[upbeat music] - [Woman] Ready to learn.

- Hi!

- [Woman] It's time to share a story, read and write.

- Let's read it back.

- Discover science, sing.

♪ Somewhere ♪ - [Woman] Play, and so much more.

- Cupcakes!

- Very good.

- [Woman] Stay tuned for lessons and activities.

- We're gonna start making some words.

Isn't that fun?

[upbeat music] - [Woman] Funding for this program was provided by the JPB Foundation.

[upbeat music] - My name is Tony Medina, I am an author who hails from New York City but right now I am in the Washington DC area, where I am a professor of creative writing at Howard University, famed for graduating people like Vice President Kamala Harris and the late great actor Chadwick Boseman who played the Black Panther.

Today, I would love to share my latest book with you.

It's called Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy, Published by Penny Candy Books.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy is a book that celebrates boyhood through the voice and point of view and the eyes of 13 black and brown boys.

It also consists of tanka, tanka spelled T-A-N-K-A, is a form of poetry created by the Japanese, consisting of five lines and 31 syllables spread out evenly across those five lines, and syllables are basically distress sounds in a word or a name or something like that, so my first name is Tony, It consists of two sounds, right?

To-ny, so it has two syllables to it.

It was illustrated by 13 great artists whose names are here but also the book contains their photos and biographical statements, and it opens with a dedication page.

"For black and brown children whose every breath "is affirmation against erasure, "whose very being is confirmation for generations."

And I would like to read first from the introduction, it's called Thirteen Ways: An Introduction.

"Black boys scrape their knees, they bleed, "black boys cry and scream, "they tackle life like air gliding on wind, "basking in the breeze, black boys sit beneath trees, "inhale fresh cut grass and dream, "black boys play with building blocks, are fascinated "by clocks credo skateboards under their arms.

"Black boys love basketball and books, toss footballs "and leaf through pages lost in stories and myths.

"Black boys love comic books and superheroes, "our heroes to little sisters and brothers, "black boys love popcorn "and watching movies, love their grandmas "and grandpas, black boys hug "and kiss their moms and emulate their dads.

"Black boys wear their daddy shoes and ties, "smear shaving cream on their smooth faces, "giggling in steamy mirrors.

"Black boys shine bright "in sunlight, build snowmen and have snowball fights.

"Black boys study the stars, looking through telescopes, "lie on their backs in tall grass, "staring at the blanket of blue sky, "at all the eyes smiling and twinkling down on them.

"Black boys like to hum and drum, bebop, hip hop "like to dance and sing, jazz and scream.

"Black boys are three dimensions of beauty.

"Black boys go to church, "ride buses, go to school, sit on stoops, "fly kites, shoot hoops.

"Black boys like to sit in their quiet "and think about things.

"Black boys are made of flesh, not clay.

"Black boys have bones and blood and feelings.

"Black boys have minds that thrive "with ideas like bees around the hive.

"Black boys are alive with wonder "and possibility, with hopes and dreams.

"Black boys be bouquets of tanka, bunched up like flowers.

"They'd be paint blotched into a myriad "of colors across the canvases of our hearts.

"We celebrate their preciousness and creativity.

"We cherish their lives."

And that's the introduction, as you can see here, and it begins with the first tanka and you can see that beautiful artwork and it's illustrated by the legendary Floyd Cooper, and the title of this tanka, which you can see the five lines is Anacostia Angel.

Anacostia is a section of Southeast Washington DC, where Frederick Douglas has houses.

"Fly bow tie like wings, "brown eyes of a brown angel.

"His kool-aid smile sings, mama's little butterfly.

"Daddy's dimple grins so wide."

And you can see him rocking a nice little bow tie.

And the next tanka is Little Mister May.

I love this one because look at that, look at that beautiful kid, he's so cute, and he's also rocking the bow tie.

And this is illustrated by Cosbi A. Cabreras, he's a great artist.

Little Mister May.

And this particular poem reminds me of growing up and my grandmother had a big giant Bible on her dresser, in her room.

Little Mister May.

"My grandmother made me this suit "so I could look nice for God.

"She's always at church.

"Her Bible's older than me, "It's heavier than can be."

The next tanka is beautifully illustrated by the artist Skip Hill.

It's called Images of Kin.

Kin are the people that you are related to, and since we're all kind of related as human beings we're all kin in a sense.

