School Spirit

Term Three has just begun as of today, and that means a new theme or general topic we’ll be starting as well. As it’s an even numbered year, we’re back to teaching Energy as our theme for the term again. Electricity, solar and wind power, energy conservation - stuff like that. Also, I’ve got the fun task of putting together a few weeks or work based on Toys.

Yep, that’s right. Toys.

Toys use energy, too, remember. Most of them nowadays rely on batteries and electrical energy to run, of course, but that’s not necessarily always the case. We’ll fiddle around with some Lego Technic kits and stuff, check out static electricity by rubbing balloons in our hair, might possibly make some kites, and make balloon powered cars and rockets. Lots of fun stuff there. Potential energy, kinetic energy… lots of fun.

If I get time, I might even put a few of the activities up here from time to time as well - let you see what the kids can get up to.

For now though, this song fits in appropriately with our current Toys theme, although maybe not so much the Energy theme. Too bad there, though. It’s a great little song and more often than not the kids enjoy it too. Every now and then one of them pipes up to say their dad may have sung it to them too when they were ‘little kids’. It’s written by Tom Paxton, but here’s Peter, Paul and Mary singing it. Mind you… they have a bit of fun with the ending!

THE MARVELLOUS TOY

When I was just a wee little lad, full of health and joy,
My father homeward came one night and gave to me a toy.
A wonder to behold it was, with many colours bright
And the moment I laid eyes on it, it became my heart’s delight!

Chorus
It went ‘zip’ when it moved and ‘bop’ when it stopped
And ‘whirr’ when it stood still.
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.

The first time that I picked it up, I had a big surprise.
For right on its bottom were two big buttons that looked like big green eyes.
I first pressed one and then the other, and then I twisted its lid
And when I put it down again, this is what it did,

Chorus

It first marched left and then marched right and then marched under a chair
And when I looked where it had gone it wasn’t even there!
I started to cry and my daddy laughed for he knew that I would find
When I turned around, my marvellous toy, chugging from behind.

Chorus

The years have gone by quickly, it seems, I have my own little boy
And yesterday I gave to him my marvellous little toy.
His eyes nearly popped right out of his head as he gave a squeal of glee.
Neither one of us knows just what it is, but he loves it just like me.

It still goes ‘zip’ when it moves and ‘bop’ when it stops
And ‘whirr’ when it stands still.
Neither one of us knows just what it is, and I guess we never will.

Chords here are in D, but you can transpose them wherever you wish, I suppose. I fiddle with a capo on third fret and play in C instead.

D / A / D / A / G / D / E / A /
D / A / D / G / G / D / A D / A

Chorus:
D / A / D / G / G / D / A / D

This year both our Grade 5/6 Unit and our Grade 3/4 Unit are entering a choir piece into the local Eisteddfod. Partly because our current theme for this term is Australia’s Places and featuring deserts, rainforests and other cool places like that, and because the kids enjoy a bit of light history and a good little song, we’ve chosen to go with the Seekers’ anthem, ‘I Am Australian‘. Today we ran the kids who chose to turn up to the first practice at lunchtime through the song, and now it falls to me to teach them all the song during our Rotations activities. So… here’s the latest addition to the School Spirit Classroom Songs list.

I Am Australian

I came from the Dreamtime, from the dusty red soil plains.
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I’d been the first Australian.

I came upon a prison ship bound down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer’s wife on a dry and barren run.
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.

I’m the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode.
The girl became a woman on a long and dusty road.
I’m a child of the Depression - I saw the good times come.
I’m a bushy, I’m a battler, I am Australian.

We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on Earth we come.
We share a dream and sing with one voice
“I am, you are, we are Australian.”

I’m a teller of stories, I’m a singer of songs.
I am Albert Namatjira and I paint the ghostly gums.
I’m Clancy on his horse, I’m Ned Kelly on the run.
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian.

I’m the hot wind of the desert, I’m the black soil of the plains.
I’m the mountains and the valleys, I’m the droughts and flooding rains.
I am the Rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run.
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on Earth we come.
We share a dream and sing with one voice
“I am, you are, we are Australian.
I am, you are, we are Australian.”

