How to Extend Learning Using “The Ants Go Marching”
How to Extend Learning Using “The Ants go Marching”
One way to incorporate learning into the mundane tasks of everyday life is by filling them with songs and rhymes. Not only does this bring a fun playfulness into your day, but it is also teaching important lessons. In this post I am breaking down one song you probably already know, and showing you how you can use it to bring more learning into your day.
Lyrics
The ants go marching 1 by 1, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 1 by 1, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 1 by 1, the little one stops to have some fun.
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
BOOM, BOOM,BOOM, BOOM!
The ants go marching 2 by 2, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 2 by 2, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 2 by 2, the little one stops to tie his shoe.
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
BOOM, BOOM,BOOM, BOOM!
The ants go marching 3 by 3, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 3 by 3, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 3 by 3, the little one stops to climb a tree.
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
BOOM, BOOM,BOOM, BOOM!
The ants go marching 4 by 4, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 4 by 4, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 4 by 4, the little one stops to shut the door.
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
BOOM, BOOM,BOOM, BOOM!
The ants go marching 5 by 5, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 5 by 5, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching 5 by 5, the little one stops to take a dive.
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
BOOM, BOOM,BOOM, BOOM!
How to Extend Learning using “The Ants Go Marching”
Strategies to extend learning
Learning this song is valuable for adding playfulness and fun. And for learning to memorize short songs. By taking different approaches to this song, you can teach several lessons from it.
- Learning the song– the base of all the following is knowing the song relatively well.
- Rhyming– Rhyming concepts can be taught both explicitly and implicitly with this song. You may choose to describe what rhyming is happening and talk about that. You may also want to take a less direct route, by playing around with different rhyming words for each verse.
- Counting– Simply listening to and singing this song helps teach number names and order. Take it one step farther by holding up the number of fingers you are singing about. Other things you may try for older children is making more verses of the song that go to higher numbers. Or creating an art project depicting the numbers in each verse.
- Science– Learning about ants or rainstorms are some important science concepts for young children. Use this song to support learning about one of these topics. Or start a deep dive into one of them based off the interest your child shows from this song.
There are lots of ways you can deepen learning with this song. My advice would be to follow what your child is interested in. If all they want to do is sing the song- they are learning about music and creative arts. If they are more interested in the numbers, follow that route.
You know your child best, and so you are in the best position to add in the extra learning that will be the most valuable to him/her. And the great thing is you can always come back to the beginning and try a different route.