Dear KESNE enthusiasts! I sincerely apologize for missing last week’s Friday Find. I had accidentally scheduled it to be published on 11/21/2011 instead of  10/21/2011! Thank you to everyone who emailed me when you noticed it was missing, I’m glad that you enjoy it so much!

That means you will be getting a Friday Find today AND a second one tomorrow!

Now for the find:

I often try to explain my job to non-music teachers and their reaction is often “So you sing songs and play games with children?” And as much as I know I’m also teaching children how to read and write music, how to play and work together cooperatively, and to understand how music relates to the world around them I also know that at the end of the day the games and dances we do is one of the most memorable parts of the lesson.

This video clearly shows how a “children’s” game can stick with students long past the classroom. These are students clearly far removed from elementary school who still enjoy something that I teach to my 3rd and 4th graders.

As a personal note: Stella Ella is a song I typically teach in 4th grade as a fun simple game they can take with them anywhere. This year when I tried to teach it to my 4th graders they already knew it! I asked them where they had learned it and they told me that all last year the 4th and 3rd graders would play the game at recess. Talk about reviving the folk tradition within your school! It makes me wonder how many other games I can infuse into the local community through the music class. I encourage all teachers, if you don’t do so already, to challenge your students to play these games outside of the classroom and watch the music spread.