Archive for July 25th, 2009

The other night at teacher training, our professor showed us a video of an anaconda eating a capybara and wanted us to learn how to give kids a chance to make non-traditional presentations using one of the “other” seven of the “eight ways of knowing.” The eight ways of knowing are:

Verbal/linguistic (the traditional one);
Logical/Mathematical;
Visual/Spatial;
Body/Kinesthetic;
Musical/Rhythmic;
Naturalistic;
Intrapersonal and
Interpersonal.

Toward this end, the instructor asked us to sign up  to interpret the Anaconda material in various ways. We could create a fairly tale, do a cartoon or illustration, act the story out, create a dance based on the story, and a couple of other things. I chose, probably because of my experience teaching music, to write a song. Two classmates also joined me in doing the song approach. I had figured I could go home and get my guitar. But it turned out we were only going to use a few percussion instruments in a plastic box.

It quickly became clear that with only about 20 minutes to prepare the lesson we had to write fast. We wrote the song lyrics and chose the instruments. We polished the lyrics. Then, when there was only about 60 seconds to go, we realized our song had no melody.

“That’s okay, we’ll do it as a rap,” I said.  Here, then, is the Anaconda Rap Song:

A capybara family was playing on the ground
An enemy was coming, it was big and it was round.

As they were sitting eating, just having family fun
Not one of them knew that the snake was gonna come.

Thirteen feet long and a good foot wide,
It swam underwater so they could not hide.

(now we used the “swizzling” instruments to create extra suspense)

The capybara tried to fight
But pretty soon, with one last bite
The capybara wasn’t breatin’
This was what the snake was needin’

The snake’s jaw came unwird
Afterward she was fat and tired

It was a very successful lesson, I have to say, after all. “I guess we really are elementary teachers at heart,” I thought to myself. “Only elementary teacher types could really ‘get into’ this exercise.”

There’s a little bit of kid in all adults, I suppose, and more in some of us. This morning I’m going back to class. We’re going to do a skit with stuffed animals. Yes, this is fun.