Use Music to Increase Alertness

Last Friday I spent a time working with a student in a classroom that is new to me this year. While we worked together I got to hear the kindergarten teacher and several students sing the alphabet song to a modern tune, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" As the teacher pointed to individual letters on a large alphabet poster, she and the students sang about the object in each alphabet square: "Apple makes the A sound, a, a, a, a...Ball makes the B sound, bah, bah, bah, bah..." All weekend I've been playing back that song in my head and loving it.

Did you know that Raffi has a youTube video about brushing your teeth? He's performing live and surprises the children by putting on a pair of dark shades and attempting to perform his classic "Brush Your Teeth" song like a rapper. The high schoolers I work with in a class for students with severe disabilities loved the song and we used it to increase their engagement in a integrated therapy activity on dental hygiene last month.


Try looking up modern music for the activities you're working on with students this month--it sure makes the seasonal activities more fun and can increase alertness by the students to the task at hand.