wwh, no, you won't alienate me. You would have to be in class to witness the children's interest in learning a little about the presidents, and see how from week to week they come back with research they've done on their own. I'm a music teacher, so my emphasis is on performance skills--specifically, taking a rhythmic chant of names and showing the kids how to make the names musical through use of dynamics, accents, articulation, and so on. We spend not more than ten minutes in a 45-minute lesson on the chant, and many lessons we don't cover the chant at all. Those are the weeks that these second graders are disappointed that they don't get to learn a few more names. This chant is the one point in the March performance that gets a standing ovation from the parents. I've had high school students come back to visit me at the elementary school to say things like, "That president chant got me through U.S. history"--certainly an exaggeration, but a nod my way that learning the chant and the stories related to the names was of some help. It's also a motivator for me to dig up better and more meaningful facts that a second grader could reasonably understand.
The exercise sounds dry-as-dust, but it really isn't. There's a lot of life in its final musicality, and the kids are visibly proud of their accomplishment, as are their parents.
Best regards,
Wordwind
