Signature Songs

Some teachers seem to have a signature song. Norma's Tick-Tock class at City College is named for the song in which each mother lifts up their baby at the "cuckoo" chime, once, then twice, and finally three times in the third verse. Margaret starts her class in the Tenderloin, with uno-dos-tres CHO! separating the syllables of the word cho-co-la-te as each child gets to hold the mexican molinillo, the kind that is actually used to mix or wisk chocolate in Mexico. The wooden wisk spins when it's handle is held between flat palms that are rubbing together, back and forth, in opposite directions. Rubbing our hands together with an imaginary wisk can even help to warm us up on cool days.

Over my three years of teaching Growing with Books classes, I have settled on my own signature song that I use as a cue to get babies and toddlers ready for storytime. We sing "Ahora Vamos a Leer / Now we're going to Read a Book" as we get ready to "sit right down...use our eyes...use our ears". The last verse about listening is sung in almost a whisper, and now that my students are used to it, it really helps them to quiet down and be ready to engage in the story. (We also start off our circle time with the same tune: "Now we're going to sing a song...")

-Dawn Noelle