"South East Benin mask, "face like a roadmap of kin "brought back from the past resurrected dignity, "flesh of onyx majesty."

And Benin is in Africa, the continent of Africa.

The next one is beautifully, electrifyingly illustrated by Tiffany McKnight, as you can see, look at that.

Beautiful painting, It just vibrates.

It's called The Charmer.

"Between you and me "all the girls like my smile.

"The boys be jealous, "call me bubble head and laugh.

"The girls roll their eyes and sass."

And then we come to, and this is illustrated by Robert Liu Trujillo, and he hails from Chicago and you can see the background scene is a Chicago landscape.

It looks like the Bronx too, and it's called One-Way Ticket.

"Payday don't pay much, "Every breath I take is taxed, "the kind of life where I'll have to take "out a loan to pay back them other loans."

And you know, life is rough for some people.

Now look at this one, this is beautiful.

This is a painting that really really captures the feeling and the mood of the poem, and it's called Lazy Hazy Daze by Keith Mallett.

"Summertime on stoop, "forehead sweat like ice cream tears "hiding from the sun, "wishing for the rain to come "cool us like Johnny pump spray."

And the Johnny pump is a fire hydrant, and when I was a kid growing up in the Bronx, in the Throgg's Neck housing projects, when it was really really hot and we didn't have a swimming pool to go, the firemen would open up the fire hydrant for us to play in and stuff, and they will get a can and break both ends of the can and make it into a hose to hose us down.

And this other great piece of artwork is illustrated by a friend of mine that we go way back called Sean K. Alexander and look how vibrant it is, It's like really electrifying and it's called My Soul to Keep.

And this is about two kids, actually.

"We preach as brothers, "grew up crawling on the pews "splinters as Christ cross "while daddy spit the gospel "from sanctified side-eyed lips."

And he's giving 'em a side-eye 'cause they, you know, they acting up in church, they're supposed to be good.

[laughing] And this is beautifully illustrated by Keisha Bruce.

It looks like a painting collage, a quilt of sorts, it's called Do Not Enter.

"Ashes pepper sky "over deserted landscape of broke-down buildings "and cars propped on cinder blocks, "where hope hurtled through the wind."

This is about a neighborhood that's kind of run down a little bit, and the tanka captures that image.

It's kind of like things that you see on your way to school or, you know when you walking out your house or your apartment building, and this is from Briana, McCarthy, this artwork.

It's beautiful, It's minimalist, and the tanka I wrote for it is called Street Corner Prophet.

"Dreadlock halo crown, "Jesus show up everywhere "in a black parka "here in Anacostia "winter corner's sacred sons."

Well you could see people, even people in the corner are looking like, hey, I know that face.

This one is one of my favorite one, it's so dynamic and I love the direction the artist takes.

This is from our Gregory Christie.

We did a couple of books together and the tanka is called Athlete's Broke Bus Blues.

Athlete's Broke Bus Blues.

"Know how many times I done missed this broke down bus, "hardly catch my breath, "running as fast as can be "wave at this bus, leaving me."

And you know growing up in New York City, I done missed a lot of buses trying to get to school as well as trains, and Okula Holmes has created this beautiful painting, and for the tanka that I wrote called Brothers Gonna Work It Out.

"We righteous black men, "patrol the soul of this hood, "raise young bloods proper, "to be the kings that they are, "crown glory of our future."

And the great Javaka Steptoe has created this beautiful collage artwork for the tanka Cat at the Curb.

"Sandwiched between curb and black radial tire, "a cat with nine lives, "not yet spent contemplates life, "Springtime days bunched up like grass."

I don't have any cats, but I do have a couple of cats that come and sit in my backyard on the lounge chairs, like they run and stuff.

And finally, the last tanka, in this 13 tanka suite of a book is from Chandra Cox, who also did a children's book with me.

And this one is called Givin' Back to the Community, and I liked the way she did a playful image for this poem.

"I went to this school when I was a shawty rock, "breakin' in the yard, wanted to be a rap star, "but a teacher's not too far!"

And of course this celebrates teachers and she wants to grow up to be a teacher.

How many of you wanna grow up to be a teacher?

And that concludes this beautiful book.

You see my big head right there, It has a biographical statement about me and a photo, and then all the artists, we get biographical statements, you learn about their lives a little bit, who they are, and you get images of them, which is really kind of cool.

You see that, these are all of the artists.

So my challenge to you is, while you're at home and maybe you don't have anything to do, I would like you to write your own tanka.