If anyone is interested, the chord progression is as follows - (// signifies a new line in the lyrics)

C / F C // Am / F G C // C / F G Am // C Dm / F G C //

Chorus follows as -

C / F C // Am G / C // C // F C // F G / Am G / F G C //

This would be one of my all time favourite songs, and I make sure the kids hear it leading up to ANZAC Day each year. As Thursday will be our House Sports Day and I’ll barely see half of the kids for much of the day, they’re going to hear it tomorrow instead. With a bit of luck it will interest more of them into trying to drag their parents to the parade on ANZAC Day. I know some of them will be there, and one of them has all but dared me to meet him at the dawn service, but if it gets more of them there to see the real diggers walking by, then fantastic. If it just opens their eyes a little more to the history of our military and how we honour a defeat rather than a major victory like most nations, then that’s more than enough too.

It tells the story of a digger landing at Gallipoli on 25th April, 1915, and then returning home to Australian via Sydney on the first ANZAC Day, 25th April,1916. The words written here are the ones I use and learned, not quite the same as those Eric Bogle sings on the clip to the side. I play it in C as it’s easy to finger pick for me, but again, I sometimes use a capo to get it to a better key for the kids. Here is the progression for those who are interested. The verse and chorus are the same for each of the five sections. It’s in 3/4 time.

C / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /
C / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /
G7/ G7 / F / C / G7/ G7/ F / C /
C / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /Chorus
C / F / C / C / C / F / G7 / G7 /
F / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Now when I was a young man, I carried a pack
And I lived the free life of a rover.
From the Murray’s green basin to the dusty outback,
Well I waltzed my matilda all over.
Then in nineteen fifteen the country said ’son,
There’s no time for roving, there’s work to be done’.
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as the ship pulled away from the quay.
And ‘midst all the cheers, the flag waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli.

How well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water.
And how in the Hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he’d primed himself well.
He rained us with bullets, he showered us with shell.
And in five minutes flat they’d blown us all to Hell.
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as we stopped to bury the slain.
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs - and we started all over again.

And those who were left, well we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well I wished I were dead.
Never knew there were worse things than dying.

For I’ll got no more Waltzing Matilda all around the wide bush far and free.
For to hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs - no more Waltzing Matilda for me.

So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane.
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as the ship pulled in to Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as they filed us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, and they turned all their faces away.

So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reliving old days and past glories.
But the old men march slowly, their bones stiff and sore.
Tired old heroes from a tired old war.
And the young people ask ‘what are they marching for?’
And I ask myself the same question.

But the band plays Waltzing Matilda and the old men still answer the call.
But year after year more old men disappear - one day no one will march there at all.

Technorati Tags: ANZAC Day, Eric Bogle, Waltzing Matilda, Gallipoli

With ANZAC Day fast approaching, I’m spending this week and next talking about Gallipoli, the First World War, and the marches. Trying to get into the kids heads the importance of this day and the weighty history behind it. The kids find it strange and hard to grasp that, despite shooting at each other across the trenches of Gallipoli, there was no real hatred between the ANZAC troops and the Turks. I guess war is still black and white at that age - good versus bad - but they’re slowly starting to realise that being on different sides doesn’t mean you don’t like the other bloke. They’re also starting to appreciate the humour of some of these situations such as both sides raising wooden targets for the other side to aim at and throwing supplies and friendly notes across No Man’s Land, even sharing cigarettes and family photos with the ‘enemy’ while helping to bury the common dead.

‘Two Little Boys‘ is a song we’re going to focus on a bit leading up to ANZAC Day, especially it’s themes of friendship and loyalty, and to a lesser extent the loss of innocence. It’s a great little song recorded by Rolf Harris of wobble board fame. The video file to the side plays the recording alongside appropriate photos and images. I play it in C with a capo up a few frets.

Two Little Boys

Two little boys had two little toys, each had a wooden horse.
Gaily they’d play, each summer’s day, warriors both - of course!
One little chap then had a mishap - broke off his horse’s head.
Wept for his toy then cried with joy as his young playmate said;

“Did you think I would leave you crying when there’s room on my horse for two?
Climb up here Jack, and don’t be crying, I can go just as fast with two.
When we grow up we’ll both be soldiers and our horses will not be toys
And I wonder if we’ll remember when we were two little boys?”

Long years passed, war came so fast - bravely they marched away.
Cannons roared loud and in the mad crowd wounded and dying lay.
Up goes a shout, a horse dashes out, out from the ranks so blue.
Gallops away to where Joe lay - then came a voice he knew.

“Did you think I would leave you dying when there’s room on my horse for two?
Climb up here Joe, we’ll soon be flying, I can go just as fast with two.
Did you say, Joe, I’m all a-tremble, perhaps it’s the battle’s noise
But I think it’s that I remember when we were two little boys.

