anyone recognize the song in the book Row, Row, Row Your Boat that we just read? Have you ever sung the song before? Sing it through once to review the words. Ask another educator or helper to join you, and then tell children that you will teach them to sing the song in a special way. Say, Many people like to sing this song as a round. That means that some people start to sing and then other people join in. We will show you how. Listen.
Start the round and then have your helper begin to sing so children can hear the harmony of the overlapping words. Then have your helper begin the song while you sing with the children, to keep them on track.
After children feel comfortable with the process, divide the class into two groups. You lead one group while your helper leads the other. Or let different children lead the groups on your signal. Have children act out the motions of the song. Ask, How does the song say we are moving down the stream? Can you show me?
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.