Hey everyone! Today’s I’m sharing a delightful Mexican folk song for Folk Song Friday. It’s about a little skeleton who does silly things when the clock strikes different times, and its title’s translation means “The Skull’s Clock”. This folk song is the perfect balance of spooky and silly for our little friends, and I’m sure it will be a big hit! This folk song is traditionally tied to Día de los Muertos celebrations, and it would be a wonderful cultural exploration and celebration to share about the celebrations as you are teaching this folk song. Teaching a folk song in its cultural context is crucial for understanding its roots, meaning, and purpose. I have provided an English translation for the folk song, but it’s really best to present and sing this song in its original language. And besides, kids LOVE learning new languages. If you’re not super confident in your Spanish pronounciation (raising my hand high here), there are lots of YouTube videos of this song for you to practice with, and I found that my Spanish speaking students loved being MY teacher, helping with the pronounciation as we were teaching the class.
We have this book on our shelf and it’s a wonderful bilingual, multiculutral exploration of the Day of the Dead celebrations and traditions. You can also ask a member of the community who celebrates the holiday to come in and share about it, you can show pictures, videos, and so on. There are lots of ways to creating meaningful understanding and appreciation of this beautiful cultural celebration.
I’m planning a fun time-telling activity for this one, check back in a few days to see what I can cook up!
Click here to download the 4x6 song card
Happy Singing!
-Lauren