Come and follow me in a line, in a line.Come and follow me, we will stop this way.
Following the script, the students were very attentive and followed what I did. They listened carefully to the song and when asked "what did the song tell us to do?" they answered "stop this way". Some also responded that the song asked us to "follow in a line". Moving on, they were asked to watch my feet and notice what happened at the end of the song. We continued on, following the script and I could write out everything the book says and my students responded as you would expect. They loved the game and we played with some of the variations in switching leaders.
I've used this song with other classes over the years but followed the script in the Song Play book. What I have observed in following the scripts is that they are very well thought out. Children will typically respond exactly like the book suggests they will. This result is caused by how the questions are worded and I have found that to be an important factor with the SongWorks approach. Words have so much impact on people. And children, who don't know all the intricacies of words may interpret your words differently than you would expect. Our words when chosen carefully can make someone happy or ruin their day. What words will you say?
The wording of the script IS so important, I agree! When I was learning how to teach (also from the SongWorks books) it felt like I was learning a new language. Very, VERY intentionally crafting my words. I still script out my lesson plans for the most part. Then I make changes as I try it out, putting a "good" copy on my computer when done. When I don't think about what I will say, the lessons often don't go as well! More behavior issues, less engagement, students not getting where I wanted with the materials...etc.
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