Did you think I would leave you dying when there’s room on my horse for two?
Climb up here, Joe, we’ll soon be flying - back to the ranks so blue.
Can you feel, Joe, I’m all a-tremble, perhaps it’s the battle’s noise
But I think it’s that I remember when we were two little boys.

Technorati Tags: ANZAC Day, songs, music

This would be one of my all time favourite children’s songs. Truth be told, it would have to be one of my all time favourite songs full stop! It’s a great little piece lamenting the lost innocence of growing up and leaving childhood imagination and adventures behind. Most people have probably heard or sung this song sometime as they’ve grown up over the years since it was first written, but I make sure that every kid that passes through my grade has the pleasure of hearing this song now too. As we’d just finished reading the novel ‘Rowan of Rin‘ which featured a Dragon at the top of the Mountain, this fit in rather nicely. To the side you’ll be able to listen and hear the original group, Peter Paul and Mary, performing their song, and once more, the words are included below.

At least, the words I learned and pass on to the kids. Again, the chords I use are listed below as well.

Puff the Magic Dragon

Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea,
And frolicked in the Autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And bought him string and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.

Chorus
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the Autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
Puff the Magic Dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the Autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail.
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff’s gigantic tail.
Noble kings and princes would bow whenever they came.
Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name.

Chorus

A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys.
Painted wings and giants’ rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff, that might dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.
His neck was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain.
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave
So Puff that might dragon sadly slipped into his cave.

Chorus

The chord progression is the same in the verse and chorus. I play it with the capo on the second or third fret.

G / Bm / C / G / C D / G Em / A7 / D /
G / Bm / C / G / C D / G Em / A7 D / G D7 /

Related Posts: Review - Rowan of Rin, The Unicorn Song.

Technorati tags: Puff the magic dragon, Kids songs, dragons.

As a grade, we’re currently reading Rowan of Rin, a great kids’ novel by a great Australian kids’ author, Emily Rodda. If you’re not aware of it, the story revolves around Rowan and six members of his village facing the terrors of the Mountain as they journey to the summit to find why the water for the river has stopped flowing. At the top, legend has it lives a great Dragon. It’s a fantastic, classic adventure style story with the central theme of facing your fears and how the smallest can achieve great things. The kids have gotten right into it as the story has unfolded, and if their interest stays up, we’ll try to read the other four stories in the collection as well by the end of the year. You can get them all in one big, hard cover volume now too, which is great, except for your arms during long periods of reading in front of the grade.

Anyway, this lead us to talking about other mythical creatures, and unicorns popped up. We were also looking at floods for another theme at the same time, which lead one child to bring in the story of the Great Flood. Noah and the Ark, that sort of stuff. Well… the stars aligned and brought about the perfect opportunity to introduce this great little song about unicorns which they heard for the first time this afternoon.

If you’re musically inclined, I’ve included the chords I use to play it on the guitar, and you can listen to the song below as well. The last verse is not in the original song, but seems to have been included fairly widely since. Enjoy!

The Unicorn Song

A long time ago, when the Earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you’ve ever seen
They’d run around free while the Earth was being born
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn

There were green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn

Now God sees some sinning and it gave Him pain
And He says, “Stand back, I’m going to make it rain”
He says, “Hey brother Noah, I’ll tell you what to do
Build me a floating zoo, and take some of those…

Green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
Don’t you forget My unicorns

Old Noah was there to answer the call
He finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall
He marched on the animals two by two
And he called out as they came through, “Hey Lord,”

I’ve got green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I’m so forlorn
I just can’t find no unicorns”

And Noah looked out through the driving rain
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games
Kicking and splashing while the rain was falling
Oh, them silly unicorns

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Noah cried, “Close the door because the rain is falling
And we just can’t wait for no unicorns”

The ark started moving, it drifted with the tide
The unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried
And the waters came down and sort of floated them away
That’s why you never see unicorns to this very day

You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
You’re never gonna see no unicorns

[New Lyrics]
Now you might think this is the ending to the song,
But I’ll have to tell you friends that in fact you’re wrong
You see, Unicorns are magical, so when the rain started pouring,
They grew themselves some wings and they took to soaring.

You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
But if you’re looking for the unicorns, don’t be forlorn,
The second star to the right and straight on until morning.

The chord progression is fairly simple - D / A7 / A7 / D / D D7 / G / D / A7 D - and it’s the same for the verse and the chorus.