What Does the Sheep Say?

“OhmyGodyouhavetoseethis!” A near incoherent rush of syllables as Erin bursts through the door, eyes gleaming, and rushes to the computer. She brings up youtube and starts a search for something that, at least initially, makes very little sense... Bubblegum Macaroni or Fish Golf or Elbow Dancing.

“My students showed this to me today! It is crazy!” (or awesome, or amazing, or just full of madness – the adjectives vary a bit)

This happens a lot. And this post is dedicated to sharing those things with you. So, without further ado, Things Erin's Students Like (fanfare, please)...

1) I Never Go To Work (They Might Be Giants). It's simple, it's straightforward, and it's perfect for first,  second or third grade English Lessons. AND OH MY GOD, SOMEONE GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD! Seriously. It's been on endless repeat since March.

2) The Fox (Ylvis). Erin's fifth and sixth grades were so nuts for this song, she wrote out the lyrics and had a sing-a-long with them. When she first showed this to me, I thought it was a joke. The lead singer is just so darned sincere. He seems honestly troubled by the fact that he does not know what the fox says. I feel for him, I really do. And then the rest of it is a Salvador Dali painting that dances, so... yeah.

3) U You (APink) This is a K-pop song about a group of girls hanging out and gossiping about boys. It is the DEFINITION of a sixth grade girl, and apparently the ones in Erin's class squee! whenever they hear it.

4) Bar Bar Bar (Crayon Pop) Another K-pop group, and possibly the most relentlessly upbeat thing I've ever seen. Because of this song, Erin can say the word "Jump" and watch a room full of Korean children go spontaneously crackers as they act out this music video. Yes, they have all the dance moves memorized. Duh. Why wouldn't they?

5) Gentleman (Psy)  And we're back to Psy. This one is considerably less innocent than Gangnam Style (LINK, in case you don't remember that worldwide phenomenon), so you may not want to watch it with smaller children around. However, THAT hasn't stopped every single Korean child I've ever met from knowing and loving this song. I mean, the video is about a guy who goes around being a jerk to everyone. They eat that stuff UP. But unlike the other videos on this list, I get the impression they know they're not supposed to like this one, as if maybe their parents don't approve? So when asked, the kids do a kind of furtive giggle, followed by the signature dance move.

Anyway, there you go. Five things that Erin's students are silly for.

-Sam

PS: What does the sheep say?