There's a Spider on The Floor

“A spider lives inside my head
Who weaves a strange and wondrous web
Of silken threads and silver strings
To catch all sorts of flying things,
Like crumbs of thoughts and bits of smiles
And specks of dried-up tears,
And dust of dreams that catch and cling
For years and years and years...”― Shel Silverstein, Every Thing on It

This week when digging through the corners of my closet and cabinets to pack up for summer, I was gifted a large spider bite. No, I didn't positively I.D. the thing because frankly there were several spiders that I scared up. When I was little I remember a little spider in the back seat of my father's car and he "wove" a story about his pet "Herbie" who happened to be a spider living in the back seat of his car. Every spider since then has been "Herbie". Countless spiders named "Herbie" have been released back into nature by yours truly. My personal story is a bit bigger, but needless to say, I was not so compassionate with Arachnida camping in my room this week and we certainly the song, "There's a Spider on the Floor" in Kinder Music this week.  We acted it out with our hands as spiders and very clear directions that our spiders were NOT to touch any other person in the room.  I am constantly fighting through my web of thoughts on life, school, family, faith and the connections all of these things have.  We will definitely be weaving a web in the music room next fall.

Spider Songs and Activities for the Music Room and Beyond

There's a Spider on the Floor - Raffi

The Itsy Bitsy Spider,  Iza Trapani

Ten Little Elephants: Pop-ups, Pull-tabs, and Elephant Escapades!

I love to build a "spider web" out of yarn while singing this song and having the students pretend they are elephants on a spider web.  The song offers opportunity to encourage students to use their head voices.

The Very Busy Spider, Eric Carle

In my music room, we use wood blocks  to play a chorus after each page when the animals invite the spider to participate in different activities.  "The spinning until the job was done."  The kids always beg to read it again and add more instruments for each animal.  It is an excellent opportunity for students to create and take ownership of their learning.

"Little Miss Muffet"

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey,

And frightened Miss Muffet away!

Along came a spider who sat down beside her,

And, I am tempted to order this poster for my room next year.  It seems like the perfect rhyme to pull a short program together. https://vintagraph.com/collections/wpa-posters/products/little-miss-muffet-wpa-poster

The Spider and the Fly, Mary Howitt and Tony DiTerlizzi

I have not used this book in my classroom yet.  It is waiting on my bookshelf for the perfect musical idea to join up with it.  I love that it is set up like an old black and white movie.  I really think that I could use something from the Orff volumes to bring it to life for my students.

The Diary of a Spider, Doreen Cronin

"Welcome," Said the Spider, M. Ryan Taylor

http://freesongsforkids.com/audios/welcome-said-spider

"Welcome," said the spider. "Come right in."

"I'm so glad to have you. I feel mighty thin."

"Rest your weary bones. Lay down your pack."

"The time has now come to have a snack!"

The Spider, Jack Prelutsky

First Line: The spider, sly and talented . . . .

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