Alle Meine Entchen is a German song that I use for teaching and reviewing half notes to my elementary music classes. It is always fun to introduce a new language to students, and the pronunciation of this song is easy enough that even my first and second-graders can sing it pretty quickly. It’s also a great song to add to a performance!
In this post, we’ll be covering how I teach the song, practicing half notes and Do, and adding instruments to the song.
The slides in this post are part of the Alle Meine Entchen resource I created. The resource includes:
- Standard Notation with lyrics (German and English)
- Words to the song (German and English)
- Social Studies integration (introduction to Germany)
- Do review slide
- Do, Mi, So (Sol), La reading practice slides
- Half note review slides
- Pat half notes with the song
- Xylophone: set up example
- Xylophone: play half notes to the song
- Body percussion slides
- Create your own body percussion
Although you can certainly do the activities in this post without the resource, if you want the slides done and ready to present, you can purchase the resource here.
Teaching the song Alle Meine Entchen
I always teach the song Alle Meine Entchen (and every other song we learn) in a whole-part-whole sequence. I sing the whole song first, break the song down into phrases or lines, and then gradually build up to the students singing the whole song. I try not to sing with the students, but I will mouth the words with them. That being said, with this song being in German, I would sing with my students for a while until they have a better grasp of the song. I still think it’s worthwhile to break down, even if they will need extra support while singing!
We’ll also look at the lyrics of the song and decide what words look like English words we may already recognize. For example, the word “schwimmen” looks very similar to “swimming.” “Waser” looks like “water.” Pointing out these connections helps students remember the words better.
Learning about the song history/ German culture
Over the past couple of years, I have really tried to be cognizant of making sure that my students know where songs are from. I show them a world map and compare where we are and where the song originated from. I’ll show pictures showing famous buildings, parks, monuments, landscapes, etc. We’ll also talk about famous people and composers from the country and the top exports.
It is always fun to hear students talk about their own family trips to places around the world and they love to share their experiences when we talk about a place they’ve been to. Students may not get this extra opportunity to share if I didn’t take the time to give students a basic background of the song. I also just think it’s important to share where songs are from because it helps our students realize that the world is so much bigger than their little bubble.
Teaching half notes with Alle Meine Entchen
Using the song Alle Meine Entchen is perfect for teaching and practicing half notes. After we learn the song, we will look at the lyrics and discuss which words take up more than one beat (See and Höh). That leads right into what kind of rhythm it is.
When I am teaching half notes, I make sure to really go into the difference between sounds and beats. For example, we know that a quarter note is one sound and one beat. Eighth notes are two sounds, but still only one beat in the music. So half notes are only one sound and are two beats long. To show this, I’ll play the difference between quarter, eighth, and half notes on the piano. Oftentimes I catch myself adding an emphasis in my half notes when I say, “ta-ah,” so hearing it on a piano or other instrument is helpful.
After we learn the rhythm within the song, we practice using YouTube videos or rhythm flashcards. You can read about some other songs and activities I use to teach half notes in this blog post.
Practicing Do patterns
Now, I wouldn’t personally use Alle Meine Entchen to teach do because it also has re and fa in it. I probably wouldn’t use a song this long in a different language to teach re or fa either because it’s a fairly long song in a different language than we’re used to, especially for the younger grades. However, I do think it’s great for practicing patterns with do. The first five notes go right up the major scale. Then I use it as a transition to practice reading patterns using do.
I tend to describe Do to my students as the home base. It helps them picture that this is the note that music is based on. In the grades I’m teaching do to, it is the lowest note of a song, so that helps, too.
Playing instruments with Alle Meine Entchen
Students always love adding instruments to songs! Once students can keep the steady beat, I would have them practice the beat with alternating body percussion movements (like maybe stomp clap stomp clap.) Once they can do that, then I would add unpitched percussion instruments! We would play that same AB pattern but with two different instruments.
You could also have them play the rhythm instead of the beat. This would work on their internal ear and help them learn to listen to each other as they try to stay together.
You could also use this song to play xylophones. Students could play half notes (or the steady beat) on the note C throughout the whole song. Then, once students know the melody better, they could learn to play the melody of the song. It’s a tricky melody because it uses several notes, but it would be a great song to play for a performance!
Once they can sing and play the song in some way, you could turn this into an ABA pattern. Students could sing the song for A and play instruments for B!
Wrap Up
There are so many possibilities for using the song Alle Meine Entchen! This song is great because it is challenging enough for a wide range of grades, even if they have heard the song and practiced the steady beat in first or second grade. If you like the example slides you saw, be sure to check out the full resource. If you are looking for more ideas for teaching half notes, head over to Instagram and DM me (@caffeinated.j)! I love connecting with other music teachers and talking about lesson ideas!
