Pete the Cat-Circle Game+Name Game

Who doesn’t love “Pete the Cat-I Love My White Shoes?” It’s a great book because it’s extremely versatile to incorporate into a classroom setting. Today I want to share with you a circle game+name game I created that corresponds with the book. It’s one of my favorite back-to-school lessons for Pre-K, Kinder and 1st graders. As a music teacher, I love this lesson because it’s music-centered, has literary components, packs in so many standards and the kids have so much fun playing the circle game! Let’s dive right in. 

Learn the Melody

First, I display the “Pete the Cat” sheet music up on the projector screen, and play the melody on the piano for them. Then I teach the song through echo singing. I talk to them about high/low by asking if they noticed a difference between the first and second line of the song. In the first measure, the note on “white” goes HIGH and in the second measure, the note on “white” goes LOW. We sing the song again but dramatically move our bodies UP with the first “white,” and dramatically move our bodies LOW on the second “white.” 

Read the Book

Next, read the book with your students (get it HERE) or use with the Youtube version and sing along with the song. Keep a steady beat with the song while continuing to acknowledge the high and low aspect of the song! 

Play the Circle Game!

Get students into a circle for the “Pete the Cat Circle Game”. Next, put one standing drum in the middle of the circle. Then choose one student to stand and say their name and the color of shoes. This student will walk around the outside of the circle while everyone sings the “I Love my White Shoes” song. Each time it’s a new student’s turn, the color will be replaced with that child’s shoe color. Example “I love my (student’s shoe color) shoes! I love my (student’s shoe color) shoes!”

This shoe color personalization goes a long way and makes each kid feel special! I usually accompany them on the guitar with the E and A chords found in the sheet music above. When the music stops, the nearest student will now be “it”. They’ll state their name and the color of their shoes. Then that student walks around the circle next. The previous student now gets to go in the center of the circle, where they’ll play the steady beat on the drum. Play this until everyone has a turn walking around the circle!

This is a great way to learn your students names, practice steady beat, and teach high/low. Hopefully you & your students enjoy this “Pete the Cat Circle Game”. For another back-to-school lesson idea, hop on over to this blog post. You can also sign up for my newsletter to receive your “Back-to-School Music Survey” for free through the month of August! Also check out my Youtube playlists for some great videos to use in your music classroom this year. Have a great start to the school year, and don’t forget to come hang out on Instagram & Facebook!!!

Keepin’ it Simple,

Paige