Heart Week: Do You Know My Valentine?

This is what is called a piggyback song (a song that takes a tune that is familiar to everyone, but with changed lyrics to fit in with whatever theme is being presented). I don't use piggybacks often -- I think they confuse the kids, but on holidays like this it's hard not to! This song is great for quizzing the kids on knowing each others' names. If you've got a particularly brave bunch of kids, you can have them stand up after their name is sung and have them follow whatever command (spin, wave, jump, clap, etc.) you put into the second verse of this song. This song is sung to the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Do You Know My Valentine?

Do you know my valentine,
My valentine, my valentine?
Do you know my valentine?
His/her name is (Child's name)

Spin my little valentine
My valentine, my valentine!
Spin my little valentine,
(Child's name), take a bow!

Heart Week: If you like this, raise your hand!!

This is a song I use when I am just getting to know a new group of students! All they have to do to be involved is raise their hand, which they've been programmed to do already by this point in their lives! It's easy and familiar to them, and they love letting us know what they like. I use it for theme weeks, too. If we're doing colors we can sing "If you like orange, raise your hand!", or if we're learning about healthy eating we can sing "If you like broccoli, raise your hand!". It's a lot of fun to throw in things that you KNOW they are not going to say they like. Keeps things lively :)  The lyrics that I used for my voice recording are as follows:

If you like bananas, bananas, bananas
If you like bananas, raise your hand.

It goes a little something like this: