Remember: You Can Talk About It

Hi there, readers! Following a team meeting, it became apparent that student Z needed an intervention to reinforce her ability to speak up when something is bothering her. As a female pre-teen, puberty is beginning to take effect, and Z is becoming aware of topics and conversations shared by peers about pubescent issues — which subsequently makes her extremely uncomfortable. However, she is currently choosing not to express her discomfort in the environment in which it is occurring, instead waiting hours later until arriving home to unload her pent-up frustrations — manifesting in emotional meltdowns.

So, in collaboration with her teachers and support staff, we arrived at the decision to create a song to address this current personal obstacle. We wanted to make sure the notion of being able to talk openly with her teachers was driven home within the song lyrics. The current implementation plan in the classroom is to have Z listen to a recording of the song each morning upon arrival at school or before her scheduled daily chat with her homeroom teacher.

The lyrics & audio are posted below. I’m currently fighting the last stages of a cold, so I apologize for the sub-par recording!

AUDIO: Remember: You Can Talk About It

Remember: You Can Talk About It

When someone that says something that worries you

Or makes you uncomfortable

Just remember: You can talk about it

With your teachers at school

You don’t have to hold it in

You don’t have to let it bother you

Just remember: You can talk about it…

At school

When you hear something that bothers you

Or makes you feel anxious

Just remember: You can talk about it

With your teachers at school

You don’t have to hold it in

You don’t have to let it bother you

Just remember: You can talk about it…

At school

It’s alright, it’s okay

To share your feelings

It’s alright, it’s okay

To share what you’re thinking

Just remember: You can talk about it…

At school

Baseball Rap

Hello music makers! Here’s a fun little rap about America’s favorite past time: Baseball! I use this jingle with all different groups with fairly similar goals in mind: Listening comprehension, working on diction and speech fluency, and most importantly- to have FUN!

I provide each group member with a card containing a different baseball team name, and when cued in the rap, they have to say the name back and match the syllables of the name with a drum beat.

Some team examples include: New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals…. etc.

I used my keyboard to produce the back beat, but you can easily create something similar on Garageband OR find rap back beats on iTunes that is just the beat itself with no vocals.

Swing batter, batter… swing!

Audio Clip! 

Los Colores!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I love doing songs relating to all types of holidays, and it so happens Saturday is Cinco de Mayo. I came up with a song addressing how to say all the different colors in Spanish. My students love learning words in different languages, including Spanish, French and German.

Many of my groups have teachers aides available during music therapy time, so I had them learn the drum part that you will hear in the audio clip!

You’ll notice this song sounds a lot like a popular spanish song called, “The Mexican Hat Dance” — I took the melody and just changed up the words.

This is a fun and exciting activity that can be use with all types of populations, and gets everyone in the spirt of CINCO DE MAYO! 

Audio Clip

Los Colores 

Chorus:

Los colores means colors in Spanish

los colores rojo, azul

los colores means colors in Spanish

in Spanish or English too!

I see the color blue

color of the sky that is true

I see the color blue

but in Spanish we say azul!

I see the color green

color of the grass that’s seen

I see the color green

but in Spanish we say verde!

I see the color red

color of flowers oh yes

I see the color red

but in Spanish we say rojo!

I see the color white

the color of the clouds that right

I see the color white

but in Spanish we say blanco!

I see the color yellow

color of the sun oh hello

I see the color yellow

but in Spanish we say amarillo!

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO! OLE! 

It’s Time For Music, Oh Yeah

I thought I would post a simple greeting song that my students love! I use this song for individual or group sessions and it is a great song to use to work on appropriate greetings and/or following single step directions. I change up the movements each time around to assess/develop the students receptive communication ability. There are endless possibilities of movements and body parts to identify. In some groups, I may make the movements multi-step to work on developing the skill of following multi-step directions.

The “Oh Yeah” section of the song leads perfectly “Oh Yeah” section of the song leads perfectly into a rote singing exercise  a rote singing exercise, I have a handful of students who sing “oh yeah”each time with a huge grins on their faces!  In some of my groups, I have the students either individually or as a group sing the entire last phrase “It’s time for music, Oh yeah!”.

When I walked into a room most of the students and aides begin to sing the song before I even have my guitar out! This song has become a staple for most of music therapy groups and hopefully will be useful to you as well.

Audio Recording 

It’s Time For Music, Oh Yeah! 

Chorus:

Let’s clap our hands 

And stomp our feet 

cause it’s time for music, oh yeah!

Let’s move around

to the beat

cause it’s time for music, oh yeah!

Well hello Sally

(response)

It’s nice to see you in music today!

Let’s clap our hands 

and stomp our feet

cause it’s time for music, oh yeah

lets move around

to the beat

cause it’s time for music, oh yeah!

*Some examples of movements that I work on with my students include, touch your head, pat your knees, touch your ear, wiggle your knees, reach up high. Again the movements are endless!