“Playing Winnie the Pooh”, “Ring Around the Tree” and “Food Bank Rap” are based on incidents in real preschools. These stories and all the songs appear in a June, 2000 book from Red Leaf Press by Ann Pelo and Fran Davidson called That's Not Fair: A Teacher's Guide to Activism with Young Children. The book offers teachers strategies to encourage children to act for fairness and to become change-makers. The strategies draw on concepts from emergent curriculum practices as well as anti-bias teaching. Woven throughout the book are real-life stories from teachers who work with preschool-aged children, describing how they have coached and supported children to be change-makers, helping them learn to listen to others' needs and to speak up for their own.

Also see KID HEROES AND HOW TO BE ONE

REDLEAF PRESS
450 N. Syndicate Ave., Suite 5,
St. Paul Minnesota 55104

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PLAYING WINNIE-THE-POOH
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A girl went by some boys she knew
Saw they were playing Winnie-the-Pooh
She stopped and asked if she could play
But the boys said, “Sorry, not today,
'Cause there are no girls in Pooh.”

Christopher Robin! Piglet! Roo!
Does anyone here know what to do?
It isn't fair, but you know it's true,
There are no girls in Pooh.

Christopher Robin! Piglet! Roo!
Does anyone here know what to do?
It isn't fair, but you know it's true,
There are no girls in Pooh.

Christopher Robin! Piglet! Roo!
Come meet the sister of Winnie-the-Pooh
She made us think about what to do
To get some girls in Pooh.

SPEAKING UP
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Nancy Schimmel

When I think I'm gonna get left out
I say “I need a turn!”
Speaking up for my own self
Is something that I learn

Cause we're all part of the party
We're all part of the school,
We all get a slice of the apple,
That's the rule.

(Bridge) Speaking up for my own self.
Speaking up for you.
Speaking up takes courage,
But you can do it,
I can do it.
I feel proud when I do!

When the kid that's standing all alone
Is someone I don't know
I can say “Would you like to play?”
And they can say “yes” or “no”

Vocals and Guitar: Bonnie Lockhart
© 1999 by Nancy Schimmel, with bridge by Bonnie Lockhart

RING AROUND THE TREE (singing game)
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There's a cedar in the park where we go to play,
We thought our tree would never go away.
Chorus:

Ring around the tree,
Ring around the tree,
All together for the cedar tree.

Our teacher named his/her dog for our friend in the park,
Cedar the dog has a different kind of bark.

A mom/dad told the teacher oh! oh! oh!
The city says our cedar has to go.

A mom/dad told the teacher, the teacher told us,
We started in to yell and we started in to fuss:

The teacher told us and we asked why?
Why does our cedar tree have to die?

The roots break the pavement and people might trip.
We started thinking, zip, zip, zip.

We thought and we thought and finally
We said “Move the pavement farther from the tree!”

Who shall we write to? Who shall we call?
Who can say our tree doesn't have to fall?

Where is the mayor? Here is she/he.
Come to the park and save our tree!

So the kids and moms and dads and the teachers in a ring,
We all saved the tree and now we sing:

Vocals: Nancy Schimmel, Guitar: Bonnie Lockhart
©1999 Nancy Schimmel

Game:
Verse 1
Kids in a ring, “tree” in the center

Chorus
Circle hold hands and move to right

Verse 2
Circle move in to tree
move out again

Verse 3
tree choose teacher, bring into ring
teacher choose dog, bring into ring

Verse 4
dog choose parent

Verse 5 and 6
teacher mime telling circle
circle sing chorus loud

Verse 7
circle trip and fall
get up

Verse 8
mime thinking
mime moving pavement

Verse 9
kids in circle turn to each other, mime asking

Verse 10
parent choose mayor

Verse 11
all go back to the ring except tree and dog, dog will become tree for next round

This rap is based on an incident in a real preschool. The story and the rap both appear in a forthcoming book from Red Leaf Press by Ann Pelo and Fran Davidson called It's Not Fair: A Teacher's Guide to Activism with Young Children.

FOOD BANK RAP

Robbers:
We were playing with food, I don't mean for real
But they had some play food that we had to steal
'Cause we were playing robber and they were playing store
So we swooped up their boxes with a thunder and a roar:
Food! Food! We want food!

Palace people:
(This verse optional)
We were princes and queens, cooking up a feast.
We needed all the food in the store, at least;
But the store was empty, the robbers took it all,
We couldn't have our banquet, and we began to squall:
Food! Food! We want food!

Storekeepers:
We were playing store but they took our stuff
We were playing store, and they were playing tough,
If they'd asked nicely we'd have given them a cake.
They said, “Robbers don't ask, we just take!”
Food! Food! We want food!

Solo or everybody:
Then somebody said, “Up where I live
If you have extra food that you want to give
To people who don't have anything
There's a box at the store called the Food Bank Bin.”
Food! Food! We want food!

Everybody:
So we made a box and put up a sign
That said “Food Bank Bin,” and it looked so fine.
We made extra food from magazines,
We cut out pictures of pizza and beans.
Food! Food! We want food!

So we all could play, no need to fight
But somehow things still didn't seem right.
We thought about families out on the street,
Who really didn't have enough food to eat.
Food! Food! We want food!

So everybody asked their mom and dad
To give any extra food they had
Neighbors and friends, they all chipped in,
For real food for the real Food Bank Bin.
Food! Food! We want food!

Rap lyrics © 1999 by Nancy Schimmel

“When I Feel Mad ” Lyrics and MP3

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