Alphabet Zoo CD
Ages 3 to 10
Phenomic Awareness & Reading Development
Educational Focus:
alphabet awareness & recognition rhyming awareness
counting words counting sounds
letter sounds word families
segmenting and blending beginning sound deletion
chunking words phoneme blending
syllable segmentation self-esteem
visualization story re-telling
Alphabet Zoo is a collection of literacy songs perfect for the early childhood or primary grades. These songs cover several common core literacy topics such as recognizing the letters of the alphabet, letter-sound correspondence, identifying and producing rhyming words, counting, blending, and segmenting the syllables in spoken words and so much more. These lively animal themed songs are sure to be a hit with young learners.
This collection of reading and writing songs is great for use both in the classroom and at home. Teachers can use these songs to introduce new skills, to practice the skills students are learning, or to review what has been taught. Parents can use these songs as they support their child’s reading and writing development. Children will love learning and singing along at the Alphabet Zoo.
Alphabet Zoo will engage every child’s mind as they sing along with the chorus and roar like lions. This song teaches letter recognition and beginning sound awareness as an animal is named for each letter. Children are sure to be wild about this zoo song.
The Animal Parade is a fun movement song set to the tune of the old hit song The Witch Doctor. Children will be clapping and cheering as they pretend to be animals on parade. Adults will also enjoy singing along with the familiar chorus.
Rocco the Rhyming Rhino will teach children about rhyming words in a fun and engaging way. Children are given examples of completed pairs of rhyming words and then they are asked to produce a rhyming word for Rocco the Rhyming Rhino.
The Animal Hokey Pokey is a fun new version of the classic song. Children will learn to listen and follow directions as they move like various animals at the zoo. Get ready to hokey pokey like an elephant, a snake, a cheetah, and other wild animals!
The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a musical retelling of the classic story, with a positive twist ending! Read the original story, play this song, and then compare and contrast the content. Talk about the problem, the solution, and how the characters were feeling. This is a great way to introduce the idea of using words to reach a peaceful resolution.
Count and Move teaches children how to count the words in a sentence. Children can sing and move to the chorus and then join in to count the words in each sentence. Try displaying the sentences on a chart to help support this concept.
Who is at the Zoo teaches children to listen to clues and then picture the animal in their mind. Visualizing is an important skill that children can use when they are getting ready to draw and write their own stories. If they can “see” it in their mind, it is easier to draw it on the paper. This song is a fun way to practice that skill.
The Animal Alphabet Cheer is an upbeat song that will have children singing along and cheering. To teach alphabet awareness and letter recognition, you can give the children various alphabet cards to hold up. Another idea would be to teach the children the alphabet in sign language. Then all students can participate by saying and signing the letter back to you.
Do Like the Animals Do will have children listening carefully so that they can repeat the sounds and words from the song. They will repeat or echo back to Jack while they move to the animal actions.
Animals Exercising is an easy to learn movement song. The lyrics are repeated three times each, allowing children to quickly join in as they pick up on the pattern of the song. Children will be stretching, marching, and jumping as they learn about action words and words that end with –ing.
Count the Animal Sounds teaches students to listen carefully so that they can count the sounds they hear. This song teaches about animals, their sounds, counting sounds, and listening for patterns. Children will also enjoy making up actions to go with each animal.
Stretchy the Word Snake is a fun way for children to learn about segmenting (stretching out or separating the sounds in words) and blending (putting those sounds back together to say the complete word) as they sing and dance. These are important reading and writing skills. To add print concepts, you can display the words on a chart.
Chunk It teaches children how to chunk words. Chunking is a reading strategy that can help students to decode (or figure out) unknown or difficult words. Dividing a word into smaller parts helps children to identify known sounds or word parts. This song guides children as they chunk several words together. Learning how to chunk difficult words can improve a child’s reading skills.
Peek-a-Boo the Bird is a short introduction to the song Down in Jamaica.
Down in Jamaica is a reggae-flavored song that promotes respect and peace. Children will learn about social skills (such as getting along and accepting others) as they sing this song about diversity and togetherness.
Rhyming Lion is a calm, cool song that teaches children about rhyme recognition and word families. Students will move to the left and right and then segment various words. Have them hold out one hand for the onset (the beginning sound) and the other hand for the rime (the vowel and ending sounds) and then gently clap their hands together as they blend the sounds back together to say the word.
Please Say Cheese has the children dancing and making fun animal movements before they freeze and say cheese for an imaginary photo. Encourage your students to make up creative animal movements for this song. It’s also beneficial for children to cross the midline by moving their right arm over to the left side of their body and their left arm over to right side of their body. This engages their whole brain and body as they balance and move.
Benny the Blending Baboon teaches children how to blend phonemes (or letter sounds) together to make words. This song models how to take s-i-t and blend those sounds together to make the word sit. Students are also supported by the music. It starts off slow when the word is segmented (or taken apart) and then the music moves faster as the children blend (or put the sounds together) to say the word.
Miguel the Magic Monkey is a great song that teaches about beginning sound deletion in a new, fun way. The child hears the whole word (such as mice) and then Miguel makes the onset (or beginning sound m) disappear to leave just the rime (or vowel and ending sound, ice in this case) as he changes the words. Learning to manipulate the phonemes in words leads to stronger reading and writing skills.
The Celebration Song is a happy and upbeat song that can be used for any classroom celebration. Students will kiss their brains, raise the roof, make fireworks and more as they celebrate a special day or accomplishment such as reaching a goal. This song builds self-esteem while encouraging cooperation and good social skills.
Monkey Say, Monkey Do teaches children to listen, repeat, and follow directions as they try to do what the monkey does. Students will love playing along with this song.
The Animal Alphabet Cheer is an upbeat song that will have children singing along and cheering. In this version, children will hear the letter name and then the letter sound. This is a great song to play once your students have learned the original song.
* This CD includes instrumental versions of several songs. These tracks are provided so that you can personalize the lyrics to differentiate your instruction and meet the specific needs of your students. Parents and teachers can also use these tracks to encourage children to be creative and write new lyrics after they’ve learned the original songs. Instrumental tracks (such as the children’s version of The Celebration Song) are also ideal for student performances.
