Language Focus: Letter recognition, actions (clap, pat your legs, pat your tummy, pat your head, jump)

Classroom Benefits: Great introduction to spelling, excellent for listening comprehension and developing rhythm.


Lyrics and actions:

(We recommend printing the flashcards below and using them as you sing the song. Place the B, I, N, G, and O cards at the front of the room. Before singing the song, introduce/review the letters. As you sing the song, place the ' clapping hands' flashcards over the letters one by one as you progress through each verse. This will help students understand when and how many times to clap in addition to developing letter recognition skills.

For this version of Bingo, to make things a little more active and interesting, listeners are asked to do different actions in each verse. For example, in the second verse, you clap instead of singing the letter B. In the third verse, you pat your legs instead of singing B and I. In the last verse, you jump instead of singing B, I, N, G, and O. You can choose to follow those directions, add your own actions instead, or just clap in each verse.)

There was a farmer had a dog.
and Bingo was his name-o. (Pat your legs to the rhythm.)
B-I-N-G-O (Point to the letter flashcards.)
B-I-N-G-O
B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o. (Pat your legs to the rhythm.)

Clap!

(Place one of the 'clapping hands' flashcards over the 'B' flashcard.)
There was a farmer had a dog.
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-I-N-G-O
*-I-N-G-O
*-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
(* = clap)

Pat your legs!

(Place one of the 'clapping hands' flashcards over the 'I' flashcard.)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-*-N-G-O
*-*-N-G-O
*-*-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
(* = pat your legs)

Pat your tummy!

(Place one of the 'clapping hands' flashcards over the 'N' flashcard.)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-*-*-G-O
*-*-*-G-O
*-*-*-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
(* = pat your tummy!)

Pat your head!

(Place one of the 'clapping hands' flashcards over the 'G' flashcard.)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-*-*-*-O
*-*-*-*-O
*-*-*-*-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
(* = pat your head!)

Jump!

(Place one of the 'clapping hands' flashcards over the 'O' flashcard.)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
*-*-*-*-*
*-*-*-*-*
*-*-*-*-*
And Bingo was his name-o.
(* = jump!)


(Remove all the 'clapping hands' flashcards.)
There was a farmer had a dog
and Bingo was his name-o.
B-I-N-G-O (jump, clap, and sing the letters)
B-I-N-G-O
B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.


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Activity Cards

			print 2 copies of this -----------> (or print on the back of #1 & #2 and fold over #3)
#1 (B & I )	#2 (N & G)	#3 (O & Clap)

Print the clap cards separately, and place one over each letter as your progress through the song.
-or-
Print the clap cards on the back of one and two and fold over three so that there is a clap on the back of every letter. Then you can simply turn over the cards as you progress through the song.

Activity Suggestion: Pause the song before each verse, and select a student to come up and cover (or turn over) the card.

Instead of clapping, try ryhthm sticks, tambourines, or any of your favorite noisemakers.

Want to share an activity or teaching tip? Contact us here!