Singing and Clapping: Keeping the Rhythm
Primary 1 · Creative Arts
Singing and Clapping: Keeping the Rhythm
Lesson 7 of 8
10 min
Let's begin
There is a torn paper on the classroom floor. Umutoni sees it at break.
She did not drop it, so she steps over it and goes out to play.
Today you will sing the cleaning song again, in a place that belongs to everybody.
At home your plate is yours. At school almost nothing is only yours.
The floor, the desk, the tap and the latrine belong to all of you.
So the cleaning belongs to all of you too.
Careful! Waiting for the one who dropped it never works.
That child has already gone outside.
The paper is still there, in the place where you sit and learn.
Pick it up. It takes two seconds and the room is yours again.
The classroom floor. Your desk. The tap. The latrine. Your own hands.
Worked example
Sing this line and clap it:
Our floor, our desk, our tap, we keep them clean together.
Clap once on floor, once on desk, once on tap. Same three places, four times through.
Ten children clearing one room takes one minute.
One child clearing it alone takes a long time and feels unfair.
That is why the class does it together, the way a umudugudu does umuganda.
Tip
Nobody's mess is everybody's job
Do not look for who dropped it. Just pick it up.
Your classroom is the room where your own head learns. Keep it good.
Answer each one, then tap Show answer to check.
You see paper on the classroom floor and nobody saw who dropped it. What do you do?
Answer: pick it up and put it in the bin.
Name three places at school that everybody must keep clean.
Answer: the floor, the desks and the tap. The latrine counts too.
Why is cleaning at school done together?
Answer: the place belongs to everybody, and together it is much faster.
Mugisha washes his hands after the latrine. Why?
Answer: so the things that make people sick do not go on to his food.
Sing the school line with three claps.
Answer: claps on floor, desk and tap, at one steady walking speed.
What you learned today
Quick check
Paper is on the classroom floor. What do you do?