Tanka is a poem consisting of five lines.

First, you do five syllables, number two, seven syllables, number three, five syllables, and the numbers four and five, seven syllables each.

You should be able to write about your own experiences, you know, write about what you see going to school, your experiences at home, anything that you remember, and you can also take the tanka and if you have talent like these great artists in here to draw your own or paint your own artwork for your tanka, that'd be great.

Or maybe you can take a photo or you could do a collage, or you could pair off with a friend of yours from class, or from your neighborhood, or even a family member.

So again, thank you for sharing this time with me.

As they say in Italy and around the world, ciao for now.

- Hi movers and shakers, this is Violet, and I'm here with my sister Ivy.

- Hi.

- And we're gonna sing a song with you called Green and Speckled Frogs, and this is a counting song, so put up three fingers.

All right, ready?

♪ Three green and speckled frogs ♪ ♪ Sitting down a speckled log ♪ ♪ Eating the most delicious worms ♪ ♪ Yum yum ♪ ♪ One jumped into the pool ♪ ♪ Where it was nice and cool ♪ ♪ And now there are two green speckled frogs ♪ ♪ Two green and speckled frogs ♪ ♪ Sitting on a speckled log ♪ ♪ Eating the most delicious worms ♪ ♪ Yum yum ♪ ♪ One jumped into the pool ♪ ♪ Where it is nice and cool ♪ ♪ And now there is one green speckled frog ♪ ♪ One green and speckled frog ♪ ♪ Sitting on a speckled log ♪ ♪ Eating the most delicious worms ♪ ♪ Yum yum ♪ ♪ It jumped into the pool ♪ ♪ Where it is nice and cool ♪ ♪ And now there are no green speckles frogs ♪ All right, that was pretty silly.

Thanks for singing with us.

- Thanks.

[upbeat music] - Hello scholars, welcome to a wonderful day of learning.

My name is Anna and I am so excited to work with you today.

Guess what?

Today we will blend words and read words all with a specific focus on endings.

The specific endings we're working on are -s and -es, so sometimes you might call those a suffix.

This is going to be so much fun.

All right, but first let's get started with some syllable work.

Do you remember what a syllable is?

Right, so a syllable is each time that we hear a vowel sound in a word.

So for example, oh, what's your name?

Really?

That's it, can you say it a little louder?

What's your name?

Perfect, so if you were to find out the amount of syllables in your name, one way you can do this, is by placing your hand under your chin, and each time your jaw drops, that represents a syllable.

Watch me, so my name is Anna An-na, oh, my jaw dropped twice, so my name has two syllables, An-na.

Another way I can do this is by clapping it up.

An-na, how many syllables are in your name?

Cool, some of you have one, two, three, four, even five syllables in some of your names, that is awesome.

Okay, so what's gonna happen is I'm going to say a word and for this activity, I want you to clap out the syllables.

So for example, if I said the word walker, hmm, how many syllables are in the word walker?

Well, walk-er, there are two syllables in the word walker.

All right, you wanna try some words?

Of course you do.

Okay, so how many syllables are in the word walking?

[clapping] That's right, there are two syllables in walking, walk-ing.

Okay, how many syllables are in the word peach?

Great, peach has one syllable.

How many syllables are in the word peaches?

Awesome, peach-es, two syllables.

How many syllables are in the word catch?

Great, catch, one syllable.

How many syllables are in the word catches?

Catch-es, there's two syllables.

Okay, how about the word catching?

Awesome, catch-ing, two syllables.

All right, how many syllables are in the word listen?

[clapping] You were right, two syllables.

All right, how about, oh, let's do this last one, how many syllables are in the word listening?

How amazing are you?

Lis-ten-ing, there are three syllables in listening, oh my goodness, see, I tried to trick you there and I couldn't see lis-ten-ing, awesome job.

Okay, let's keep doing some more syllable work, but let's be really focused about these endings, -s and -es.

So I'm gonna say three words and I want you to be able to tell me the different amount of syllables in each of the words.

So let me go first, for example, if I said the word watched, watches, watching.

Hmm, let's see, watched, one syllable, watches, watch-es, watches has two syllables, watching, watch-ing, watching also has two syllables.

Hmm, what did you notice about those three words?

Watched, watches, watching.

Yeah, they all have the same base word, which was watch.

What else did you notice about those words though?

That's right, depending on the ending they had, it changed the number of syllables.

