Hello! The holidays are quickly approaching and the sounds of students practicing their holiday performances are easy to find. One of my favorite non-Christmas songs is a lovely Hanukkah folk song called In The Window. This is one version of the song. Of course if you know it another way you should use your own version. As you can see the song has a pattern which is easy for students to grasp. Invite your students to join in as soon as they are able to follow the pattern all the way up to eight days.
Vocally you can see the highest pitch is the high D or mi in this key. Encourage your students to sing it lightly rather than smacking it like a slam dunk. (You know they will!) Once you have them singing the song in a lovely way. You might ask some of the following questions.
Vocally you can see the highest pitch is the high D or mi in this key. Encourage your students to sing it lightly rather than smacking it like a slam dunk. (You know they will!) Once you have them singing the song in a lovely way. You might ask some of the following questions.
- What is glowing?
- What is a menorah?
- How many candles are on the menorah?
Now that we know what a menorah is and what it is used for.... Lets make a human menorah to help us count the 8 days of Hanukkah! Pull out 9 flashlights for students to use to create the candle "flames" in their hands. The student in the center has the job of the Shamash. The word shamash means servant and the servant candle is used to light each of the other candles on each night of Hanukkah during the evening celebration. The shamash/servant student has the important job of 'lighting' or turning on the other eight candles in the menorah at the appropriate time in the song. I have them walk over to the first candle (far left from the audience's perspective) to mime lighting a candle and the other student flips their candle on as we sing "I will set you, ONE little candle...."
I hope you enjoy teaching this song and creating your own living menorah! Would love to see and hear from you as you create music and come up with your own creative ideas for teaching Hanukkah traditions.
Mark@ Musical Gems
Mark@ Musical Gems