Old Macdonald Had A Farm, like other songs, tend to be repetitive
and has a strong rhythm. It is easily learnt by primary children and quickly
becomes a favourite because of its
familiarity. It is fun and motivating for children. It allows language to be
reinforced in a natural context, both with structures and vocabulary.
This song builds confidence in
young learners and even shy children will enjoy singing or acting out it as
part of a group or whole class. This also develops a sense of class identity.
Children take pride in what they have learnt and will like having the
opportunity to ‘show off' what they have learnt to friends or family.
Old Macdonald Had A Farm lyrics
can help develop memory and concentration, as well as physical co-ordination.
For the teacher, this song can fit in well with skills, topics, language and
cross-curricular work.
This song is suitable for singing in class or for an individual child to sing along to. Community singing in class brings the benefit of total participation from all kids, especially if accompanied by actions or mimes. The total physical response approach is particularly suited to younger learners.
Children enjoy singing along to Old Macdonald Had A Farm song and
it can really improve motivation. Singing can also improve the pronunciation
and intonation patterns of the learners, especially younger learners. At
primary level, vocabulary teaching tends to focus on single word items, and
songs allow learners to learn ‘chunks’ or meaningful phrases of language rather
than single words and to learn about how sounds connect and run together. For
instance, children can become of aware of using contractions and weak forms. This
song is particularly useful for developing pronunciation and acclimatising
young learners to the sounds of the language.
Old Macdonald is very
repetitive and good for singing along. For very young children the ‘The
alphabet song’ is a good starting point for singing and reinforcing the
alphabet.
