Level.| Click the pictures, hear them talk! | ||||||||
| "Creepy Crawlies" by Richard Graham What's that? I don't know. What's that? I don't know. What's that? It's a creepy crawly! What's that? It's a cockroach. What's that? It's a beetle, What's that? It's a caterpillar. What's that? It's a butterfly. What's this? It's a cockroach. What's this? It's a beetle, What's this? It's a caterpillar. What's this? It's a butterfly. ( Repeat Chorus ) What's that? It's an ant. What's that? It's a worm, What's that? It's a dragonfly. What's that? It's a mosquito. What's this? It's an ant. What's this? It's a worm, What's this? It's a dragonfly. What's this? It's a mosquito. ( Repeat Chorus ) |
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Owners Club |
As you can imagine, the gestures help make the song here. But "What's
this?" and "What's that?" also play an important part.
In the chorus the kids ask "What's that?" whilst pointing at
a random point on the floor, just like they have seen a horrendous new
bug!
As the teacher you shrug your shoulders and say "I don't know!"
The kids ask again, this time pointing somewhere else ( just watch for
the boys pointing at the girls hair!).
Finally you answer "It's a creepy crawly!"
In the verse the kids ask whilst pointing at the first card on the board
"What's that?"
The teacher replies "It's a .." whilst miming that bug. ( Ask
the kids beforehand if you're not sure how to mime each one, they come
up with some crazy stuff!).
In the second half of the verse the teacher asks "What's this?"
whilst pointing to a card and the kids respond whilst miming that creepy
crawly.
For example:
"Cockroach"
"Beetle"
"Caterpillar" ( your fingers become the caterpillars legs)
"Butterfly" ( flap the butterfly's wings)
"Ant"
"Worm" ( wiggle your arm like a worm)
"Dragonfly" ( flap the dragonfly's wings)
"Mosquito" ( pretend to sting a friend - the most popular bit
of the song!)
Picture Book
What's this + Bugs!
Bonus Printables
Recommended Game: Mushi Battle Game
As a kids' teacher you really have to go the extra mile to make the lessons
fun for the kids, adding in the gestures certainly makes this happen, and
it also lets them learn the new words a lot more quickly. So don't be shy,
do it for the kids!
Using "What's this?" and "What's that?" really works great in showing kids that they have to answer questions with answers, and not just repeat the question back. ( i.e. I'm sure you've had kids who say "What's your name"? back to you when you've asked them!). Once you've done this song once, there's also a shorter version on the CD, where the "What's that?" line has been taken out, and starts with the teacher asking "What's this?" and the kids replying. Personally I actually prefer the shorter version right from the beginning, but they are both on here for you.
The Hawaiian theme of the music, plus the picture cards, take it out of
the "icky icky" type image and make it cute and "kawaii",
which is great for making the lesson fun for all the kids, even the ones
who don't like bugs!
You might also be wondering why the song is called "creepy crawlies" rather than "bugs". This is because try as I might I can never get Japanese people to say "bugs" correctly - it always turns out as "bags!". Plus the fact that nearly all native English speakers pronounce it in a different way ( try it with your friends and see!), so I decided to use creepy crawlies. Some people also say "creepy crawlers", but in my research, "crawlies" turned out to be a lot more popular! If the kids ask ( and the ones who love bugs probably will), you might have to explain "creep" and "crawl" and show the ones that fly aren't really "creepy crawlies". These two words are great additions to the Warm Up game!
Plus the kids will also be learning about bugs in science class, so be
careful not to misuse any words such as "insect" which have very
specific meanings. As I say the pictures I've deliberately made "cuter"
than real photos, and a good science activity is to point out what is wrong
with the pictures. ( e.g. the ants legs coming out of the wrong section!).
And watch out for "mosquito", I'm sure we all know how frustrating
it can be when Japanese speakers put extra "o"s onto the ends
of words, but strangely enough nearly everyone I've met always says "Mosquit..."
without the "o"! Very strange!
Right, that's about it, this song is a bit slower than the others, but
it's just as much fun, and good luck getting it out of your head!
What's in the bottle?
Worksheet:
Ask the kids "What's this?" as they try to figure out what the
4 bugs are! For younger kids get them to cut out the pieces of each bug
and put them back together to see the picture.
Recommended Game:
The recommended game for this theme is the Mushi Battle Game!
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