Watched, just had one, but watches, and watching, had two, hmm, cool right?

All right, I'm gonna say a couple more words, they're all gonna have the same base word, but the endings are going to be different and let's see how that changes the amount of syllables in the word.

Listen carefully, wants, wanted, wanting.

How many syllables in wants?

That's right, just the one.

How about wanted?

Correct, two.

How about wanting?

There you go, two again.

Okay, listen to these three words, ready?

Fixes, fixed, fixing.

How many syllables in fixes?

That's right, two, fixes.

How about fixed?

Just the one.

And how about fixing?

Fix-ing, That's right, there's two in fixing.

Awesome, okay you are so ready to start this work on our endings.

Okay, so this is a picture of a duck, right?

I'm going to write the word duck right down here.

Now, this word can mean one duck.

How would I turn this word into meaning more than one duck?

That's right, I would have to add that s to make duck turn into ducks, so that means I have more than one duck, right?

What do you notice about this sound that this letter is representing at the end?

That's right, duck, ducks.

You hear that s representing the s sound.

Okay, now I'm gonna change this word to another animal.

Can you blend and read that word for me?

F-R-O-G, okay, so the word is frog.

Well, I have one frog.

Now, if I want more than one, what is this word now?

Yes, the word is frogs.

Hmm, what sound is that letter now representing?

That's right, It's representing the z sound.

So our suffix or our ending -s could represent the s sound like duck, ducks, but it could also represent the z sound like frog, frogs.

Okay, now let's show a different picture card.

Do you know what animal this is?

Yeah, that's a fox, so let me write the word fox.

Now, this is one fox, how would I make more than one fox though?

That's right, here I can't just add the s, okay.

I need to now add our suffix -es, so fox becomes foxes.

This -es represents the ez sound, everyone say ez, okay.

Now, read this word with me, say fox, foxes.

How many syllables do you hear in the word foxes?

That's right, fox-es, you hear two syllables?

Not only do the endings -s and -es add value to a word, like one dog, five dogs, It can also change action words.

So let's take a look at the pairs of words that I have here, let's see, first we have run.

When I then add my -s ending, It turns into runs.

So I run, she runs.

Let's take a look at the next one.

Here we have, go ahead blend it.

That's right, I dash, what would this word now be?

Dashes, hmm, wait, how many syllables were in run and then runs?

They both had one syllable, run, runs, but now when I look at dash, one syllable, dashes has how many syllables?

That's right, two because remember that -es now represents a new sound, dash-es, okay.

So now we have another syllable that's added onto that word.

How about this next one?

We have pack and then?

That's right, packs.

How many syllables in each of those words?

That's right, just one pack, packs.

How about this last one?

Excellent, we have mix, one syllable.

How about this word?

Great, mixes, two syllables.

Okay, time for one of my favorite parts of our time together, where we get to blend and start reading some of these words.

Okay, so I have our word here, I've already separated it out for us, let's start breaking this up sound by sound and then blend it all back together so we can read the word, are you ready?

Let's go.

W-i-sh-es, wi-sh-es, wish-es, wishes.

Great job, do you wanna try another one?

Yeah, you do, of course you do.

Okay, let's do another one really quickly, and then I'm gonna send you off to do your own sound by sound blending.

So this is gonna be our target word.

I'm gonna separate out the sounds for you, but this time I want you to do it without me.

And let's see how well you do, ready?

Go ahead.

You said boxes, awesome, all right, now you're on your own.

Let's blend and read the following lines.

Beaches, farms, teaches, sinks.

What did you notice about the words on this first line?

That's right, two of the words had the -es ending, ez, and two of the words had the -s ending.

What else did you notice?

Did you notice how sinks ends in the s sound, while farms ends in the z sound, the two different sounds that that final S can make.

Let's go on to the next line.

Did you notice how the s changed at the end of these words?

All right, last line.

Scholars, you did such an impressive job.

You were able to blend and read words with those different -s and -es endings.

Keep noticing these endings in words and then continue practicing blending and reading them with a trusted adult.

Well, until next time scholars, be safe, keep learning and have fun, bye.

[upbeat music] - Hi friends, It's Nicole from the Bronx Children's Museum.

I hope you're all having a great day and that you're excited to learn some fun, new things.

Today, we're gonna be learning all about how different animals are adapted to camouflage in their environments.

