It Rained - Fevered Sleep

INTRODUCTION
We've created this teacher's resource pack to accompany our production of And the Rain Falls
Down. The pack gives you some stimuli and inspiration for water-themed activities, for you to
explore before or after the show. The pack is split into different sections: songs,
experiments, activities, music, art, poems and drama (see the contents page for more details).
We've also enclosed a CD of music and some photos of the performance.
We hope that you find this resource pack useful, and that it leads to
plenty of watery fun of your own.
1
CONTENTS
RAIN AND OTHER
WEATHER SONGS
4- Thunder and Lightning
5- Weather Helper Song
6- I Like the Weather
7- Fun in the Rain
8- Clouds are Floating
8- Thunder
9- Snow
10- Water Cycle
11- Oh Rainbow
WATER EXPERIMENTS
13- Experiments,
14- Make the Rain Fall Down.
15- Making Rainbows
ACTIVITIES
17- Become a Water
Detective
17- What Do Animals Do
When it rains?
18- Sing-Along Walkabout;
just for fun!
18- Rain Music
WATER MUSIC
20- Materials
ART
22- Rain Painting
23- Oil Paintings
24- Saltwater Paintings
25- Rain Sticks
26- Shaker Bottles
31- Clouds
32- Weather
33- Wonderful Weather
34- Whether the Weather
35- How Beautiful the Rain is
36- Rain Rain
ACTION POEMS
38- Rain
39- Raindrops
40- Little Raindrops
41- It Rained
DRAMA ACTIVITIES
43- Cooking up a Storm
44- Cloud Gazing
45- A Drama/Movement
Workshop Plan
47- The Little Boat
POEMS
28- Raindrops
29- Lets Count the
Raindrops
30- Wind Pictures
2
RAIN AND OTHER WEATHER SONGS
3
Thunder and Lightning
(sung to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel")
When a storm begins in the clouds,
It sometimes may look frightening.
You see a quick electrical spark-Flash! goes the lightning!
Long and thin and streaky and fast,
Its glow is oh so brightening.
Watch for the electric spark-Flash! goes the lightning!
When a storm begins in the clouds,
It truly is a wonder.
You hear a rumble loud in the sky-Clap! goes the thunder!
Lightning bolts are heating the air,
Over clouds and under.
When the air expands enough-Clap! Goes the thunder.
4
Weather Helper Song
(sung to the tune of "Oh My Darlin")
Weather Helper, Weather Helper
What's the weather like outside?
Go and look out of the window,
Tell us what you see outside.
What's the weather?
What's the weather?
What's the weather tell everyone.
Is it windy? Is it cloudy? Is there rain? Or is there sun?
5
I Like the Weather
(sung to the tune of "The Farmer's in his Den")
I like the rain,
I like the rain,
R-a-i-n
I like the rain!
I like the sun;
I like the sun,
S-u-n
I like the sun!
I like the wind,
I like the wind,
W-i-n-d
I like the wind!
I like the snow,
I like the snow,
S-n-o-w
I like the snow!
I like the clouds,
I like the clouds,
C-l-o-u-d-s
I like the clouds!
6
Fun in the Rain
(sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice")
Rain, rain, rain
Rain, rain, rain
Dribble, dribble, slosh!
Dribble, dribble, sploosh!
Grab your boots, your coat, and hat,
Jump in a puddle and go kersplat!
Stomp about and become a drowned rat,
Rain, rain, rain
Rain, rain, rain.
7
Clouds are Floating
(sung to the tune of Frère Jacques)
Clouds are floating, clouds are floating,
Up so high, up so high,
Floating up above us, floating up above us,
In the sky, in the sky.
Thunder
(sung to the tune of Frère Jacques)
I hear thunder, I hear thunder,
Hark, don't you? Hark, don't you?
Pitter patter raindrops, pitter patter raindrops,
I'm wet through.
So are you.
8
Snow
(sung to the tune of Frère Jacques)
It is snowing, it is snowing
All around, all around
Soft and quiet snowflakes
Soft and quiet snowflakes
Not a sound, not a sound.
9
Water Cycle
(sung to the tune of "It's Raining, It's Pouring")
It's raining, it's pouring,
The oceans are storing
Water from the falling rain
While thunderclouds are roaring.
