Music Can Make Halloween Less Scary for Little Ones!

 Happy October, Music Friends!

As we approach the holiday that big kids love, we are mindful of the way our youngest students, ages 3 and 4, feel when they see scary monsters walking down the street or standing at their own front door. With a larger number than ever of preschool and transitional kindergarten teachers in our programs this fall, we decided to address this with a fun song that gives the singer some control over their fear of the boogie man, Frankenstein, witches and ghouls!

Studies show that when children can articulate their feelings with strong simple words like scary or scared, they can get a handle on them. They can share about them. So we worked with teachers in San Diego Unified last week to rewrite the old camp song, "The Ants Go Marching" into something little ones can sing- and add lyrics to- while getting ready for Halloween.

I recommend you sing it yourself right now, then add a monster or character of your own choosing in place of ours. Next, substitute a verb that describes the way that monster moves. Now you have the secret of "Substitution Songwriting." Word substitution is a skill that children are learning in the early grades to build word sense as pre-readers so this song does double duty for social emotional growth and literacy learning!

This week in GITC classrooms, children will have fun naming their fears and singing about how to make the monsters go away- with candy! Congrats to the creative teachers who have added more verses about witches, dragons, bad guys and so much more! And thank you so very much for your ongoing support of this project!

Wishing everyone a happy and funny Halloween!

                                                      The Monsters Are Shuffling
                               to the tune of "The Ants Go Marching One by One"
                              © 2018 GITC Teachers at Hearst Elementary GITC
CHORUS:
Am                                                                             C
The monsters are shuffling to the door, Oh no! Oh no!
Am                                                                             C
The monsters are shuffling to the door, Oh no! Oh no!
Am                                               G7
The monsters are shuffling to the door
Am                                               G7
We don’t want to see them anymore
Am
So we give them candy and tell them to go away! Yay!

1.  The zombies are dragging to the door, oh no! Oh no!
     The zombies are dragging to the door, oh no! Oh no!
     The zombies are dragging to the door
     We don’t want to see them anymore
     So we give them candy and tell them to go away! Yay!

2.  The ghosts are drifting to the door, oh no! Oh no!
      The ghosts are drifting to the door, oh no! Oh no!
      The ghosts are drifting to the door
      We don’t want to see them anymore
      So we give them candy and tell them to go away!

                        What Can We Do with a Hundred Monsters"
                                  to the tune of "What Do We Do With a Drunken Sailor?"
                                Composed by the Foussat Strumming Amigas for GITC
                   Michelle Dominguez, Felicia Ayala, and Kristin Albright and Jess Baron

Strum: Down Strum          First singing note: 1st string fingered in the 2nd fret
Lesson activity: Ask your students what THEY would do with 100 monsters and make a verse for each good idea! Extend the activity by illustrating the verses.

You can teach math two ways with this song. Either represent 5 groups of 10 and do something special to each group of monsters, or count up by 10s. Can you invent 5 more ideas to get to 100?

CHORUS:    Am
                      What can we do with a hundred monsters?
                      G
                      What can we do with a hundred monsters?
                      Am
                     What can we do with a hundred monsters?
                     G                       Am
                     Happy Hallo-ween!

​    Am
1. Tie them all together with a licorice whip!
   Am
   Tie them all together with a licorice whip!
   G
   Tie them all together with a licorice whip!
   Am
   Tie them all together with a licorice whip!
   G                       Am
   Happy Hallo-ween! 

    Am
2. Stick them together with Laffy Taffy
   G  
   Stick them together with Laffy Taffy
   Am
   Stick them together with Laffy Taffy
   G                       Am
   Happy Hallo-ween!

3. Am
    Fill their shoes with melting chocolate
    G
    Fill their shoes with melting chocolate
    Am
    Fill their shoes with melting chocolate
    G                       Am
    Happy Hallo-ween!

4. Wrap them up in Foot-long Fruit Rolls, etc.
5. Stick them to the sidewalk with Double Bubble, etc.
6. Help your students make the next 5 verses up about the monsters they want to       
    overcome!

Happy Halloween, Friends!