English Chants Page
Keywords: ESL, EFL, TEFL,
TESL, ELT, TESOL
chants, primary songs, English songs, lyrics, children's
songs,
Five
Little Monkeys
Five little
monkeys jumping on the bed...
One fell
off and broke his head.
Mama called
the doctor and the doctor said,
"NO
more monkeys jumping on the bed!"
Four little
monkeys jumping on the bed...
One fell
off and broke his head.
Mama called
the doctor and the doctor said,
"NO
more monkeys jumping on the bed!"
Three
little monkeys....
Two little
monkeys...
One little
monkey...
Two Little
Love Birds
Two little
love birds sitting in a tree...
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
First comes
love, then comes marriage,
then comes
the baby in the baby carriage.
Jack and
Jill
Jack and
Jill went up the hill...
To fetch a
pail of water.
Jack fell
and broke his crown...
And Jill
came tumbling after.
Little
Miss Muffet
Little Miss
Muffet sat on tuffet,
Eating her
curds and whey,
When along
came a spider and sat down beside her,
And scared
Miss Mufffet away.
It's
Raining, It's Pouring
It's
raining. It's pouring.
The old man
is snoring.
Rain, rain,
go away.
Come again
another day.
The
Following are more like songs than chants
(if you wanna be technical about it),
because there is a melody for each one below:
Eensy
Weensy Spider
The eensy
weensy spider went up the water spout.
Down came
the rain and washed the spider out.
Up came the
sun and dried up all the rain,
And the
eensy weensy spider went up the spout again.
Little
Tommy Tinker
Little
Tommy Tinker sat on a blinker.
He began to
cry, "Ma ma, Ma ma!"
Poor little
innocent guy.
[Repeat,
getting quieter each time, except the "Ma ma, Ma ma"
part.]
There
Was an Old Man
There was
an old man named, Michael Finnegan,
Who had
some whiskers on his chin again.
The wind
came along and blew them in again.
Poor ol'
Michael Finnegan; Begin again.
[Repeat,
getting slightly faster each time.]
Little
Cottage in the Woods.
Little
cottage in the wood(s).
Little ol'
man, by the window, stood.
'e saw a
rabbit hoppin' by, knockin' at his door.
"Help
me!" "Help me!" "Help me!" he
said....
"Or
the hunter will shoot me, dead!"
"Come
little rabbit; Come with me."
"Happy
we will be!"
[NOTE:
Great with hand gestures!]
This
old man
This old
man, he played one.
He played
knick knack on my thumb,
With a
knick knack patty wack, give a dog a bone.
This old
man came rollin' home.
[Repeat...
two... on
my shoe
three... on
my knee
four... on
my door
five... on
my hive
six... on
my sticks
seven... up
in heaven
eight... on
my gate
nine... on
my line
ten... all
over again.
Mary
Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a
little lamb, little lamb, little lamb;
Mary had a
little lamb. It's fleece was white as snow.
And
everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went;
Everywhere
that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.
She'll
Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
She'll be
coming 'round the mountain when she comes.
repeat
She'll be
coming 'round the mountain (3x)...
[last time, add:] ...when she comes.
[GREAT
TEACHING SONG! ...because of the repetition. You can add your own
verses, and/or lyrics... like:
She'll
be wearing pink pajamas when she comes....
She'll
be driving six white horses when she comes...
I've
been workin' on the railroad
I've been
workin' on the railroad, all my live-long day.
I've been
workin' on the railroad just to pass the time away.
Can't you
hear the whistle blowin'?
Diana won't
you blow your horn?
Diana won't
you blow (3x)... [last time, add:] ...your horn?
[repeat
last three lines].
Kumbaya
[Also great because of the repetition involved,
but I've changed the lyrics, to avoid any reference to religion (gotta be
politically correct, you know)]!
Come by
here, my friend. Come by here.
Come by
here, my friend. Come by here.
Come by
here, my friend. Come by here.
Oh, friend,
come by here.
[I've
inserted "my friend" instead of "my lord"]
Next
verse: Someone's laughing, my friend.
Next
verse: Someone's crying, my friend.
Next
verse: Someone's sleeping my friend.
Next
verse: [your lyrics here]
If
I were you, I'd change the lyrics even more... like this:
1. I
am laughing, my friend. Come by here....
2. I
am crying, my friend. Come by here....
3. I
am sleepy, my friend. Come by here....
and
so on. [much better for EFL].