First, we'll read a book about camouflage, then we'll look at some cool Bronx animals who are great at camouflaging in their environment, and then we're gonna do an art activity.

Let's get started.

So what exactly does camouflage mean?

To camouflage is to use your body to blend in with your surroundings or your environment.

For example, if I wanted to camouflage with this gey wall, I could wear a grey shirt, or I could paint my hair or face grey to blend in with the wall.

And since today I'm wearing purple, I could also go and stand next to a purple wall and that would help me camouflage too.

Camouflage is an adaptation that animals have, and adaptation is a special feature or behavior of an animal that helps them to survive in a specific environment.

In other words, if an animal can camouflage, that will help it to survive, because it's able to hide in its surroundings, It makes it a lot harder for predators to find it.

Let's take a look at some different animals from around the world who are great at camouflaging.

We're gonna read a book, Look Again by Steve Jenkins, and as we're reading, see if you can spot the camouflage critters.

Look Again, Secrets Of Animal Camouflage by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, read with permission from HMH Publishing.

"Staying alive can be a challenge for an animal in the wild.

"Many creatures face the constant threat "of being eaten by bigger and stronger animals.

"And even the fiercest hunters must find prey "or they will starve.

"Staying hidden, whether from predators "or prey is one way to stay alive.

"And many animals do this surprisingly well.

"Colorful coral reefs and dense forests of kelp, "a kind of seaweed, are found in shallow ocean waters "in many parts of the world.

"These habitats provide food and shelter to more "different kinds of animals than almost any place on earth.

"Many coral reef and kelp forest animals "are masters of disguise, blending in "with the colors and textures of their surroundings.

"Some do this to avoid being eaten, "others do it to fool their prey.

"Roots leaves and branches, "each part of a tree is a different habitat.

"Tree bark and the moss and algae that grow on it "provides a home or resting place for a variety of animals.

"Even living high above the ground can be risky.

"Snakes, birds, and other predators are constant threats.

"The best defense, look like part of the tree.

[birds chirping] "Flowers produce nectar and pollen, "fluids that attract insects, birds, and bats.

"For some creatures, these blossoms are also "a colorful place to hide.

[birds chirping] "Some animals sip flower nectar, others prey on creatures that are attracted "to blossoming plants, "and a few fool their enemies "by concealing themselves among the petals.

"The leaves and plant debris that cover the forest floor "offer the animals that live there "lots of ways to conceal themselves.

"Many of these creatures are a dull color "to blend in with the dirt "and leaf litter of the forest floor.

"A few go a step further, imitating dead leaves "with impressive accuracy.

"The harsh landscape of the Arctic "is covered by snow and ice for much of the year.

"It's a challenging place for an animal "that needs to stay out of sight.

[birds chirping] "For these creatures, staying hidden "means being mostly white, "at least when the ground is covered with snow.

"Leaves and vines can provide food, shelter, "and for some creatures, a handy hiding place.

"Looking like part of a plant can be "a good survival strategy for both predators and prey.

"Some of these creatures have almost perfect disguises.

"Survival can be a challenge in a rocky environment, "where there is little vegetation to hide in.

"These creatures have adapted to life in the open "by imitating the color and texture of their harsh habitat.

"Now, what do you see?

Better look again!"

Do you have a favorite camouflaged animal?

And have you ever seen a camouflaged animal here in the Bronx?

We actually have lots of animals here in the Bronx that are really great at camouflaging.

Let's take a look at a few of them.

The first Bronx animal I wanna talk about is the white tailed deer.

You've may have seen deer in your neighborhood park.

Deer are great at camouflaging in their environments, which is typically a wooded forest area.

Their light brown fur helps them camouflage among the trees of Van Cortlandt Park or Pelham Bay Park and baby deer even have little white spots on them, which makes it hard to spot them If they're sitting in a pool of sunlight in the leaves.

The next animal I wanna mention is a master of disguise, but you may not even know that they live here in the Bronx.

I'm talking about a praying mantis.

Most praying mantises are green so that they can blend in with their environment of leaves and plants.

But, there are praying mantises that are even pink or blue or brown, depending on what type of environment they live in.

They really are great at camouflage.

The last animal that I wanna talk about is the hognose snake.

We actually have hognose snakes here in New York and we have one in the museum's collection.

To tell us a little bit more about hognose snakes and how they camouflage, we have a special guest.

This is Elanor, the animal expert and Treemont, the hognose snake.

