The Earth

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box is heavy, and whatever is inside it rolls. Hold it up with both hands, as if it might get away from you. Whole class chants:

Tip the box gently from side to side — something big and round rolls from one end to the other, twice. Now lift the lid a crack and peek, for a long time, and let your face go slowly amazed.

Arms curved round an imaginary ball: “Earth!”

4 min Teach · Earth

Sit down with the globe in your lap. Turn it slowly, once, in silence, so everybody sees it go round. Then say it twice — the second time they say it with you:

Now the globe goes right round the circle and every child holds the whole world in their own two hands. Nobody rushes. As each child takes it, say their name and the sentence: “Yang Yang is holding the Earth.”

Littles hug the globe and say “Earth!” Bigs owe you the frame: “This is the Earth.” “I live on the Earth.”

Teacher fails: take the globe back, tuck it under your arm like a football, put it on the floor and pull your foot back to kick it. “It's a ball, isn't it?” Freeze there. Wait for the shouting.

Chinese moment: lay the 地 card under the globe and take 地球 apart out loud — 地 is the ground you are sitting on, 球 is a ball. The ground… is a ball. Leave the card there; the row grows by one card a day.

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

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning, the whole thing on Friday. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. Sing it standing in a ring holding hands, with the globe in the middle, every single day.

3 min Game · Pass the Earth

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everybody sits in a close ring, knees touching. The globe starts in your hands.

Every child says “Earth!” at the moment the globe leaves their hands. Go round twice: once slowly, once as fast as you dare — and the second time, whoever drops it does not lose, the whole class shouts “Catch the Earth!” and it starts again.

This game is really about two hands and care. Say it once, plainly, at the start: “We only have one of these.” They will remember that sentence in three weeks when we do Earth Day.

1 min Close

Standing in a ring round the globe. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Me on the Map (Joan Sweeney) — it starts in one child's bedroom and pulls back, page by page, all the way to the whole round Earth. Read it backwards on Friday and it works just as well.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box is heavy again today, but this time nothing rolls and nothing rattles. Chant first:

Shake it — a dull, soft, disappointing thud. Now lift the lid a crack and sniff, loudly, with your eyes shut. Sniff again. Open your eyes wide.

Tip a little into the tray. Flat palm slapping the floor: “Land!”

4 min Teach · Land

Every child pushes one finger into the soil in the tray and rubs it between finger and thumb. Nobody wipes it off yet. Then, standing:

Now back to the globe. Put one finger on a green-and-brown patch and say the plain true thing: this is land, and we are standing on some right now — under the floor, under the building, all the way down. Let them stamp once more to check it is still there.

Littles slap the floor and say “Land!” Bigs take the frame: “I can walk on the land.” “The land is brown and green.”

Teacher fails: put your finger firmly on the middle of the blue Pacific and announce, delighted, “Look at all this beautiful land.” Start planning your garden on it. Wait.

Chinese moment: the 土 card joins 地 under the globe — 泥土, the soil in the jar. Point out that 地 (Monday) and 土 (today) are family: one is the whole ground, one is the stuff it is made of.

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

Sing this one marching, right round the room in a line, and come back to the circle on the last word. The verse is only C and G7; if the marching costs you the ukulele, put it down and let them stamp the beat.

3 min Game · Land or water?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” You hold the globe. Everybody has two ready gestures: flat palm down for land, one wavy hand for water.

They shout one word and do the gesture. Littles get the gesture and one word — that is a full pass. Bigs answer in the frame: “That is water.” “Is it land or water?” asked back at you by a Big is the best thing that can happen all morning.

Land eight or ten times and let them notice, without being told, that your finger keeps landing in the blue. Don't explain it — save it. Tomorrow's whole lesson is why.

1 min Close

Standing round the globe, hands still a bit dusty. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Dirt: The Scoop on Soil (Natalie M. Rosinsky) — two pages is plenty. Then wash hands together and let them tell you what the water goes brown with.

2 min Magic Box hook

Carry the box in with both hands, absolutely level, walking far too slowly. Put it down as if it were made of glass. Then chant:

Do not shake it today. Say so: “I can't shake this one.” Tilt it one centimetre — and everyone hears the slop. Lift the lid and look in, and let the light off the water move on your face.

One wavy hand: “Water!”

4 min Teach · Water

Every child blows the boat once, across the bowl, and passes the blow on. Then, sitting:

Now the globe, turned so the great blue Pacific faces them, and held still. Say the plain true thing: most of our Earth is water. More blue than green. Spin it once and let them see the blue win.

Littles wave one hand and say “Water!” Bigs take the frame: “Most of the Earth is water.” “Boats can ride on the water.”

Teacher fails: spill a little on purpose and try to mop it up with the 地 card, or with the boat. Look surprised when it doesn't work. Wait for somebody to fetch the sponge.

Chinese moment: the 水 card joins 地 and 土 — 水. Draw the character in the spilt water with one finger while it is still wet: it looks like a little river with drops flying off it, which is exactly what it is.

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

Sing this verse sitting down, rocking side to side on the beat like a boat. It is the one verse of the week that should be slow.

3 min Game · Pour and mop

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The towel is down. Jug on the left, bowl on the right, sponge in a dish, exactly as they will find it on the shelf.

Everybody gets a turn: pour a little, mop the drips, squeeze the sponge into the bowl. Nobody is told off for spilling — spilling is how you find out you need the sponge, and the sponge is the whole point. Littles pour with two hands on the jug. Bigs pour and then say what they did: “I poured the water.”

