Diane Chen

Cadences
July 23, 2007

Two of my sons are in basic training with the U.S. army right now. #1 son (by age) asked me to send him a book or two on army cadences and the Ranger program. Since the Ranger Indoctrination Program is so intense and they take their secrecy seriously, I was worried. Where do you start and is there anything out there to mentally prepare someone for RIP? Amazon came through and I've been reading the books before sending them on tomorrow morning with a care package.

Cadences are an amazing invention. According to the editor Ryan Casey in Cadences of the U.S. Army, "the cadences serve to synchronize marching and running to life spirits, share humor and to impart the military lore of the U.S. Army. They help forge the individuals of the unit into a single team, born of demanding training and growing comraderie."

Wow! Where are the cadences of education? Perhaps we need to locate rhymes and calls to synchronize our message. We know about calling and having people repeat back after us. We do Nursery Rhymes. Why not try a new way of moving?

Some cadences are short like this one I found online:

Up in the morning with a whistle and a yell,
I know that voice, I know it well.
I like sleep, it feels so fine.
But all I do is double time.

Maybe I should picture that group of kindergartners from last year that caused me such headaches and rethink my movements in the library? Perhaps I need to add to my sweet repertoire of hand signals, quiet whispers, flipping lights on and off, and good examples and include some goofy marching rhymes to teach library skills.

I use Judy Freeman's Hi-Ho-Librario with my young ones, perhaps it's time to come up with some new drills for information skills. What do you think? Shall I try out this rhyme while helping the new kindergartners journey to the library?

Go to the library with my book,
Read something new like how to cook.
I like learning, it feels so fine.
But all I do is stand in line.

But don't look too closely in my collection for army books because they are difficult to locate. The publishers gear their books very carefully towards the middle school audience. There appears to be a fear of glorifying violence, weapons, or military might in the publishing and in the library purchasing world. So explain the popularity of The Dangerous Book For Boys? (I'll be blogging about that one really soon!!) In the meantime, branch out and try something new, people. That's an order!

Posted by Diane Chen on July 23, 2007 | Comments (2)