So Elanor, can you tell us a little bit about how Treemont can camouflage?

- Yes, Treemont our hognose snake, is light brown with darker brown spots.

Did you notice that?

And so these colors help him camouflage on the tree bark or in the sandy dirt on the forest floor.

Now hognose snakes mostly live in forests, and camouflaging helps them protect themselves from predators such as birds, skunks, or large turtles such as snapping turtles.

And camouflaging can also help them catch their own prey, and so they can hide under the forest floor and all the animals don't see them, so if a toad comes hopping along, the hognose snake, since the toad can't see him, could leap out and eat the toad.

- Wow, so camouflage can not only help protect an animal from predators, but it can also help it to catch its own prey, that's pretty cool right?

Well, thank you, Elanor and Treemont for coming, we really appreciate it and we loved learning all about hognose snakes.

- Of course, bye.

- Now that we've learned all about the different animals that live here in the Bronx, we're gonna do an art activity.

We're going to make our own camouflage critters.

To do this activity, you're gonna need two sheets of black paper, oil pastels, scissors, and tape or glue let's get started.

If you don't have the materials, just follow along.

Before you begin, make sure that you have all of your materials.

First decide on which animal you want to create.

I'm going to draw Treemont, the hognose snake.

It could be helpful to have a reference image of your animal, so that you can refer back to it as you work on your project.

I'm going to look at this picture of Treemont while I draw.

On one piece of paper, draw an outline of your animal using a white oil pastel.

Focus on creating a large silhouette or outline of the animal.

There's no need to get super detailed, but feel free to add some additional details based on your animal, for example, if you're drawing a deer, maybe you wanna add some white spots.

If you're drawing a bird, add some feathers.

Treemont has lots of irregular shaped scales on his body that are different shades of brown and yellow.

So I'm going to outline those scales in white and then color them in using brown and yellow.

- [Woman] Ask a trusted adult for help using scissors.

- [Anna] Once you've finished coloring in your animal, use scissors to cut out the outline.

Now, think about your animal's habitat.

Where does it live?

What colors would you see there?

Again, it can be helpful to look at a reference image of your animal in its habitat.

If your animal is good at camouflage, these colors should be the same as what you use to color in your animal earlier.

Use a white oil pastel to draw an outline of your animal's habitat.

Again, you can just use loose shapes.

Hognose snakes live on forest floors so I'm drawing the sandy soil and then some shapes to represent branches, shrubs, and rocks.

Now I'll color in those shapes using the same colors I used for my animal.

What habitat are you creating?

Maybe you have an ocean habitat with lots of greens and blues, or maybe you have a desert animal, so you want reds and oranges.

Now you can attach your animal to your habitat background using tape or glue.

Turn your animal this way and that to find the best angle for camouflaging.

Once your animal is well hidden, challenge a friend or family member to find them.

Well, we hope you loved learning all about camouflage critters and that the next time you're walking around your neighborhood in the Bronx, you'll look a little more closely to see if you can spot one in your own neighborhood.

Thank you for joining me, Elanor and Treemont the snake today.

See you next time.

[upbeat music] ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba oh she baba ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba she baba oh ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Baba baba ba ♪ ♪ Oh she baba ♪ ♪ Bam bam oh she baba ♪ ♪ Bam bam oh she baba ♪ ♪ Bam bam oh she baba ♪ [drum thudding] - Hi everyone, My name is Amos from Ghana West Africa.

I teach music at Third Street Music School, and today we are going to learn a song, or I will be teaching a song called Baajo from Ghana West Africa.

Baajo is a song performed by one of the tribe in Ghana called the Guang tribe, and Baa means come, jo means dance, so please repeat after me say Baajo, Baajo.

Wow, you sound beautiful, one more time, Baajo, Baajo.

Good, so Baa means come, jo means dance, okay.

So we will be learning a song that we sing before we play the drum.

We will be learning a song, then we will learn a call and break and basic rhythm on the drum.

I am using this drum, it's called conga, conga, because it has a perfect sound that I want.

If you don't have a drum, you can grab a chair or a table or you can lay a towel on top of your chair or your table then have fun.

You can also practice on your lap and you can also grab a big plastic bowl and have fun on it.

So, we are about learn the song and I will sing the song, you listen, then after we learn it together.

This is the song.

[singing in foreign language] This is the whole thing, it simply means all of you come and let us play, we will play and dance, we will play and sing, so please repeat after me.

