Let's Make Music Fun! Blue Book: Book & CD

The CD inclusion transforms this resource from a book you'll hunt for a pianist to accompany into something you can use immediately, even if your keyboard skills are limited. Diamond's choices of rounds, part-songs, and action songs across 80 pages give you genuine variety for different learning objectives without requiring you to hunt through multiple books.

Bright and purposeful. The songs feel like they belong in a real classroom rather than a showpiece, mixing simple melodies that sit comfortably in children's voices with rhythms that invite movement and participation. There's warmth in the inclusion of seasonal and cultural songs alongside action pieces, creating a sense of repertoire that actually serves the calendar and the year.

Elementary music teachers working across grades K-6 who need a reliable source of singable, developmentally appropriate songs that align with core music skills. This book serves teachers in self-contained classrooms, specialists leading mixed-grade assemblies, and classroom teachers without formal music training who want structured support for regular singing.

• Let students lead the action songs before performing them for an audience; familiarity with the movements makes the singing more confident and the presentation more polished.
• Record your class singing the simpler songs early in the year and replay them in spring to make progress audible and celebrate growth.
• When teaching rounds, start with the whole group singing the melody, then divide into two parts only after the tune is secure; rushing to parts derails younger singers.
• Use the backing tracks during rehearsals so students can focus on their individual parts rather than relying on you to hold the harmonic center.

Build a sequential music literacy curriculum by selecting songs that match your grade level's focus each month; the teaching notes help you articulate why you're using each piece. For assemblies or holiday programs, the rounds and part-songs provide genuine musical content that sounds richer than unison singing while remaining manageable for mixed-age groups.

• Singing in unison with secure pitch and steady tempo
• Part-singing in rounds and two-part arrangements
• Rhythmic coordination through action songs
• Following dynamic and tempo markings
• Responding to musical cues while moving or performing actions
• Understanding form (rounds, verse-and-refrain structures)
• Performing seasonal and thematic repertoire with expression