Let Us Chase the Squirrel is a favorite amongst many young elementary music classrooms. It is a song that has the melodic patterns of d, r, m, and s. It also has the rhythmic patterns of quarter notes (crotchets), eighth notes (quavers), and half notes (minims). Plus, it has a singing game that encourages solo singing and can also be used as an assessment.

Play-Along Video

This play-along video can be used with boomwhackers, xylophones, or percussion instruments playing the rhythm of the words. These instruments can be acoustic or virtual.

Teaching Process

Begin with a story about how a squirrel might be eating from your bird feeder or how your dog might be chasing a squirrel. Or ask the students (choose two or it will go on too long) if they have ever seen squirrels and why squirrels run up and down trees.

I would then begin teaching the solfa first by using hand signals. If your students are not ready for hand signals, you can use body motions. “Do” is tapping the floor; “re” is tapping the knees; “mi” is tapping the waist; and “sol” is tapping the shoulders.

My goal would be for the students to sing the four pitches in the correct melodic direction and in tune. I would then move on to the game. After we have played the game many times so that I could hear their solo singing (or group singing depending on how comfortable your students are with singing solos), I would then use the play-along video to reinforce rhythm reading. Finally, I would have them use popsicle sticks or an app that would encourage creativity so that the students could create a new melody using the same rhythm pattern. Or, create a B section using just the rhythm values found in the song so that they could perform it with an ABA overall form.

Games

The games I use come from Holy Names University Kodály Center American Folk Song Collection found here. I use a variation of the second game (see below).

There are also other games from the sources listed below.

Age Group:

I would use this with kindergarten late in the school year if I feel that they are ready. If not, then first grade and second grade, again depending on the students.

Timeline:

This would be taught in portions over three class periods mixed in with other movement activities, singing activities, and performing on instruments.

This is how I would teach it because it works for my students in my teaching scenario. And though the key is low, I would use this key if one of our goals was to perform the melody on the boomwhackers or playxylo.com. If not, I would change the key to F. If this does not work for you, feel free to adapt it to work best for you and your students so that they feel successful.