My House

2 min Magic Box hook

The box is big today, and heavy. Carry it in with two hands and put it down as if it might break. Whole class chants:

Tip it a little — one soft wooden knock inside. Peek in, and stare for a long moment.

Both hands over your head to make a roof. “House!”

4 min Teach · House

Put the house in the middle where every child can see down into it. Point into each room, one at a time, and say what happens there.

Now the little doll walks the rooms. Kitchen — we cook. Bedroom — we sleep. Bathroom — we wash. Living room — we sit together. Every child gets to walk the doll into one room and the class names it with you.

Littles say the one word and make the roof: “House!” Bigs take the full frame: “This is my house.”

Teacher fails: put the little bed in the kitchen and the pot in the bathroom, stand back and look extremely pleased with yourself. Wait. They will move it all back for you, loudly.

Chinese moment: 家 is the character of the week, and one of the loveliest in the language — a roof 宀 with a pig 豕 underneath. A house was only a house once there was an animal in it. Draw the roof. Draw the pig. Then draw 家. Lay the card on the mat — one character a day, no drilling.

3 min Song · This Is My House — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. The chorus is a finger-play: they will do the actions long before they sing the words.

3 min Game · Build my house

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The basket of blocks comes to the middle and everybody sits round the empty floor.

Round the circle, one child at a time, one block each. As each part appears you name it and the class says it back: walls, “Door!”, “Window!”, and last of all the roof — everybody makes the roof over their heads as the last block goes on.

Bigs get a room each: “This is the kitchen.” Littles just place their block and name it: “House!”

If it falls over — and it will — cheer, and build it again. A house that falls down twice is more fun than a house that stands, and they get twice the language out of it.

1 min Close

Roof hands over the head, then fling both arms wide on the shout. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? A House Is a House for Me (Mary Ann Hoberman) — a hill is a house for an ant, a hive is a house for a bee. By page four they will be shouting the next one at you.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box comes out ordinary. Chant it as always — then, halfway through, press the doorbell that is hiding inside it.

DING… DONG! Stop dead. Look at the door of the classroom. Look at the box. Look at the door again.

Push an imaginary door open, knock twice on the air. “Door!”

4 min Teach · Door

Take the whole circle to the real classroom door and stand round it. Open. Closed. Open. Closed.

Then the brass handle goes round the circle: hold it, turn it, feel how cold and heavy it is. Littles say the one word: “Door!” Bigs take the frame: “The door is open.” / “Please close the door.”

Teacher fails: knock politely on the window, then wait, puzzled, and knock again harder. “Nobody is answering!” Let them march you to the door.

Chinese moment: 门 joins 家 on the mat — two doors of a gate, drawn in two strokes. We have just had 立冬: 天冷了，回家关门 — it is cold now, so we come home and we close the door. From today, every child closes the door behind them properly, with two hands and no bang.

3 min Song · This Is My House — chorus + Tuesday verse

Do the three knocks on the wooden floor, all together, on the beat. Twenty children knocking in time is the loudest and most satisfying moment of the week.

3 min Game · Knock knock, who's there?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” One child goes quietly outside the classroom door and closes it. Everyone else sits still.

The child outside answers in a silly voice — a squeak, a growl, a whisper — and the class guesses who it is before the door opens. Then the door opens and everybody shouts the name.

Bigs may add a whole line: “It's me — open the door!” Littles just knock and let the class do the rest.

Every child gets a turn; it takes about fifteen seconds each. Keep the door only half-latched so a two-year-old can open it alone — the opening is the best part and they must be the one who does it.

1 min Close

Three knocks on the floor, then the shout. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Doorbell Rang (Pat Hutchins) — the doorbell goes again, and again, and again. Ring the real doorbell on every page and let them count who has arrived.

2 min Magic Box hook

This box rattles harder than any box all year. Do not tell them what it is. Chant, then shake it once, enormously.

JANGLE! Freeze. Shake it again, softly, right beside one child's ear. Then round the whole circle, one shake each.

Turn an imaginary key in the air — click. “Key!”

4 min Teach · Key

One padlock in the middle of the mat, closed. Hold it up. Pull at it. It will not open.

Then the language, in the same order every time: locked → key → turn → click → open. Littles say the one word and turn their hand: “Key!” Bigs take the frame: “The key opens the door.”

Now hand the padlock and the right key to a child and let them do it in front of everybody. Nobody helps. The click is worth waiting twenty seconds for.

Teacher fails: try to unlock the padlock with the wooden spoon. Push. Twist. Try the other end. Then get thoroughly cross with the padlock — “What is WRONG with you today?” — and wait for twenty children to put a key in your hand.

Chinese moment: 窗 joins 家 and 门 on the mat. The door lets you in; the window lets the light in. Stand at the classroom window and say it once, looking out.

3 min Song · This Is My House — chorus + Wednesday verse

Sing the three “clicks” as three tiny, quiet notes and the last line loud. The Am makes it sound like a secret, which is exactly what a key is to a four-year-old.

3 min Game · Find the key that fits

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Three padlocks on the tray, all locked, and a pile of keys beside them.

One child, one padlock, one key at a time — and the whole circle counts the tries out loud: “One… two… three…” On the click, everybody cheers.

