Songwriting: Constructing verses from favorite nursery rhymes The Itsy Bitsy Spider From the moment a child is born, they are introduced to the lyrical, rhythmic language of nursery rhymes. Before they can read or write, they can sing these wonderful rhymes their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents grew up with. Nursery rhymes never grew old. But why?

THE NURSERY RHYMES h The itsy bitsy spider Climbed up the water spout Down came the rain And washed the spider out Read both nursery rhymes out loud. Notice how the each line has its own rhythmic beat. As you read, be conscious of the stressed and unstressed syllables. The stressed syllables are what create the natural beat in poems and songs. Out came the sun And dried up all the rain And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again

The “Origins” (the place where it come from) Who wrote “The Itsy Bitsy Spider? In England, the Itsy Bitsy Spider is known as Incy Wincy spider, but no one knows the history and origin. It is believed the poem began as a fun finger rhyme that has survived over the years. It was published in a book in the early 1900s in America.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider From this MP3 of the Itsy Bitsy Spider, You can hear the different styles and genres you can sing the song. You can take every song and change the way it sounds by the way you style it. Styles or genres include Jazz, Blues, Country, Rock, etc. Students see, hear and then understand that it’s more than the words and beat that create how a song sounds. What instruments are used and how you play and sing the song make the song sound the way it you want it to.

Spiders and Spouts When you sing the song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” what do you see? “A spider?” And what does that spider look like? And what is he doing? And what does a water spout look like?

Counting Syllables Creating the beat Keeping up with how many syllables are in a line is easy when you use playing cards. For each syllable of each word, lay one card down on the table, making a straight line of cards. To rewrite the Itsy Bitsy Spider to the same beat, we have to keep that same beat through the new words we choose. The way we do that is by counting the syllables. And an easy way to count syllables and remember exactly how many syllables are in a whole line of a verse. For instance Spi 1 der 1 1 + 1 = 2

COUNTING The sy It Bit sy spi der

up the climbed ter wa spout COUNTING up the climbed ter wa spout

7 6 The Itsy Bitsy Spider The it sy bit sy spi der ____ Climbed up the wa ter spout ____ Down came the rain ____ And washed the spi der out ____ Out came the sun ____ and dried up all the rain ____ And the it sy bit sy spi der ____ Climbed up the spout a gain ____ 6

The Itsy Bitsy Spider The it sy bit sy spi der 7 Climbed up the wa ter spout 6 Down came the rain 4 And washed the spi der out 6 Out came the sun 4 and dried up all the rain 6 And the it sy bit sy spi der 8 Climbed up the spout a gain 6

Spend time with rhyme There’s something else about a nursery rhyme. It happens with the last word in every other line. What do you think that is? ?????? Nursery rhymes and mto ost very song rhyme. Rhyming words help create rhythm just as syllables help create beat. Let take a look at some pictures and let’s see if we can find the rhyming picture.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider The itsy bitsy spider Climbed up the water spout Down came the rain And washed the spider out Out came the sun and dried up all the rain And the itsy bitsy spider Climbed up the spout again

They Rhyme!!!!

Time with Rhyme

The ig gly wig gly li zard 7 Crawled up a big oak tree 6 Sample Revision The ig gly wig gly li zard 7 Crawled up a big oak tree 6 Down came the rain 4 The li zard fell on me 6 Out came my scream 4 I tum bled to the ground 6 But the ig gly wig gly li zard 8 He ne ver made a sound 6 Here is an exampl e of replacing new words into the same “beat” or “syllable” count. Let’s sing this new song to the music of the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Did it fit? Why do you think it fit? Now we want you to do the same thing I did. We want to find the new words to put to the music of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here are the blanks. Don’t forget the rhyming word in every other line!.

Sample Revision The ig gly wig gly li zard 7 The it sy bit sy spi der 7 Crawled up a big oak tree 6 Climbed up a wa ter spout 6 Here is an exampl e of replacing new words into the same “beat” or “syllable” count. Let’s sing this new song to the music of the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Did it fit? Why do you think it fit? Now we want you to do the same thing I did. We want to find the new words to put to the music of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here are the blanks. Don’t forget the rhyming word in every other line!.

The ____ ______ _____ ______ ____ _____ (rename the main character) Climbed up ______ _____ ______ (change the setting (location) Down came the _______ (noun - person or thing) And ______ _____ _____ _______ (describe the action - what happened) Out came the _______ (noun – person or thing) And ______ ________ ______ _____ (describe the action – what happened) And the ____ ______ _____ _____ _____ ______ (new character name) _______ ______ ______ ______ _______ (the same setting in line two) rhyme rhyme rhyme The blanks may look really hard, but with a little guidance and words lists, you can develop your own character(s) and storyline in the nursery rhyme. Here are a few word lists. You can add your own lists to these. But be sure that your word lists include nouns (a person, place or thing) and verbs (the action of the noun) rhyme

Rhymes with est Rhyming Word Lists best crest chest guest nest pest test vest west Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

Rhymes with ent Rhyming Word Lists bent cent lent scent sent spent went event vent cement Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

Rhymes with ee Rhyming Word Lists tree me spree free knee see tee bee flee fee Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

Rhymes with et Rhyming Word Lists bet let set wet fret yet pet threat get jet Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

Rhymes with oo Rhyming Word Lists blue flew boo you too true canoe through who zoo Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

Rhymes with an Rhyming Word Lists can plan man ran pan began tan van Japan Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

Rhymes with Ow Rhyming Word Lists now how sow plow wow cow vow allow bow chow Introducing rhyming word lists gives students the opportunity to discover new sounds, new meanings, and new language. It’s especially important to use nouns, verbs, adjectives, but prepositions are important, too.

The ig gly wig gly li zard 7 Crawled up a big oak tree 6 Sample Revision The ig gly wig gly li zard 7 Crawled up a big oak tree 6 Down came the rain 4 The li zard fell on me 6 Out came my scream 4 I tum bled to the ground 6 But the ig gly wig gly li zard 8 He ne ver made a sound 6 Here is an exampl e of replacing new words into the same “beat” or “syllable” count. Let’s sing this new song to the music of the “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Did it fit? Why do you think it fit? Now we want you to do the same thing I did. We want to find the new words to put to the music of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Here are the blanks. Don’t forget the rhyming word in every other line!.

a music genre encompassing rhythms and styles originated or related to Latin America, as well as derived music genres from the United States and Europe Latin Music This music “genre” includes rhythms and styles that “originated” (came from) in Latin America.

Latin

Jazz Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in black communities in the South. It mixes African and European music.

Jazz

The Blues Blues is both a a musical form and a music genre that originated In African American communities in the South about two centuries ago. (A century is a 100 years.) The slaves gave field hollers and sang spirituals and work songs to help them survive long hot days in the fields.

The Blues

Soul Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960. Soul arose out of the black experience in America.

Soul

Illustrate (Draw) your new nursery rhyme/song