The rain now is stopping,
The rain's no longer dropping.
Sun comes out and soaks up water
Like a mop that's mopping.
The water's still there now,
But hidden in the air now.
In the clouds it makes a home
Until there's rain to share now.
It's raining, it's pouring...
Meish Goldish
10
Oh, Rainbow
(sung to the tune of "Oh, Christmas Tree")
Oh, rainbow, oh, rainbow,
How lovely are your colours.
Oh, rainbow, oh, rainbow,
How lovely are your colours.
Purple, red and orange, too,
Yellow, green and blue so true.
Oh, rainbow, oh, rainbow,
How lovely are your colours.
11
WATER EXPERIMENTS
12
Materials: food colouring, any colour, water in a glass
Put a single drop of food colouring into a glass of water. Don't stir or shake. Just watch what
happens. (It's called diffusion)
Materials: medicine dropper, small coin
Using the medicine dropper, drip water onto a penny, one drop at a time. Ask the children how
many drops they think the penny will hold before the water spills over.
(The answer may surprise them!)
Materials: lumps of clay for each child
Ask the children to drop a lump of clay into a bowl of water and see what happens. The lump
of clay will sink. Ask the children to try moulding the clay to find a shape which makes it float.
Materials: any small objects, a selection of solid and hollow, small fruits, coins etc
Select some objects. Ask the children to predict which will sink and which will float. Talk about
trying this ‘experiment’ at home in the bath too!
Materials: margarine tub, pennies, large container of water
Make a boat from a margarine tub. Ask the children to guess how many pennies it will hold
before it sinks, or let them experiment on their own or in pairs.
Materials: sugar cubes, food colouring, water, shallow dish
Build a tower of sugar cubes in the dish, and then add a little colored water in the bottom.
Watch the result.
13
Make The Rain Fall Down!
Materials: One cotton wool ball for every child, some containers filled with about a1/2 inch of cold water.
1. Give each child a cotton ball to hold. Tell them to pretend that they are holding a cloud.
2. Ask them how does the cloud feel: heavy or light, soft or hard?
3. Instruct the children to place the "cloud" (cotton ball) gently on the surface of the cold
water. Explain that water that has evaporated has travelled up to the cloud and it is a lot colder
up in the sky, so the vapor turns into water, and it is filling up the cloud. Ask: Can you see the
"cloud" filling up with the water.
4. Ask the children to gently pick up the "cloud" from the container. Ask: How does the "cloud"
feel now? Light or heavy? Warm or cold? What is happening with the water? The water is
dripping from the "cloud". Why? The cloud cannot hold all that water, it is too heavy. What do
we call it when water falls from the clouds because they are too heavy with water? Rain! It is
raining! And what happens to the water? Yes, it is falling right back into the container, and so
the container is like a stream, a river, the sea or the ground.
14
Making Rainbows
Materials: glass of water, small mirror
Prop a pocket mirror at an angle into a glass of water and set in a sunny windowsill. Tilt the
mirror until you find the angle that makes rainbows dance on the wall.
15
ACTIVITIES
16
Become a Water Detective
Find out where the water goes. Follow a small stream down a street to a drain, or discover a
small lake or a giant puddle. This can be the beginning of a larger exploration of your
neighborhood, to larger streams or to an estuary where hidden drains emerge into the water.
If the water goes underground, try to find out where it goes. Councils will have a list of the
drains and their entrances and exits.
What Do Animals Do When It Rains?
Look for animals that are hiding from the rain. If you are near a park or in a garden, look
under leaves, on bark, and in holes. If you are on an urban street, look under overhangs and
on the sides of buildings. You will find spiders, moths, and many birds hiding from the rain. If
you live near the sea, you may also find a flock of damp seagulls sitting on lamp posts or on
the grass of a field, waiting for the rain to stop.
17
Sing-Along Walkabout; just for fun!
Materials: Wellies, raincoats, umbrellas, and some pre learned songs.
Gene Kelly sang it best in the rain, but singing in the rain is fun enough for everybody. Pick
some songs that are either well known by the group or easy to learn from the above; wait for
the rain to fall down or then set out for your adventure ...singing!
