Lyrics

Charlie over the ocean, (echo)
Charlie over the sea, (echo)
Charlie catch a blackbird (echo)
Can’t catch me. (echo)

Game

Leader walks around the circle while singing. On the last word, he/she taps the student closest to him/her. That person becomes the next “it.”

I don’t allow the next “it” to run after the person who taps him/her – while we’re playing indoors. Instead, the student walks quickly around the circle. Outside on the grass, they can play like “Duck Duck Goose” and run.

I use this to assess pitch matching, so I make sure each student gets a turn.

Another Game idea

The children join hands in a ring and skip to their right. The leader, who is outside, skips in the opposite direction. He begins the song and the ring sings each line back to him. As the leader says “Charlie caught a blackbird” he touches one of those in the ring and begins to run around the ring. The child who was touched tries to catch him. If the leader can get around the ring to the empty place, the other child becomes the leader. If not, he remains on the outside. The song continues and all children take part as the leader.

Movement

The children join hands in a ring and skip to their right. The leader, who is outside, skips in the opposite direction. He begins the song and the ring sings each line back to him. As the leader says “Charlie caught a blackbird” he touches one of those in the ring and begins to run around the ring. The child who was touched tries to catch him. If the leader can get around the ring to the empty place, the other child becomes the leader. If not, he remains on the outside. The song continues and all children take part as the leader.

The following content is available below to Plus Members:

• PDF includes:
  • Song with chords
  • Orff arrangement