#666. A Great, Crazy Sailor

Music, level: all
Posted Mon Oct 12 01:16:04 PDT 1998 by David Saphra (gamba@concentric.net).
A Great, Cazy Sailor
http://www.concentric.net/~Gamba, Irvington, New York USA
Materials Required: Tape recorder and recording of MIDI file OR Orff instruments
Activity Time: ten minutes
Concepts Taught: Basic facts about Columbus' voyage, mastery of an ostinato part of Orff instruments are used

Students (especially lower grades) can quickly become
aquainted with the basic facts of Christopher Columbus'
discovery of America through singing the following chant:

A GREAT, CRAZY SAILOR

In the middle of the month of October
We take a break - -
To remember
A great, crazy sailor
Who came all the way from Spain
In three little ships
The Nina, the Pinta
And the Santa Maria
Christopher Columbus was his name

In the middle of the month of October
Just when it starts - -
Growing colder
The falling leaves remind me
Of a time so long ago
In 1492
When Columbus first came to America
He wanted to get to Old India
But he got here and discovered something new
In the middle of the month of October...

A MIDI file of the musical arrangement can be found at
the URL listed at the top of this page. If your computer is
able to play the music you can just get a hold of a tape
recorder with an input jack and plug it into your computer's
headphone jack to make your own accompaniment tape.
Alternately, if you have access to Orff instruments and need
help with realizing the parts please feel free to contact me.

Additionally, a wonderful old song about Columbus and
the game of baseball can be found at the following URL:

http://www.concentric.net/~Gamba/columbo.html

The song dates back to 1911 (out of copyright) with words by
Ring Lardner.

http://www.concentric.net/~Gamba

(Children's Songs by D.F.Saphra)