Rain Music
Materials: the rain, empty containers: metal, plastic, glass
Take containers outdoors and see what the rain sounds like when it slaps into the front and
back of them. Use metal containers placed beside the corners
of a building for the biggest noise.
18
WATER MUSIC
19
Materials: 8 identical glass bottles, water, food colouring, wooden sticks or
xylophone mallets.
Fill the bottles with water, a different amount in each. Add some food colouring to make the
water levels visible.
Make a chime-like sound by hitting each container with the mallet. Which bottle makes the
highest sound?
Now try blowing air across the mouth of each bottle to make a different sound. Which bottle is
higher this time?
Tune the bottles by changing the water levels and see if you can play a simple melody like
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
20
ART
21
Rain Painting
Materials: plastic paddling pool, easel, acrylic or tempera paints, canvas, paintbrushes or fingers. Depending
on desired wetness of the art, this can be done in the open in all types of rain or under trees to minimise
dripping.
Set the paddling pool in a flat outdoor place and stand the easel inside it.
Put the canvas on the easel and begin to paint. The acrylic paints give more control, but the
temperas are made for the water and will create art all on their own.
It will be messy and the paint will run – it's supposed to – the colours will run and dance across
the canvas but they can be controlled with the flick and swish of a paintbrush or the dab of a
finger!
Alternatively allow the children to paint inside, then put the paintings out in the rain and watch
the art it makes!
The paddling pool catches the excess paint as it runs off. Just remember, a little paint will go a
long way – even in the rain!
The paint water can then be poured down a drain.
22
Oil Paintings
Materials: baby oil or cooking oil, food colouring, a tray, water, absorbent paper
"Paint" abstract watercolor pictures by floating some oil (about one tablespoon) on the surface
of a tray of water.
Add drops of different food colors here and there.
Place absorbent paper flat on the surface of the water.
After 30 seconds lift it off and see the effects of the colours and oil on the paper.
Lay the paper flat to dry overnight.
23
Saltwater Paintings
Materials: Salt, food colouring, white art paper.
Mix ¼ of a cup of warm water with six teaspoons of salt and 3 drops of food coloring in a
small container. Mix well.
Let the children paint sea pictures or weather pictures with the mixture on white paper. Let
them dry.
As the water evaporates the coloured salt remains, creating beautiful pictures.
This is also a good way to discuss evaporation with a class. What evaporated and what didn't?
24
Rain Sticks
Materials: long tubes from gift wrap or paper towels, strips of cardboard, paper, tape, seeds or rice.
Cut out two 4 inch circles out of the paper (draw round a cereal bowl for the shape).
Put one over the end of the tube, and fold the sides down, and tape around the tube. Make
sure it is well taped on and use sturdy paper so that the Rain Stick doesn’t leak!
Cut cardboard strips which are narrower than the tube (about 1 inch wide should work). Fold
them back and forth like a fan. Put the strips into the tube. The first one should fall to the
bottom of the tube. Keep adding strips until they reach the top of the tube.
Pour in 1/4 cup of rice and 2 tbsp of seeds (dried peas, popcorn, or lentils) into the tube.
Tape the other circle over the open end of the tube and tape in place.
Decorate the tube with paints or by gluing on paper or ribbon.
The class can decorate the sticks before or after they have filled them, just remember that
paper circles will be taped part way down the sides if you want to do the decorating first. As an
easier option also try crumpled pieces of tinfoil and put
them in the tubes for the rice to run through.
25
Shaker Bottles
Materials: an empty 1 litre bottle, lots of supplies that they can choose from such as glitter, plastic charms,
rocks, and other small waterproof objects.
Let the children place the objects they have chosen into the bottle.
Now they need to fill the bottle MOST of the way to the top with water from the sink.
You may also add some food colouring to the water to add more colour and fun!
Once the bottle is full, help them to screw on the caps as tightly as possible.
The teacher then needs to use a hot glue gun to glue around the cap so that it will not leak.
The children will love shaking these bottles and seeing their creations float around once the
glue dries!
26
POEMS
27
Raindrops
Raindrops are such funny things.
They haven't feet or haven't wings.
Yet they sail throughout the air
With the greatest of ease,
And dance on the street
Wherever they please.
28
Let's Count the Raindrops
Let's count the raindrops as they pour:
one million, two million,
three million, four.
