Let’s Go to the Zoo

Lyrics:

Chorus:

Zoo, zoo,
Let’s go to the zoo,
What will we see at the zoo?

Zoo, zoo,
Let’s go to the zoo,
What will we see at the zoo?

Verse 1:

Lion, we will see a lion,
Elephant, we will see an elephant,
Monkey, we will see a monkey,
Let’s go to the zoo!

Chorus

Verse 2:

Tiger, we will see a tiger,
Snake, we will see a snake,
Birds, we will see some birds,
Let’s go to the zoo!

Gestures and activities to use with the “Let’s Go to the Zoo” song

The gestures are fun and mimic the animals being sung about:

1. For the “Zoo, zoo, Let’s to to the zoo”, have everyone walking on the spot as they walk to the zoo.
2. For the next line “What will we see at the zoo?”, have everyone put their hand above their eyes as they search for animals.
3. For the animal parts do the following:

• lion: look fierce and roar
• elephant: make a trunk with your arm and make the trumpet noise
• monkey: do the money scratching head and armpit gesture whilst saying “oh-oh”
• tiger: look fierce and roar
• snake: make a snake shape with your hands and hiss like a snake
• birds: flap your arms like wings and say “tweet-tweet”

Using the “Let’s Go to the Zoo” song in class

The song is perfect for teaching zoo animals and also as a follow up it is useful for teaching the structure “Let’s go to …”.

1. Teach the zoo animals vocab. If you have plastic toys for the animals you can use them or you can use zoo animal flashcards.  Before the class put the toys or flashcards in a bag. Bring out the bag and peer in – make surprised noises to get the full attention of your students. Slowly, inch by inch, pull out the animals – elicit /teach/chorus the animal name “e.g. What’s this? It’s a (lion). (Lion), (Lion), (Lion)”. Then teach/chorus the animal noise (E.g. “What noise does a lion make?” “Roar!”).
2. Play “Pass the animals”. Pass one of the animals or animal flashcards to the nearest student. As you pass, say “(lion) (roar)”. Have the students pass all the animals around the circle, all the while saying the animal name and noise.
3. Play “Animals Match-up Concentration”. You’ll need two sets of zoo animals flashcards. Shuffle them and spread, face-down, on the floor or table. Turn over one card and then another.  The object of the game is to find the same two cards – which wins you a point.  If you turn over the same pair of cards (e.g. two tigers) you keep the cards and remove them from the game.  If you turn over two different cards, turn them back over.  The game ends when all cards have been removed and the player with the most cards is the winner.
4. Sing the “Let’s Go to the Zoo” song. Before the song, run through the actions in the correct order of the song.  It will help to have the flashcards in order on the board or use our song sheet.  Play the song and have everyone doing the actions as they sing along.
5. Play “Animals Walk” game. Have everybody stand at one end of the classroom. First model: hold up a flashcard of a lion. Shout “Run like a lion!” – then get down and crawl across the room like a lion all the time roaring. Then have everyone do it. Then do for all the other animals (e.g. “Stomp like an elephant!”, etc.).
6. Do “Zoo Animals Play-doh”.  You’ll need different colored play-doh.  Sit down the students in groups and show them how to make simple models of animals.  Let everyone make the animals that want and as they are doing so circulate and ask lots of questions (e.g. What’s that?  Is it a lion?  What noise does a lion make? etc.).
7. Do “Zoo Animals” worksheet. Use the Animals 3 worksheet. First hold the worksheet up for all to see. Take a crayon and elicit its color (e.g. “What color is this?”). Then color one of the animals whilst eliciting its name. Do the same for the other animals. Give out the worksheets and have the students color the animals, all the time praising, helping, encouraging and asking target questions (e.g. “What is it?”). Finally, go to each S in turn, look at his/her worksheet, ask some questions and then give back with lots of praise.
8. Set Homework: “At the Zoo” worksheet. To finish off this section of the lesson, give out the worksheet for homework.