Darla Hanley's Music Room
Creative Teaching for Students of Today (& Tomorrow) PK-8
Today’s Teaching Strategy: Little Donkey
(Action Call Moves with Response)
Lower Elementary (PK-1)
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
Bonus! This DHMR teaching strategy includes a downloadable “Little Donkey” color sheet.
This teaching strategy is all about using a chant to engage students to depict words with movements—and to show their best 4 quarter note claps! It goes with “Grazing in the Grass” by Stevie Wonder from 1968 because it’s a great track and the “Little Donkey” is grazing in the chant (lol).
This track is available on multiple streaming audio platforms. (Like many of my teaching strategies, you should feel free to find other audio tracks to anchor the learning experience using music that works in your setting or new tracks to simply “mix it up.”)
Pedagogical Foundations
Wait for it!
Taking turns, demonstrating patience, interacting, and knowing when it’s the right time to XY and Z are essential skills in music making—and in life. This relates to music as our students need to develop the ability to listen attentively and act in response to the artistic/creative task-at-hand. This is a balance of stop and go… wait and act.
As musicians we often talk about the sounds, you know, the notes and scales, chords and harmony. But it’s equally important to talk about rests and space, phrases, and collaborating artistically with others to create musical shapes rather than a continuous stream of sounds (e.g., listening and responding to others in an ensemble).
I remember when I was a beginning instrumentalist in band class learning to count measures of rest. I had to keep track—and wait—until it was my time to play. Wow that could be hard (lol). Later, in jazz, I remember learning to overlap improvised solos so one player was entering as the previous player was ending to keep the music moving forward. The second player had to wait for their colleague to near completion of their solo in order to begin playing or scatting. Also hard (lol).
So why am I talking about this as a pedagogical foundation for a PK-1 teaching strategy? I’m framing this learning experience as needing to remember these things:
Wait for the Assessable Moment
Sometimes we need to structure the learning experience for students to show what they know in small bites (lol). (In this teaching strategy the real learning target is clapping the quarter note pulse at the end of the chant.) Asking students to maintain the steady beat to an entire track or song is important, but having them WAIT to perform it at the end of a chant is another way to approach it. One that isolates the task and changes the game.
Learning Happens Individually AND with Others
Creating opportunities for students (including our youngest PK-1) to participate individually is part of the learning process.
We need to remember that students learn by doing AND by watching their peers (and us). The wait time for their turn is valuable.
Take the Time
With our busy schedules and daily lives we sometimes rush things. We all know that students learn at their own pace—in response to the education they receive. Let’s slow down and give them time to experience and OWN the joys of music making.
Today’s teaching strategy “Little Donkey” includes moving to the words within a chant as a call—and waiting to show the steady beat at the end. It also includes a summative assessment where every student gets a turn when their name is called! I hope you give it a try with your students. But first, let me remind you who I am:
Hi! I’m Darla, an experienced PK-12 music educator, college professor, and former Berklee College of Music Dean looking to connect with teachers, parents/caregivers, and others seeking to advance creative music making for today’s students—and their teachers. In Darla Hanley’s Music Room you will find teaching strategies, advice and teaching tips, playlists, and more.
Today we are going to add some moves to a chant called “Little Donkey”. Watch me and do what I do!
Play the recording of “Grazing in the Grass” by Stevie Wonder and lead the chant with action moves and the 4 beat steady response. Video provided to make it easy!
ProTIP: Young students will watch to see what is being asked of them and may appear to not be engaged… this is NOT always true (lol). Give them lots of time to hear the words and see the moves by repeating it over the whole track. They’ll join in when ready!
Now I am going to go around the circle and will point to you when it’s your turn. Everyone will have a chance to clap and say the “Bray, Bray, Bray, Bray!” part! Listen to your classmates and WAIT until it is your turn to clap. Let’s go!
ProTIP: Go in order 1x1 so students can anticipate their turn (and wait time).
Lead students to speak the third line of the chant as a lead-in for an individual to “take a solo” and perform the steady beat.
Everyone chants: “Calling INSERT NAME to come and play”, that student claps 4x, and this repeats until all students have had a turn.
ProTIP: Change the call to omit “to” = another variation and one that allows for multi-syllable names to flow smoothly.
ProTIP: This individual “lightning round” around the circle can be done with or without the track. Use what works best in your setting!
Materials/Set Up
Room for students to be seated on the floor in a circle formation
Drums (1 per student)
DHMR “Little Donkey” Color Sheet (downloadable PDF)
Crayons
🎵 Stevie Wonder "Grazing in the Grass” Link to Track on Spotify
🎵 Tony Rice/The Bluegrass Album Band "Home Sweet Home” Link to Track on Spotify
Little Donkey (Chant)
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
Little donkey munching hay
by the barn—he’s there all day,
Calling me to come and play
Bray, Bray, Bray, Bray!
Little Donkey (Action Moves)
© 2025 Darla S. Hanley
Little donkey munching hay
R hand with palm down “air” tapping 4x, 2 hands pretending to be eating by tapping fingers by mouth
by the barn—he’s there all day,
R pointer finger pointing to the barn 3x, R pointer finger tapping L wrist (like tapping a watch)
Calling me to come and play
R hand to R hear, 2 hands gesturing to come toward self 3x
Bray, Bray, Bray, Bray!
Clap, clap, clap, clap
Video
EXTEND the Learning:
Place a small drum on the floor in front of each student and have them tap the drum instead of clapping to show the steady beat (Bray!).
Change the musical style! Lead students to perform the “Little Donkey” chant and movements with “Home Sweet Home” by the Bluegrass Album Band.
ProTIP: A change in musical style paired with a familiar chant or game is an eye-opener! Listen to how the music informs you to speak (and lead the chant) in the new style… What fun!
Ask students to create new body percussion to pair with the “Bray, Bray, Bray, Bray!) response to replace clapping (e.g., tap shoulders, patsch).
Distribute the DHMR “Little Donkey” Color Sheets and crayons for students to complete in class as they listen to the recording of “Grazing in the Grass” or “Home Sweet Home” OR have them bring them back to their classroom to color.
Learning Targets
Chant, Move
Learning Outcomes
Respond with movements and body percussion
Create original body percussion*
Perform movements prompted by words AND steady beat
Assessment
Formal Observation/Summative Assessment
*This only happens within the EXTEND the Learning part of this teaching strategy.
Thanks for checking this out. If you use this teaching strategy, be sure to leave a comment to let me know how it resonates with your students!
Woot Woot! My favorite so far!
ROFL