Alan Benjamin
29
Wind Pictures
Look! There's a giant stretching in the sky,
A thousand white-maned horses flying by,
A house, a mother mountain with her hills,
A lazy lady posing in her frills,
cotton floating from a thousand bales,
And a white ship with white sails.
See the old witch fumbling with her shawl,
White towers piling on a castle wall,
the bits of soft that break and fall away,
Airborne mushrooms with undersides of gray Above, a white doe races with her fawn
On the white grass of a celestial lawn.
Lift up your lovely heads and look
As wind turns clouds into a picture book.
Mary O'Neill
30
Clouds
What's fluffy, white, and floats up high,
Like piles of ice cream in the sky?
And when the wind blows hard and strong,
What brings the rain?
What brings the snow?
That showers down on us below?
31
Weather
Weather is hot,
Weather is cold,
Weather is changing
As the weeks unfold.
Skies are cloudy,
Skies are fair,
Skies are changing
In the air.
It is raining,
It is snowing,
It is windy
With breezes blowing.
Days are foggy,
Days are clear,
Weather is changing
Throughout the year!
Meish Goldish
32
Wonderful Weather
I like to watch the way the wind
can spin a weather vane.
I like to wear my big blue boots
to splash with in the rain.
I like to ride my bright red sled
on cold snowy days.
I like to feel the sun's warm rays
when I wade in the ocean waves.
Wind, rain, snow, and sun
Every kind of weather
is wonderful and fun!
33
Whether the Weather
Whether the weather be mild or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.
34
How Beautiful is the Rain!
How beautiful is the rain!
After the dust and heat,
In the broad and fiery street,
In the narrow lane,
How beautiful is the rain!
How it clatters along the roofs,
Like the tramp of hoofs!
How it gushes and struggles out
From the throat of the overflowing spout
Across the window-pane
It pours and pours;
And swift and wide,
Like a river down the gutter roars
The rain, the welcome rain!
(extract Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
35
Rain Rain
Rain rain
falls on the street,
mud in puddles
cleaning my feet.
Thunder thunder
rumble and roar,
close the windows
and lock the door.
Clouds clouds
black and gray,
heavy with water
to drop all day.
Sun sun
is breaking through,
clouds are moving,
the rain stops too.
Rainbow rainbow
across the sky,
see-through colours
to tickle my eyes.
James Hörner
36
ACTION POEMS
37
Rain
When the rain comes down drip drop drip drop,
(flutter fingers down in front of you)
Windshield wipers flip flop flip flop,
(bend arms in front and move them side to side)
Boots in puddles plip plop plip plop,
(move feet up and down)
I wish the rain would never stop.
Drip drop drip,
(use the motions as you say these)
Flip flop flip,
Plip plop plip plop,
PLOP!
(Do the action and jump)
38
Raindrops
Raindrops, raindrops,
Falling all around,
(Flutter fingers)
Pitter-patter on the rooftops,
(Make V with hands)
Pitter-patter on the ground.
(flutter fingers down to the ground)
Here is my umbrella,
(Interlink fingers in front of body)
It will keep me dry,
When I go walking in the rain,
(Marching feet)
I hold it up so high.
(Raise interlinked fingers above the head)
39
Little Raindrops
This is the sun, high up in the sky.
(Hold right hand up)
A dark cloud suddenly comes sailing by.
(Left hand passes in front)
These are the raindrops,
(both hands make falling rain drops)
Pitter, pattering down.
Watering the flower seeds
(hands reach to the ground)
That grow under the ground.
(Hands make plants growing upwards)
40
It Rained
It rained on Bill,
It rained on Will,
It rained on Isabella,
But it didn't rain on ________, (child’s name)
He/She had a huge umbrella.
41
DRAMA ACTIVITIES
42
Cooking up a Storm
Objective: to create the sound of a storm using only our bodies
Materials/set up: work in a circle on a hard floor. Once they have understood the actions they
are performed in a circle starting with the teacher, going round the circle one by one. A new
action is introduced when everyone is performing the first. The children keep the previous
action going until the new one reaches them round the circle. This gives the effect of the
storm building and declining gradually. It is extremely effective and gripping!
Ask the class what often comes before rain. The wind often picks up. Have the class make
circular motions on the floor using their hands or by
rubbing hands together to sound like wind.
