Holiday and Seasonal Music Activities for Grade 4-6 by Hayes School Publishing - H-M92R

Music Activities for Grade 4-6

Singing in the New Year

“Happy New Year!” everyone shouts as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. People traditionally sing “Auld Lang Syne” as they welcome in the New Year. This song reminds people not to forget old friends, family, and times past.

The words auld lang syne are a very old expression in Scotland, which means “old long ago” or “good old days.” The words to the song we sing today were partly written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns around 1790. Some of the words are part of an even older Scottish folk song.

Auld Lang Syne
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind,
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

WORKSHEET & Sample PDF Activity

Sample PDF Activity

Before the time of Julius Caesar, March was the first month of the year. Caesar changed the calendar making January the first month of the year. January was named for the Roman god, Janus, the two-faced god who looked back to the old year and forward to the new one.

Fill in the blanks.

Which word in the song means friend? ______________________________________.
What country is this song from?____________________________________________.
Who wrote some of the words to “Auld Lang Syne”? ___________________________.
What does “Auld Lang Syne” mean? ________________________________________.
What does this song remind people not to forget? _____________________________. and __________________________________________________________________.
Before Julius Caesar changed the calendar, what month began the new year?
_____________________________________________________________________.
Who was January named for? _____________________________________________________________________.
Why is a god with two faces a good symbol for the first month of the year? _____________________________________________________________________.

We Shall Overcome

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome some day
Oh, here in my heart I do believe
We shall overcome some day.

Fill in the blanks. Use the letters of the alphabet from A to Z as clues.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in A _ _ _ _ _ _.
King was a B _ _ _ _ _ _ minister.
A familiar song of the civil rights movement was “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ C _ _ _.”
King wanted to end D _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __.
King became a national _ E _ _ _ __ in the Civil Rights movement.
King began college at the age of F__ _ _ _ _ __.
The city where King organized a bus boycott was _ _ _ _ G _ _ _ _ __, Alabama.
King’s most famous speech was called “I H__ _ _ a Dream.”
The title of King’s first book was _ _ _ I _ __ Toward Freedom.
J _ _ _ _ Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968.
King became the first _ _ _ _ K American to be named “Man of the Year.”
King’s mother’s name was _ L _ _ _ _ _.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot in the city of M _ _ _ _ _ _.
King received the N _ _ _ _ Peace Prize in 1964.
Due to his work, _ O _ _ _ _ _ __ passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Rosa P__ _ _ __ defied a segregation law by not giving up her seat on a bus.
King believed in _ Q _ _ _ rights for everyone.
The Montgomery bus boycott lasted for one _ _ __ R.
According to the song, when will we overcome? S _ _ _ _ _ _
T _ _ __ magazine named King “Man of the Year” in 1964.
Martin Luther King, Jr. graduated from Boston U _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __.
King became a leader in the _ _ V _ _ Rights movement.
King organized a huge March on W _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __, DC, in 1963.
King’s became a pastor at the _ _ X _ _ __ Avenue Baptist Church.
Martin Luther King’s birthday, _ _ _ _ _ _ Y 15, is now a federal holiday.
King attended _ _ _ Z _ __ Theological Seminary.

Answer Key

Page 1. Singing in the New Year

ACQUAINTANCE 2. SCOTLAND 3. ROBERT BURNS 4. “OLD LONG AGO” OR “GOOD OLD DAYS” 5. OLD FRIENDS FAMILY TIMES PAST 6. MARCH 7. JANUS 8. ANSWERS WILL VARY

Page 2. A Song for the New Year
Unscrambled phrase: HAPPY NEW YEAR

GOOD HEALTH 2. BONNE ANNEE 3. FELIZ ANO NUEVO 4. ENGLAND

Page 3-4. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day; We Shall Overcome

ATLANTA 2. BAPTIST 3. WE SHALL OVERCOME 4. DISCRIMINATION 5. LEADER 6. FIFTEEN 7. MONTGOMERY 8. HAVE 9. STRIDE 10. JAMES 11. BLACK 12. ALBERTA 13. MEMPHIS 14. NOBEL 15. CONGRESS 16. PARKS 17. EQUAL 18. YEAR 19. SOMEDAY 20. TIME 21. UNIVERSITY 22. CIVIL 23. WASHINGTON 24. DEXTER 25. JANUARY 26. CROZER

Page 5. Boy Scouts Day

T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. T

Singing in the New Year – 1
A Song for the New Year – 2
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr Day – 3
We Shall Overcome – 4
Boy Scouts Day – 5
Singing to Your Valentine – 6
Frog Went a’Courting – 7
The Sights and Sounds of Mardi Gras – 8
A Lot of Jazz – 9
Girl Scouts Week – 10
A Jig and a Song for St Patrick’s Day – 11
Sing a Silly Song Day – 12
Welcome Spring with Songs and Dances – 13
Ring the Easter Bells – 14
Passover – 15
Let’s Celebrate May Day – 16
Cinco de Mayo – 17
Omp-Pah, Omp-Pah, Boom, Boom, Boom – 18
Stars and Stripes Forever Day – 19
Mother’s Day – 20
Marching on Memorial Day – 21
Flag Day – 22
The Star-Spangled Banner – 23
Celebrate Baseball Day on June 12 – 24

Father’s Day – 25
Sing a Song of Freedom – 26
Marching Off to War – 27
From a Poem to a Song – 28
Patriotic Songs – 29
The Charm of the Calliope – 30
Labor Day – 31
Native American Day – 32
Happy Birthday, U S Navy – 33
Columbus Day – 34
John Brown Day – 35
Halloween – 36
Election Day Songs – 37
Marine Corps Birthday – 38
Veterans Day – 39
Mickey Mouse Day – 40
Thanksgiving Day – 41
Winter Wonderland – 42
Happy Hanukkah – 43
My Dreydl – 44
Christmas Carols – 45
Here Comes Santa Claus – 46
More Christmas Songs – 47
The Seven Day Celebration – 48