The Pretty Planet

The 3rd and 4th graders have been studying the solar system in science. Students worked in groups of 2 or 3 to research the sun and the 8 planets that make up our solar system. Groups used many book resources to gather our information, drew planets to scale to hang on our wall, created informative posters to go along with each planet and presented their new knowledge to classmates in order to teach the rest of the class what they learned.

After doing this, we realized that a song we had been singing all year fit perfectly into our solar system unit! As part of our morning meetings, we’ve learned the Tom Chapin song, “This Pretty Planet.” We’ve practiced this song as a group, sung it in a two- and then three-part round and have gotten to the point where students often hum the tune or sing the song spontaneously.

We decided to integrate our love of music and singing into the study of our solar system. Each group wrote their own version of “This Pretty Planet” as an informative ode to the sun or planet they studied. Because the song is quite short (6 lines long in total), groups had to decide the most important information they wanted to communicate about the sun or their planet. Groups had to do this while also making sure their words fit with the rhythm of the original song, which was not an easy task. After many revisions and lots of practice, we celebrated with a live performance for parents.

We wanted to be able to share our work with the larger school community, so we recorded our songs. We want to especially thank Aaron Trail, our school’s resident guitar player and Kindergarten assistant, who recorded the guitar part that we sang along with. We hope you enjoy and learn as you listen to our songs!

Original “The Pretty Planet” Lyrics: