Autumn Time is All Around with Caitlin Anderson

Lyrics:
Autumn leaves are turning, turning, turning.
Autumn fires are burning, burning, burning.
Days of in between. See the changing scene.
Autumn time is all around.
Summer birds are flying, flying, flying.
Summer flowers are dying, dying, dying.
Days of in between. See the changing scene.
Autumn time is all around.
Winter winds are coming, coming, coming.
No more insects humming, humming, humming.
Days of in between. See the changing scene.
Autumn time is all around.
Autumn leaves are falling, falling, falling.
Hear the barn-owl calling, calling, calling.
Days of in between. See the changing scene.
Autumn time is all around.
"Autumn Time is All Around" is a piece that has the advantage of being both very pretty and very versatile. For younger children, it provides a nice observational opportunity for how the world outside is changing. What's different? Gather some student ideas, and then ask them to listen to the changes listed in the song when they are outside. Has anyone seen any of those changes?
If you're looking for a movement activity, this song has beautiful opportunities for creative movement. Leaves turn. Fires burn. Birds fly, and so on. Consider assigning one child or a small group to an individual line or a pair of lines, and have them dance in the middle of the circle on their text, then everyone does some previously agreed upon choreography for the repeating line.
For older children, this is a lovely concert piece which can be accompanied quite effectively with guitar, piano, or a simple xylophone arrangement. Singers can do simple part-work by taking turns by textual phrase, and singing the last two measures (Autumn time is all around) together.
And speaking of part-work, I had the enormous pleasure of welcoming Caitlin Anderson into the studio to join me on some autumnal repertoire. As a fellow former choir kid and a current teacher, Caitlin was a guest who walked in fully ready to try anything I could throw at her. Whether it was hand motions, harmony, or matching deep fuchsia ensembles, Caitlin was game.
Caitlin LOVED joining her longtime friend Kate for this autumn edition of Songs From The Sandbox! Caitlin is an elementary school science teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area, though over her decade-plus in education she's also taught middle school science and high school chemistry! During the Covid lockdown, she also founded the Joyful Learning Laboratory, a live, hands-on, online science program for kids and adults alike. You can check out her website www.joyfullearninglaboratory.com or see what she has to say about teacher well-being and work-life balance on TikTok and Instagram @teacherbaecaitlin.
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