Kate DeMonica: “Old MacNoah Had an Ark”

“Old MacNoah Had an Ark” by Sally Lloyd-Jones is the story of Noah’s ark that is supposed to be sung to the tune of “Old McDonald Had a Farm”. It is about how Noah built an ark and had sets of different animals sail on his ship when a bad rain comes. Eventually they find dry land and live happily there. This book is useful in a music classroom because it helps children understand basic melodies and how texts function within it. Assuming that students know “Old McDonald Had a Farm”, they will be able to understand how the rhyme, rhythm, and tune function in correlation with the new text.