Singing: Short Songs You Can Sing to Anyone
Primary 1 · Creative Arts
Singing: Short Songs You Can Sing to Anyone
Lesson 3 of 9
10 min
Let's begin
Uwase sits on the mat and counts on her fingers.
Her grandmother, her big brother, her aunt, and Uwase herself.
That is who lives in her house.
Today you will sing about the people who live in yours.
Some children live with a mama and a papa.
Some children live with a grandmother, an aunt or a big sister.
All of these are families.
Your family is the people who look after you, and who you look after.
Careful! A family song is never about somebody else. It is about your own house.
Put up one finger for each person in your home. Say the name out loud.
Then say one thing that person does for you.
Worked example
Uwase counts her three people.
Grandmother. She cooks the beans.
Big brother. He fetches the water.
Aunt. She walks Uwase to school.
This is a new song, written for you. Change the names to the people in your own home.
Grandmother cooks the beans for me.
My brother brings the water home.
My aunt walks with me to the gate.
I say murakoze to them all.
Murakoze means thank you. It is the last word of the song for a reason.
A family song goes both ways.
Uwase sweeps the yard before her grandmother wakes up.
She holds the basin while her aunt washes the plates.
Careful! You are not too small to help. Add your own line about the job you do at home.
Umuryango mwiza, a song about a good family. It is sung in Kinyarwanda.
Tip
One finger, one name, one job
Count your people on your fingers before you sing.
Then nobody in your house gets left out of the song.
Do each one, then tap Show answer to check.
Who is in a family?
Answer: the people who look after you and who you look after.
Mugisha lives with his grandmother only. Does he have a family?
Answer: yes. A family can be two people.
Count the people in your own home on your fingers. How many?
Answer: your own number. Say each name out loud as you count.
Say one thing each person in your home does for you.
Answer: for example, my sister washes the plates.
Sing your family song to one of those people tonight.
Answer: sing it, then tell them what murakoze means. It means thank you.
What you learned today
Quick check
A grandmother and a child can be a family.
