Engine Engine Number Nine

Engine, engine number nine

Going down Chicago Line.

If the train falls off the track,

Will I get my money back?

 

That's the way I learned it - there are so many versions, all of them good but a little different.

 

Such a great chant for teaching ta, ti-ti, steady beat, and so much more!  I also like using it to get the students to improvise a so-mi melody.  So many uses!

 



A couple of years ago, I found these really cute mini train whistles on Oriental Trading. 

 

I just checked, and they don't carry these exact ones anymore, but they have other cute train stuff, including some cute wind-up trains I'm really tempted to buy.

 

Like many of you, I love using this chant to prepare/present/practice steady beat, quarter notes and eighth notes.  My kids really like it too, because I always have them form little trains and walk around the room to either the beat or the rhythm, depending on what we are working on.

 

Then, I came across these adorable train track beat charts on bethsmusicnotes.blogspot.com.  (I just adore her blog - she's got so many great songs and resources)

 

I thought it would be great to actually give each student a train whistle so they could visually move it across the chart as the song progresses, like this: 

Instant success!  Some of my (1st grade) kiddos were having a hard time pointing at regular beat from left to right, but the little manipulative really helped them.  Love it so much!