I began today's lesson by playing an old recording of a famous Irish folk singer, Tommy Makem, singing the song. He had a very strong accent, which made it difficult for the children to understand all the words to the story, but the more we listened, and with some specific questions, the children began to understand the words. After we listened, I projected the words on the board, and we read them together in rhythm. I explained some unfamiliar words, like "rigadoo" and "calico". Then, I passed out paper and assigned each of the four verses to the four rows of students. With a more modern and energetic version of the folk song playing in the background, the children picked lines in their assigned verses to illustrate. There were all kinds of fun pictures of cats and rats playing "peek-a-boo" or Johnny Dhu walking up a hill. It was so fun to see the children enjoying the music and the funny folk tale!
Here are some pictures:
