The runaway train

T'was in the year of '89 on that old Great Western line,
When the winter wind was blowin' shrill,
The rails were froze, the wheels were cold, then the air brakes wouldn't hold,
And Number 9 came roaring down the hill -- oh!

The runaway train came down the track and she blew,
The runaway train came down the track and she blew,
The runaway train came down the track, her whistle wide and her throttle back,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

The engineer said the train must halt and she blew,
The engineer said the train must halt and she blew,
The engineer said the train must halt -- he said it was all the fireman's fault,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

The fireman said he rang the bell and she blew,
The fireman said he rang the bell and she blew,
The fireman said he rang the bell -- the engineer said "You did like h***!"
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

The porter got an awful fright and she blew,
The porter got an awful fright and she blew,
The porter got an awful fright -- he got so scared he near turned white,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

A donkey was standing in the way and she blew,
A donkey was standing in the way and she blew,
A donkey was standing in the way and all they found was just his bray,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

The conductor said there'd be a wreck and she blew,
The conductor said there'd be a wreck and she blew,
The conductor said there'd be a wreck and he felt the chills run up his neck,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

The runaway train went over the hill and she blew,
The runaway train went over the hill and she blew,
The runaway train went over the hill and the last we heard she was going still,
And she blew, blew, blew, blew, blew.

This song is far more difficult than the previous ones so we can either save it for high grades or learn it verse-by-verse (one a month or so, depending of the age and the level of the children). Besides that, it would be a good idea to tell the children what does the first verse mean in order to provide them with an adequate context. On top of that, pictures, videos or mimics can be used to provide further context.

The big ship sails on the alley, alley O

The big ship sails on the alley, alley O,

 The alley, alley O, the alley, alley O.

 The big ship sails on the alley, alley O,

 On the last day of September.

The captain said " It will never, never do”

 never, never do; never, never do 

The captain said " It will never, never do”

 On the last day of September.

 The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea

 the bottom of the sea the bottom of the sea 

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea 

On the last day of September.

Here it is a video to provide context to the song.

The wheels on the bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All day long.

The people on the bus go up and down,
Up and down, up and down.
The people on the bus go up and down,
All day long.

The horn on the bus goes toot toot toot,
Toot toot toot, toot toot toot.
The horn on the bus goes toot toot toot,
All day long

The bell on the bus goes ding ding ding,
Ding ding ding, ding ding ding.
The bell on the bus goes ding ding ding,
All day long.

The wiper on the bus goes swish swish swish,
Swish swish swish, swish swish swish.
The wiper on the bus goes swish swish swish,
All day long.

The doors on the bus go open and shut,
Open and shut, open and shut.
The doors on the bus go open and shut,
All day long.

The mummies on the bus go chatter chatter chatter,
Chatter chatter chatter, chatter chatter chatter.
The mummies on the bus go chatter chatter chatter,
All day long.

This song can be sang together with mimics just as we did with I'm driving on my car. This is a good example on how to use it.





In case we want to provide with further context there are several videos you can use. Be careful, as the lyrics might change from one cover to the other.

Here you have an example.

I´m driving in my car:

I'm driving in my car, I'm driving in my car,

Beep! beep! toot! toot! I'm driving in my car.

I'm driving very fast, I'm driving very fast,

Beep! beep! toot! toot! I'm driving very fast.

I'm driving very slow, I'm driving very slow,

Beep! beep! toot! toot! I'm driving very slow.

The light is turning red. I must stop my car,

Beep! beep! toot! toot! I must stop my car.

The light is turning green. I can go again,

Beep! beep! toot! toot! I can go again.

The song can be easily combined with some mimics while we sing it. I do not think it needs further explanation, nonetheless, here is a video in which they use the song.

Now you know how to sing it. What do you think?

Alternative endings or versions of classic stories and fairy tales.

A very nice way of maintaining the appeal of classic stories and fairy tales when people grows older is to use alternative stories or alternative endings (for instance I remember being told and alternative ending of the ugly duckling in which the duck, after growing up becomes a huge and utterly ugly duck). The fact is that if small children enjoy predictable things (once upon a time... the bad guy makes it to scene and creates a problem... the problem is solved... and they lived happy ever after) it comes a point (not that sure about what age, but probably from 9-10) when that predictability just makes things boring and it is precisely the opposite thing, the unexpected, what is amusing. As an example of this we have a compilation of stories made but a true genius on the subject, Roadl Dahl. The book is called Revolting rhymes (AKA Cuentos en verso para niños perversos in Spanish) and here there is a compilation of such stories complemented with pictures.
This is one of my favourites


Pre and post activities can be used as with any other text. Any ideas?


On top of that, we can use it as a post-activity technique itself. Just ask children to think of alternative endings and then choose a certain technique so they can tell them to you. Among other options you could do a dramatization, ask them to write it, to tell it to the class, or even use an ICT tool such as Storybird or writecomics to present their alternative endings. If you do so, it might be a good idea to share with them some of the background pictures you have been using, just in case they want to use them as a start.