Oreo Cookie ABA

Today I was reviewing ABA form with my grade 2 students. We were singing our new “Welcome” song (”Everybody Sing Hello” from “Its Your Turn Again” by Cheryl Lavender”) that includes a singing together portion, an echo portion, and then the singing together portion again.

They remembered learning ABA last year with their previous teacher, but they couldn’t remember what it meant.

I wrote out a quick diagram on the board that looked something like this:

A : Everybody sing

B:  Hello (hello)

A: Everybody sing

I left out the ABA part first, and we just talked about the sections of the song. Then we labeled the first section “A” and the second section, because it was different, became, “B.” (They are quite pleased with themselves whey they decide to use “B”  for the second section, they look like they’ve just solved a mystery!) Then, we decided that since the last section was the same as the first, it could be “A” also.

I told them that ABA form reminds me of an Oreo Cookie: The beginning is a chocolate cookie, and the end is a chocolate cookie, and the middle is cream. We talked about other things that could look like “ABA” – i.e. an ice cream sandwich, a peanut butter sandwich, a hamburger, etc. Next day, we’ll be singing some more songs that will be ABA form and some that won’t be, and they will have to discern which are in ABA (or “Oreo Cookie”) form.