This game is Tray 3 — the jug, the bowl and the sponge go straight onto the shelf afterwards and stay there all week. A wet tray is the control of error: it tells the child they spilled without anybody saying a word.

1 min Close

Standing round the bowl with the boat still floating. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Water Is Water (Miranda Paul) — water goes to cloud, to rain, to puddle, to ice and back. Leave the bowl out afterwards and see how much has gone by Friday.

2 min Magic Box hook

Today the box makes a new noise. Chant, then turn the box slowly on its side — and something inside scrapes.

Do it again so they hear it properly: a dry, rough, scratchy drag. Put your ear right against the lid, then peek in for a long time.

Both hands round a ball: “Earth!” Then hands on the chest: “Home!”

4 min Teach · Home

The sandpaper globe goes round the circle, and each child runs one finger over it. Rough is land. Smooth is sea. Nobody looks — they close their eyes to feel it. Then:

Now name the year out loud: the chick, the caterpillar, the lion, the fish, the tree, the family — every single one lives on this one ball. There is nowhere else. If you have the photos, lay them in a ring round the globe: my home is on the Earth, and so is yours, and so is yours.

Littles put both hands on their chest and say “Home!” Bigs take the frame: “The Earth is my home.” “I live on the Earth.”

Teacher fails: announce, calmly, “I live on the MOON,” and point at the ceiling. Pack an imaginary bag. Wait to be marched back to the globe and put on it.

Chinese moment: the 家 card joins the row — 地球是我们的家. Ask each child 你的家在哪里? and let them answer in either language; then put every answer's finger back on the same green patch of the globe.

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

Sing this one quietly, still holding hands, and let the last line ring out. It is the closest this song comes to a lullaby and they will drop their voices to match yours without being asked.

3 min Game · Feel for land

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” One child at a time, eyes shut (scarf if they like it), both hands on the sandpaper globe.

They say “Land!” or “Water!” — then open their eyes and check against the coloured globe standing beside it. Green under a rough finger, blue under a smooth one, every time. Bigs go one step further: “It is rough, so it is land.”

The two globes agreeing is the control of error, and it is why both of them live on Tray 1 all week. The child never needs you to say “correct” — the material already did.

1 min Close

Standing in the ring, hands still joined from the song. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? Here We Are (Oliver Jeffers) — notes for living on planet Earth, written by a father for his baby. Read the “people” page and the “look after it” page, and stop there; the rest keeps until Earth Day.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box will barely shut. It is heavy, it rolls, it slops and it scrapes, all at once. Hold it up with a groan. Chant:

Shake it very carefully — every sound of the week at the same time. Then open the lid all the way and tip your head in.

Last of all, unroll the class's own painted handprint Earth and hold it up. Arms round a ball: “Earth!”

4 min Teach · Round + the whole week

Stand up. The last word of the week is the shape of it:

Then the review, out of the box, quick-fire — hold up one thing, they name it and give the gesture: globe → “Earth!” soil → “Land!” water → “Water!” sandpaper globe → “Home!” and the painted circle → “Round!” Round again, faster. Then once more with your eyes shut, which they find outrageous.

Littles: five words, five gestures, no sentences. Bigs give a sentence for each: “The Earth is round.” “Most of the Earth is water.” “The Earth is my home.”

Teacher fails: hold the globe up and say, quite firmly, “The Earth is square.” Draw a square in the air. Refuse to be corrected for one whole beat, then let them win.

Chinese moment: read the whole row together — 地 · 土 · 水 · 家 · 圆 — and add the last card, 圆. Then say what is coming: 世界地球日 is on 22 April, and it is the day everybody looks after 地球.

3 min Song · This Is My Earth — the whole song

This run-through IS the week's review. Five verses, five words, five days, in order — Earth, land, water, home, round. You are not testing them; you are singing with them, and they are telling you everything they know.

3 min Game · Prop quick-fire review

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everything from the week is back in the box. You pull one thing out at a time, fast, without looking.

Soil, water, the boat, the sponge, a picture card off the shelf, the sandpaper globe. Two answers each time: the name, and land or water. Littles give the gesture. Bigs give the sentence and then take a turn as the teacher — one Big pulls the next thing out of the box and asks the class themselves.

Finish by hanging the class's painted handprint Earth on the wall, everybody watching, and put every single hand on it once as they go past. That is the display for the term, and they made all of it.

1 min Close

Standing round the globe, under the painted Earth, awards in your hand. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Earth Book (Todd Parr) — one bright, simple, kind thing to do per page. Then hand out the awards and tell them Monday's news: next we find out what the land does — mountains, rivers, islands and lakes.

The three chords

Tempo: steady and rolling, like something turning — not fast. Big open arms on “round and blue”, and a real pause before “take my hand!” so they have time to reach for each other. Three chords, no Am anywhere, and every verse is just C and G7. Chant it without the uke first; add the chords once they know the actions.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time, standing in a ring with the globe in the middle. The actions are the whole point — a two-year-old who draws the circle, waves the water and takes the hand next to them has understood the week, whether or not a single word comes out.

One verse a day — every verse is just C and G7

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — and Friday's finale, sung walking the ring slowly round with the globe and the painted Earth in the middle, is the review of the whole week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. That is the entire chorus, and the whole song is those three shapes — there is no Am this week at all, so if last week's verses defeated you, this is the one to come back on. C is one finger, F is two, G7 is three; learn them in that order. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down, put the globe in one child's hands to hold up for everybody, and do the finger-play instead: the class will not notice, and the actions carry the meaning either way.