Littles hand the keys over and shout “Key!” with each try. Bigs report back: “This key opens this lock.”

Control of error is the lock itself — nobody has to say “wrong”, the key simply does not turn. Say nothing when it fails; the material has already spoken, and the child just tries the next one.

1 min Close

Everybody turns a key in the air on the word “key”. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Any lift-the-flap house book — Where's Spot? (Eric Hill) works perfectly: every flap is a door, and every door has something behind it.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box smells faintly of dinner and knocks like wood. Chant, then tap the box twice from inside with the spoon.

Tock. Tock. Sniff at the lid. Close your eyes and stir the air with one hand, slowly.

Stir a big pot in the air. “Kitchen!”

4 min Teach · Kitchen

The pot goes in the middle. Everything that belongs in a kitchen comes out of it, one thing at a time, named and passed round.

Then the whole class cooks together: everybody stirs, everybody blows on the spoon, everybody tastes and says whether it needs more. Littles say the one word: “Kitchen!” Bigs take the frame: “We cook in the kitchen.”

Teacher fails: try to stir the pot with yesterday's padlock key, then try to eat the soup with the door handle. Look completely satisfied. Wait for the corrections — and they will hand you the right thing, which is the whole lesson.

Chinese moment: 厨房 goes down beside 家, 门 and 窗. Ask who cooks at home — 妈妈? 爸爸? 奶奶? — and let three children answer in Chinese and then again in English: “We cook in the kitchen.”

3 min Song · This Is My House — chorus + Thursday verse

Sing it once sitting and once standing round an imaginary table. The “don't be late!” line gets shouted; let it.

3 min Game · Set the table

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The placemat goes at one end of the room with its four outlines showing; the basket of real things sits with you at the other.

One child, one object, one careful walk: plate, bowl, spoon, cup. They lay it on its own outline and walk back. “Plate!”  Bigs: “The spoon goes here.”

When the mat is full, everybody claps, you clear it, and the next four go. Do it three or four times round so every child carries something.

Control of error is the outline — the shape either matches or it doesn't, and the child sees it before you do. Carrying one real, slightly heavy object slowly across a room is practical life, not a game about words — and that is why the language sticks to it.

1 min Close

Everybody stirs a big pot on the word “kitchen”. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Pancakes, Pancakes! (Eric Carle) — a whole book of kitchen words, and by the end they are stirring with you.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box comes out fat, soft on the top and rattling underneath. Chant it, then press down on the lid — it squashes.

Hands to the cheek, head tipped over. “Bed!”

Then everything else comes out one at a time and held up in silence — they will supply the word before you can. Doll's house → “House!”  Handle → “Door!”  Keys → “Key!”  Pot → “Kitchen!”

4 min Teach · Bed, then the whole week

The pillow and the blanket go in the middle. Lie down beside them, right there on the mat, and do it properly.

Littles say the one word and tip their head: “Bed!” Bigs: “I sleep in my bedroom.”

Then everybody stands and we tell the whole week with our bodies, twice — slow, then fast:

Teacher fails: put the pillow in the pot and try to stir it, then lie down with your head on the padlock. Sigh happily. Let them rescue you twice.

Chinese moment: 床 completes the row — 家 · 门 · 窗 · 厨房 · 床. Point along the line and let them tell you which one you are standing on. Sing 《小小的家》 if they know it.

3 min Song · This Is My House — Friday verse, then the WHOLE song

The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday → chorus, top to bottom, with the pillow passed round the circle — whoever is holding it does the actions biggest. Everyone snores on the last chord. They learned it one verse a morning without noticing, and this run-through is the review of the whole week.

3 min Game · Which room?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Four big rooms are chalked on the mat — kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room — and the week's props are in a heap in the middle.

Each child grabs one object and runs it to the right room, then says it: “Kitchen!”  Bigs owe you the sentence: “The pot goes in the kitchen.”

Twelve objects, everybody goes twice, and the last round is the whole class at once — total, delighted chaos, and then we tidy it together.

Put one thing in that could go in two rooms — the cup. Watch them argue. Both answers are right; say so out loud, and say why each one is right.

1 min Close + awards

Every child gets a “You are a STAR!” award to take home with their house drawing. Then, standing, with all five gestures:

Got 3 spare minutes? Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown) — goodnight to every single thing in the room. Let them say goodnight to the classroom, object by object, as they leave.

The four chords

Tempo: warm and steady, like rocking — this is a going-home song, not a marching song. The Am in the third line of the chorus is the “a bed to keep” moment; lean on it and go quiet, then lift on “a room to sleep!” Chant it without the uke first; add chords once they know the actions.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who makes the roof, pushes the door, tips their head and snores has understood the entire week, whether or not a single word comes out.

One verse a day — verses use C and G7 (Wednesday borrows Am)

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — Friday's finale is the whole thing top to bottom with the pillow going round the circle, and it doubles as your review of the entire week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. Add Am last: it is one finger on the same string as F, so slide from Am to F and back until it stops feeling like a change. That's the entire song — and four of the five verses are only C and G7. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and do the finger-play instead: the class will not notice, and the actions carry the meaning either way.