Sing a Song of Seasons

Brian Ogden

Rating:

Here are five plays supposedly written for pre-school and early years -The Creation Story, The Prodigal Son, The Two Builders, The Sower and the events of Holy Week.

In each play, the story is told through narration and song. Each narrative part is just a sentence or phrase, so many children could be involved with a speaking part.

The songs are set to so-called “well-known tunes” including many nursery rhymes, the theory being that it will be easier for children to learn. However, how many pre-school children would be familiar with the tunes of Green Grow the Rushes-0, Cockles and Mussels, or Dance to your Daddy?

The music “scores” for the tunes consist of the melody line and guitar chords only, so an accompanist would be required to provide their own harmony. Some of the song words suggest that these plays would be more suited to older KS1 than early years.

“You can’t build a house without any foundations / It’s very important to choose good locations”.

“The bank has no money, dear Cindy, I’m broke / Try Visa, dear Sonny, dear Sonny, use plastic/ My card’s been rejected, dear Cindy, I’m broke.”

Although teachers are always on the lookout for simple yet engaging dramas which can be presented with minimal preparation, and ones which convey God’s message have a particular appeal for Christian teachers, I feel that this collection misses the mark, mostly because it is difficult to decide which age it is aimed at. 

Reviewer: Marian Smith, Class teacher and Subject Leader for RE, Elmgrove First School, Harrow, Middlesex

Review posted on: 14 April 2008

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