Talk about what usually comes next - the small drops of a rain shower. The sound is made
with the fingertips striking the floor softly, then a little harder, or tap two fingers on the palm
of your other hand.
43
The next sound is rain. This is made with all the fingers on each hand hitting quickly together,
or clicking fingers.
The last new sound is a hard rain, made with the palm of each hand pounding very quickly,
and clapping hands on thighs.
The game can then be played in reverse order as the storm passes.
Variations can be added, such as a shower or two with wind
in between before the heavy rain hits.
Once the children have mastered the basic steps they can close their eyes and listen to how
real it sounds. The whole game can even be played in a dark room.
Extend this exercise by imagining a ‘Rain Dance’ to summon the rain.
The children can then find what sort of rhythmic sounds stomping
feet in a rain dance might make.
Try adding in some relevant music.
Another class can be invited in to listen to the effect and share in the fun!
44
Cloud Gazing
(Try this alongside the Wind Pictures poem)
This game encourages the class to engage with their imagination by looking at a clouds and
describing what kind of animal or person they look like. Have the children lying flat on their
backs preferably on some comfortable grass and let them watch and focus on the clouds
drifting by. Make sure they watch long enough to notice that clouds are actually slow-motion
animations; they shift and morph their forms as they move. Start by giving them some
examples of what you can see, ask them to point out what they can see.
Extend the game by building up a picture of some of the different shapes as if they are in one
‘scene’ together.
This can also be the start of a story featuring all the people and animals and objects the
children saw.
As a drama exercise, the teacher can then narrate the ‘story’ and ask the class to bring their
characters to life.
Also see if the class can try moving as their character or object but with the ‘quality’ of a
drifting cloud.
See if they can start as one thing and cloud-like, morph into something else.
45
A drama/movement workshop plan:
Materials: enclosed show music, a pre-made origami boat for each child (see instructions in
pack). This can also be carried out without the boat which can be imagined instead, using the
one in the pack as a reference for the class. The teacher either follows the workshop as written
or just picks some elements to try, adapting things to suit their group of young people. Before
starting make sure the children understand ‘slow motion’ movement, and ‘imaginary’ diving…!
And if they are not used to working with movement perhaps take some sections in isolation to
help them have a better understanding of these new ideas.
46
The little boat
Using some of the show music from the enclosed cd, each child takes their origami boat that
they made.
Place the boats at the side of the room for now, well spaced so they can find theirs easily. Line
all the children up facing the boats. Ask them to listen to the music and imagine they can see
a tiny puddle in front of them that turns into a bigger puddle, a pond (what can you see?) a lake
(what can you hear?), a river (can you see something floating by?) the sea!
Imagine you are standing on the sea shore feel the sand between your toes, step a little
forward and feel the wet sand, squidgy between your toes (is it cold? Do you like the feeling?)
On the spot, imagine you ARE the sea; take on the quality of the sea, little flowing movements
throughout the body, and little bobbing motions like a gull on the surface moving over the
ripples.
Look out across the enormous sea; see your boat, tiny in the distance.
Look into the sea, what is there? (Some fish, sharks, a mermaid?) You see something you want to
follow.
Take a deep breath and on the count of 3 all dive under the water in slow motion. Take some
time gently swimming.
(Continued on page 48)
47
Imagine that you can now breathe under water, how does that feel?
Following the teacher swim towards what you want to follow
Find a space and copy the fish swimming, or the shark moving, or the mermaid flipping her
tail. (All the class can do the same action together, or they can choose their own, or you can call freeze! And
pick children to show what they can see and then the class copies each one.)
The last one leads you to your boat. You gently stand in front of your boat, taking on the
quality of the sea again.
Using this movement quality gently pick up your boat and move around the space with it so
the child and the sea and the boat become one.
Start with a slow moving boat and let that build up to bigger waves, and maybe into a storm
tossing the boat which gradually dies down leaving the boat and the child gently moving on
the spot.
Let the children place their boats on a spot on the floor.
Ask them to swim away back to the side they started on.
They are once again looking out to sea; the sea shrinks to a bath in their own house!
Return to the boat, get into the bath and pull out the plug. Allow the boat to circle in the
draining water before it eventually circles down the plug hole!
48