The Idea Behind the Songs
When writing the songs for Environment the Musical my goal was to write material that would lead to fun and effective learning in the classroom. I wanted to create songs that would educate, inspire and get children singing. The children could then sing about the environment and, hopefully, inspire their audiences too.
To achieve this I had to ensure the songs would suit children’s voices and all levels of singing ability, be catchy, easy to learn and easy to teach.
I also wanted to create songs that would make it easy for teachers to engage more of the children during the singing lesson. With this in mind I included responses in several of the songs. Singing responses can often bring out the competitive spirit in children resulting in each group striving to be the best at their part. This can help to reinforce the learning of the lyrics and messages contained within in the song. It can also lead to the children developing a real sense of ownership of the song which helps enhance the whole social aspect of the singing experience.
The song arrangements are easy and the Resource CD makes it easy to teach the melodies. A teacher does not have to able to sing in order to teach the songs.
For the experts, there is an optional harmony for 7 of the songs and plenty of scope for being creative with the song arrangements.
My greatest desire is for children to have fun and memorable experiences learning and performing the songs while simultaneously learning about the importance of caring for their patch of planet Earth.
The Songs
Click on the titles of the songs below to listen and learn the lyrics!