Aiken Drum Day

Now that we are done with our concerts for the year we try and cram in a ton of fun things before the end of the year.  One of them I haven't done in years is the great nonsense song of Aiken Drum.  This is a very old folk song that originated in Scotland.  There are many different versions of it, and the possibilities are endless.  

Today my 2nd graders sang the version I had by Music K-8.  They thought the song was hilarious as it's very catchy and easy to sing.  Then I asked students to help us design our own Aiken Drum for their class.  I think we ended up with a watermelon head, cheese body, string cheese legs, apple wedges feet, noodle arms, lettuce leaf hands, green olive eyes (not black), orange slice mouth and spaghetti hair.  My artistic skills are pitiful at best, so I didn't take a picture of him.  Maybe next time.  

Then the real fun began.  I split them up into groups with a simple task: make their own Aiken drum out of classroom instruments.  I gave them a few expectations before turning them loose.

1. Treat instruments with respect

2. Collecting, not playing

3. Work as a team

4. Put them back where you found them

Their creations turned out very unique.  When we do them again, we're going to start working on the correct names of the classroom instruments and what families they belong to (pitched, unpitched, shaken, scraped or hit). Here are today's creations