We have call and respond, and the call is [speaking foreign language] and when I say [speaking foreign language] you will respond [speaking foreign language] So please say [speaking foreign language] Wow, let's try the second one [speaking foreign language] Thank you, so let's try it together, we are about to combine the two together.

[speaking foreign language] So everybody say [speaking foreign language] Now let's try the other part, everybody say [speaking foreign language] It means we will play and sing.

The first one is we will play and dance, the second one is we will play and sing.

So one more time after me, phase one.

[speaking foreign language] Second one, [speaking foreign language] Then we will go Eeeh!

Let me hear you, eeeh!

Again eeeh!

Eeeh!

So after we scream eeeh!

Then we go, [speaking foreign language] Eeeh!

Can we try it together?

Try it okay, with me, so I will call [speaking foreign language] Then you go [speaking foreign language] Again [speaking foreign language] We scream eeeh!

Then we go [speaking foreign language] Second one, eeeh!

[speaking foreign language] Can we try it again?

Yes, right let's try it, so I will call then you respond, so ready?

[speaking foreign language] Let's go, eeeh!

[speaking foreign language] Eeeh!

[speaking foreign language] Wow, wow, you did very good.

Now, we about to learn a call, a signal that we'll be using before we play the break, okay, and the signal is the same as one, two, three, and four, so everybody, I want you to repeat this after me on your drum.

[drum thudding] Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa. Again after me, [drum thudding] Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa.

So that is the call, everybody say call, call.

All right now, we are about to work on the break and the break is [drum thudding] - Let's try it together, after counting of four, one, two, three, four, [drum thudding] Stop, one more time.

One, two, three, four, [drum thudding] Very good, now the basic rhythm is what we about to learn, and the basic rhythm is this.

[drum thudding] Let's try it together after counting of four, okay, one, two, three, four.

[drum thudding] Wow, now we are about to combine all together, we play call, then break, then basic rhythm.

Can we try after counting of four, okay?

I know you remember the call.

Ready, one, two, three, we call.

[drum thudding] Then break [drum thudding] Stop, now ready for the basic rhythm, after counting of four, one, two, three, four.

[drum thudding] Now after counting of four, I want you to keep playing the basic rhythm, okay, then I will play something different to support you.

One, two, three, four.

[drum thudding] Keep going, do not stop okay.

[drum thudding] And I'll play something different to support you.

[drum thudding] And I will sing while you are playing.

[drum thudding] Ready to stop?

[drum thudding] After counting of four, we'll freeze.

One, two, one, two, three, four, stop.

Ready to play the rhythm again?

One, two, three, drum.

[drum thudding] Keep going [drum thudding] Ready to stop.

[drum thudding] One, two, three, stop.

Wow [clapping] wow, you sound very beautiful.

This time, this is what we are about to do, I'll give you counting of four, then we keep playing the basic rhythm, then I will give you counting of four along the line, then we play the break, then we end with a break.

I believe you remember the break.

The break is play boom boom, play boom boom, play boom boom boom boom boom boom, but we will repeat the break two times, so ready?

One, two, three drum.

[drum thudding] Keep going [drum thudding] We are about to end.

One, two, one, two, three, go [drum thudding] Last one [drum thudding] Wow [clapping] you sound very beautiful, I love it, you did very good job and be proud of what you just did and I'm proud of you.

We have done, and now we are about to sing a wrap up song, and this song we will sing it in one of the Ghanaian local language called the Ewe, Ayeko, and ayeko means well done, so join me, let's wrap up.

[singing in Ewe] [drum thudding] Thank you so much, I will see you here again another time, Bye bye.

- Head, cabeza, shoulders, hombros, knees, rodillas, and toes, pies.

♪ Head shoulders knees and toes ♪ ♪ Knees and toeas ♪ ♪ Head shoulders knees and toes ♪ ♪ Knees and toes ♪ ♪ And eyes and ear and mouth and nose ♪ ♪ Head shoulders knees and toes ♪ ♪ Knees and toes ♪ in espana, ready?

Uno, dos, tres, [singing in Spanish] Can we do it faster?

[speaking Spanish] Uno, dos, tres [singing in Spanish] ♪ Head shoulders knees and toes ♪ ♪ Knees and toes ♪ ♪ And eyes and ear and [singing in Spanish] ♪ - [Woman] Funding for this program was provided by the JPB Foundation.

[upbeat music]