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The story, "Hip & Hop, Don't Stop" is about a rabbit who raps fast and a turtle who rap slow who recognize each other's talent and end up becoming friends, and verses rapped by each character are sprinkled throughout the story. To be honest I don't remember how I came across this book but when I found it I knew it would be a perfect way to replace my old lessons in a modern way while also incorporating hip-hop music and rapping in my Kindergarten lessons, which is something I've been looking for more ways to do intentionally and authentically for a few years.
I introduced the lessons by reading the story and telling students to do the "DJ move" (one hand on their ear, the other hand "spinning" in front) on the steady beat every time one of the characters raps. As I read the story, I exaggerated the tempo of each verse to make the difference very obvious. After the story I asked them to tell me which character was fast and which was slow. Then I played the first part of two different tracks I found online (I found these without spending a lot of time looking around, so I'm sure there are better examples!): this one for fast, and this one for slow, and I told them to do the DJ move again while they listened and identify the tempo. I wasn't sure if they would be able to tell them apart easily, to be honest, because the difference in speed is not as exaggerated (the fast one is around 100bpm and the slow one is around 83bpm), but they got it right away.
The next lesson we reviewed the story, then I told them we were going to rap like Hip and Hop. I copied one of the verses they each rap towards the end of the story on the board, and we practiced rapping each one, getting it up to speed to rap with their respective tracks. It took a while for them to be able to do the raps with the tracks, and a few kids said "wow, I didn't know rapping was hard!" (which is a wonderful concept for students to experience at a young age!). But they were motivated and did not get frustrated at all, and they were so proud of themselves when they got it. After the rapping I had them spread out around the room and told them to "hop like a bunny" when they heard the fast track and "crawl like a turtle" when they hear the slow one, and I switched back and forth between the two.
After those lessons we moved on to some other lessons on fast and slow (you can see some of my favorites for that in this blog post), but I'm planning to use this as a jumping off point to have students create with fast and slow tempi by writing a rap for Hop and a rap for Hip and practice performing it with the tracks. I'm thinking I will pick one simple topic that's relevant at the end of the school year, like summer break plans or what it's like to be in Kindergarten, and ask them to think about what they think each character would rap about that topic and come up with a short verse for each of them together. It will also be a great way to start building in the concept of rap writing and rapping earlier on (you can read more about the lessons I do with my older students with rap, within the context of hip-hop in general, in this post).
I have used the Aesop fable, "The Tortoise and the Hare", since my first year of teaching to practice fast and slow with my Kindergartners. I've used different variations over the years, but the basic idea is to have the students sing a bunny song fast while moving their hands like bunny ears on the beat every time I mention the hare, and sing a turtle song slowly while moving their hands like turtle feet every time I mention the tortoise. Besides being great for having them repeatedly practice singing and moving on the beat with the two contrasting tempi, and incorporating a familiar story, I also like being able to use the bunny ears and turtle feet as cues to have students play/ sing/ move fast or slow in subsequent lessons. But truth be told I have been ready for a change for years now- most of my students already know the story from preschool so it's not as exciting as the other stories I use in my lessons. So this has turned out to be the perfect replacement that keeps the things I loved about my old lessons while updating it to something more engaging that adds a new element to my curriculum as well.
Have you ever used this book in your lessons? You can see all of my lesson plans using books in this post. What other lessons do you use to teach fast and slow in Kindergarten music? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below!
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