- brick
- build
- roof
- tool
- wall
- wood
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: “This Is the Way We Build a House”
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Gross Motor Skills, Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Discuss the different tools needed to build a house. Then invite children to sing and act out “This Is the Way We Build a House.”
Explain that you want children to join you in acting out how to hammer, saw, lay bricks, make floors, put up walls, build a roof, paint walls, and move into a house as they sing. Before you begin,
- Encourage children to suggest and demonstrate movements to show each action.
- Model the first verse by singing and acting out how to hammer.
- Start again and have children sing each verse and motion to the lyrics.
This Is the Way We Build a House
(sung to the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)
This is the way we hammer the nails,
Hammer the nails, hammer the nails.
This is the way we hammer the nails, so early in the morning.
This is the way we saw the wood,
Saw the wood, saw the wood.
This is the way we saw the wood, so early in the morning.
Additional Verses
This is the way we lay the bricks, …
This is the way we put down floors, …
This is the way we put up walls, …
This is the way we build a roof, …
This is the way we paint the house, …
This is the way we move inside, …
Adaptation: With very young children, sing the song and do the movements one line at a time, with one child at a time.
English Language Learners: To help children understand the tools used in building, you may want to use the materials to demonstrate as you sing each verse. Expand the verses to include other tools on display (e.g., climb the ladder, screw the screws, etc.).
English Language Learners: Pair English language learners with strong English speakers as children identify first, next, and last. This will help English language learners learn language naturally.