RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY RHYME

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY

History:

The origin of the lyrics to "Rain rain go away" is said to date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), one of the English Tudor monarchs. During this period of English history there was constant rivalry between Spain and England culminating in the launch of the Spanish Armada in 1588.

The Spanish Armada consisted of many Spanish galleons and was sent to invade England. The Armada was led by Duke of Medina Sedonia and the the fleet numbered over 130 ships. The English fleet, under Admiral Lord Howard, totalled 34 small Navy vessels and 163 armed merchant ships.But the great Spanish Armada was defeated. Only 65 Spanish galleons and just 10,000 men returned to Spain. The attempt failed, not only because of the swift nature of the smaller English ships but also by the stormy weather which scattered the Armada fleet. Hence the origin of the "Rain rain go away" Nursery rhyme!

  

Original poem:

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!

Age: 3-4 aged

When & Where: At the beginning of the Winter, to say goodbye to the Autumn. We can begin at the Circle Time and continue with the activities as main activities during the morning. We can do it in the classroom.

Procedure:

We will teach the children a variation of the original poem, introducing the four seasons and related words. (see below complete lyrics).

The music of the rhyme will be present during almost all the activities (it has to be recorded previously to facilitate the teacher’s labour).

1^st activity:

There will be 8 cards representing each season (2x autumn – orange; 2x winter – blue; 2x spring – green and 2x summer-yellow), and 4 double groups of little cards with Velcro that correspond to each season. The children have to paint a group of cards and after they’ve finished, they have to look for their pairs. To match them, spring has to join spring, summer has to join summer, and so on.

Each kid has to stick (with Velcro) his group of pictures to his classmate’s big season card and vice versa.

Some of the little Velcro drawings are following:  Autumn (leaves, trees, umbrellas, rain…), Winter (snowflakes, snowmen, snowballs…), Spring (rainbow, birds, sun…), Summer (sun, suitcase, beach, ice cream).

2^nd activity: The teacher says some words of the season cards and the children have to repeat them

3^rd activity: The teacher sings the song and then invites the children to dance and to try to repeat the most important words (Autumn – rain; Winter – snow; Spring-rainbow; Summer-sun)

Lyrics:

RAIN RAIN go away

Let the snow come again

Cos the children want to play

RAIN RAIN go away

SNOW SNOW go away

Let the rainbow smile again

Cos the birds want to sing

SNOW SNOW go away

RAIN-BOW go away

Let the sun shine again

Cos we’re going on Holiday

RAIN-BOW go away

SUN SUN go away

Let the rain come again

Autumn, winter, spring and summer

Bye seasons go away

Aims:

-to learn new vocabulary: The 4 Seasons, and Seasons vocabulary

-to move and dance following the rhythm and to coordinate gestures

-to remember the colours and to associate  colours with seasons: autumn – orange; winter – blue; spring – green and summer-yellow

-to paint related pictures  

-to cooperate with the classmates

-to develop Psychomotricity (by sticking and painting little cards)

Variations:

Our class is based on a variation, because we have adapted the original poem and converted it in a 4 paragraph-song to work the 4 seasons specifically. We can repeat the activities during some days or at the beginning of each Season (Spring, Summer)…

Melody of the original song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izq1E6b4WlQ