三条水母 – 3 Jelly Fish

Again, this is another song children have no problem understanding in Chinese, as it is exactly the same as the English version tune and translation.

We can use any animal that likes jumping from a rock into the water for this song, 青蛙 qīngwā /frogs, 鳄鱼 èyú /crocodiles etc.

It is a great song for exploring counting forwards and backwards, the concept of none (没有),measure words, position, 上 and 下 (as in jumping on and off ) and onomatopoeia 扑通 (pūtōng / splash!).

jelly fish

Here are the lyrics – Just sing to the English tune!

三条水母,三条水母,三条水母,坐在岩石上

一条跳下

两条水母,两条水母,两条水母,坐在岩石上

一条跳下

一条水母,一条水母,一条水母,坐在岩石上

一条跳下

没有水母,没有水母,没有水母,坐在岩石上

一条跳上

一条水母,一条水母,一条水母,坐在岩石上

一条跳上

两条水母,两条水母,两条水母,坐在岩石上

一条跳上

三条水母,三条水母,三条水母,坐在岩石上

sān tiáo shuǐ mǔ, sān tiáo shuǐ mǔ , sān tiáo shuǐ mǔ zuò zài yán shí shàng

yì tiáo tiào xià

liǎng tiáo shuǐ mǔ liǎng tiáo shuǐ mǔ, liǎng tiáo shuǐ mǔ , zuò zài yán shí shàng

yì tiáo tiào xià

yì tiáo shuǐ mǔ, yì tiáo shuǐ mǔ, yì tiáo shuǐ mǔ, zuò zài yán shí shàng

yì tiáo tiào xià

méiyǒu shuǐ mǔ, méiyǒu shuǐ mǔ, méiyǒu shuǐ mǔ, zuò zài yán shí shàng

yì tiáo tiào shàng

yì tiáo shuǐ mǔ, yì tiáo shuǐ mǔ, yì tiáo shuǐ mǔ, zuò zài yán shí shàng

yì tiáo tiào shàng

liǎng tiáo shuǐ mǔ liǎng tiáo shuǐ mǔ, liǎng tiáo shuǐ mǔ , zuò zài yán shí shàng

yì tiáo tiào shàng

sān tiáo shuǐ mǔ, sān tiáo shuǐ mǔ , sān tiáo shuǐ mǔ, zuò zài yán shí shàng

English Translation: 3 Jelly Fish, 3 Jelly Fish, 3 Jelly Fish, sitting on a rock, one jumps off, (splash), 2 Jelly Fish etc. to No Jelly Fish sitting on a rock, one jumps on etc back up to 3 jelly fish.

This rhyme is good to sing at the same time of reading ‘I’m the biggest thing in the Ocean’ book.

At home you can make 3 Jelly Fish using plastic/paper bowls, and stapling blue crepe streamers to the rim. You can enlarge and print out the characters 水母to stick on the top of the jellyfish. Sit them on an upturned washing basket with a sheet over as a makeshift rock and act the rhyme out. You can say ‘扑通’(pūtōng) as the jellyfish splash into the water.

唱歌跳舞 – Hokey Pokey

Well this song is called 唱歌跳舞  which is literally  ‘sing songs and dance’ in English!

This is just full of learning opportunities, and also gets the kids up and dancing like they are at a party!

It has position/location sentence structure (inside, outside), left and right, and body parts.

But it is the repeated 把 construction that is the winner for me!   The 把 sentence pattern in Chinese is a nightmare for older students to get their heads around, yet little kids get to hear this sentence pattern in this song, and so many other songs and classroom instructions, so many times that they will never have a problem with understanding the grammar of it when they get older!

hokeypokey

I found a link to where you can hear this song, Hua Hua’s Fun Class, just scroll down to the video play button.

I also found this youtube video with a lady singing the first couple of verses for you, just substitute the other body parts!

Here are the lyrics:

把右手放里面

把右手放外面

把右手放里面

摇摇你的手

Chorus: 唱歌跳舞, 转个圆圈, 大家笑哈哈

把左手放里面

把左手放外面

把左手放里面

摇摇你的手 (Chorus)

把右脚放里面

把右脚放外面

把右脚放里面

摇摇你的脚 (Chorus)

把左脚放里面

把左脚放外面

把左脚放里面

摇摇你的脚 (Chorus)

把自己放里面

把自己放外面

把自己放里面

摇摇你自己 (Chorus)

bǎ yòu shǒu fàng miàn

bǎ yòu shǒu fàng wài miàn

bǎ yòu shǒu fàng miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de shǒu

(Chorus) chàng gē tiào wǔ zhuǎn gè yuán quān

dà jiā xiào hā hā

bǎ zuǒ shǒu fàng miàn

bǎ zuǒ shǒu fàng wài miàn

bǎ zuǒ shǒu fàng lí miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de shǒu (Chorus)

bǎ yòu jiǎo fang miàn

bǎ yòu jiǎo fàng wài miàn

bǎ yòu jiǎo fàng miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de jiǎo (Chorus)

bǎ zuǒ jiǎo fàng miàn

bǎ zuǒ jiǎo fàng wài miàn

bǎ zuǒ jiǎo fàng miàn

yáo yáo nǐ de jiǎo (Chorus)

bǎ zì jǐ fàng miàn

bǎ zì jǐ fàng wài miàn

bǎ zì jǐ fàng miàn

yáo yáo nǐ zì jǐ (Chorus)

Translation is much the same as English with a few changes: You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, You put your right hand in, and you shake it all about, sing and dance and you turn around, everybody laugh.  Repeat with left hand, right foot, left foot and whole body.

This particular translaton was taken from ‘Sing and Learn’ by Trio Jan Jeng and Selina Yoon.  You can purchase the whole CD on iTunes.