tools and resources - Doubled Up

Milly is bubbling over with excitement about her Nativity Play for which the Year Ones are practising classics such as 'Little Donkey' and less well known hymns like 'No Room at the Inn' (in which Josef and Mary are told that they won't get bed and breakfast for two because, according to Milly, Revelations are made in the spring). She has, since the last holidays, been praying that she will get to play Mary, and I have had to point out on many occasions that there are more than 40 other girls to choose from, but that I am sure she will be brilliant in whatever part she is given. On Friday, she came out of school bursting to tell me her news.

"Guess what part I've been voted into, Mum," she cried, jumping up and down.
"Mary?" I said - it had to be, she was so pleased.
"No, guess again."
"The Angel Gabriel?"
"No."
We went through every part I could possibly think of and more - a wise man, a shepherd, a sheep, a camel, the donkey, a star etc etc - to which the response was the same:
"No, guess again."
"Oh, I don't know Milly, you'll have to tell me."
"They all voted for me to be the GREAT BIG SLIMY FROG."

Consequently. out of curiosity, I spent last night trawling the internet to find a nativity play that includes a great big slimy frog, but had no success. I did, however, come across some great websites that offer nativity plays and other plays that might be of interest. They vary from those that are free - I particularly liked the website of Woodlands Junior School in Kent  which included the script of a Christmas play for primary school children in which two people from Bolton sell their favorite belongings to buy a gift for the each other. It also had links to other nativity plays such as 'The Dream' and 'The Perfect Gift'. The above are all available for use free of charge (for churches and non profit making organizations). One of the paying websites I found was that of Magic Parrot Productions, who will charge you thirty pounds for the scripts such as 'A Brand New Star' (with songs, I believe). They also have a variety of other school productions and assemblies. If you are interested in 'Twas the Night before Christmas', you will find that along with a huge variety of plays and musicals for all ages at Childrens Theater Plays. Again, there is a charge for these.

I was flicking through this week's Guardian education section and my eye was caught by an advert for 'Sing Up'. It couldn't be missed really, as the advert covered four full pages of the paper. Sing up, it appears, is a programme that has been devised to put singing into the heart of every primary school. The reason for this is that singing, they say, improves confidence levels and can be used to improve literacy, numeracy  and motor skills. 

I have to say, I used singing a lot in my secondary school language lessons – if nothing else, it created a fun environment and a great deal of laughter when the kids realised just how untuneful I am! Better than that though, I found singing to be a great way to get them to actually remember new language. It is certainly true that our brains remember more if there is a tune put to words (think of all the song lyrics you can remember from your youth, or even the number of nursery rhymes you can remember from your childhood).

The advert was enough incentive for me to look at the website,  www.singup.org, where I was told that singing can also improve behaviour, health, listening skills and can reduce agression and foster a sence of community. But of even more interest, perhaps, were the resources available.

There is a songbank with great sample songs and also a selection of complete lesson plans that involve singing, including one which encourages Year 6 children to compose their own songs (this section is separated into year groups).

One song that looked particularly amusing and fun was 'Boom, chicka boom'

You can also get information on events in your local area, how to get a singing leader, how to sign up for a free termly magazine for your primary school and how to apply for funding for your music projects. There is even a section for parents and carers. Brilliant.