YELLOW BRICK ROAD MUSIC

A Tisket A Tasket is a great game for elementary music students and provides opportunities for comparing and contrasting between different musical interpretations.
 

You can use the video below for personal reference or as whole class review after your students have learned the song.

 

CIRCLE GAME

This game can be played with either version of the song. Students stand in a circle facing inward. Choose one student to be “it”. It walks around the outside of the circle, with a handkerchief in hand, as everyone sings. At the end of the song, It will drop the handkerchief behind someone. That person will pick up the handkerchief and then race around the circle to try and catch It. The student who reaches the vacated spot first wins the game and gets to be It for the next round.
 

MOVEMENT

Youtube is a fantastic source for finding children’s singing games. The video below shows the dance for Kitty Kitty Casket. You can use this dance with A Tisket A Tasket as well by repeating the moves.

COMPARE/CONTRAST

After students have sang and moved to one version of the song, introduce the other version. Ask them leading questions, such as “What parts of the music were the same in both songs?” or “What made this song different than the other?” Encourage them to use music vocabulary. If you use a word wall, this would be a great time to point out each word as they go along.
 
You might also have them compare the same song in different styles. For example, Ella Fitzgerald’s jazzy rendition of A Tisket A Tasket versus the style of the original folk song.

4 Responses

  1. I love doing this song with 1st grade this time of year! The kids love the circle game 🙂 I had not heard of the kitty version before though- interesting! Thanks for sharing.

    1. Thanks Elizabeth. I hadn't heard of the Kitty version either, but I found it while looking through the Kodaly Center's American Folk Song Collection. In fact, they didn't even have the other version, which surprised me.