The Little Drummer Boy
I love the story of The Little Drummer Boy. It makes me feel all Christmasy inside and it’s one of my favorite songs to listen to during the Christmas season. I love this version from Pentatonix. Oh and definitely this one from for King and Country.
The song The Little Drummer boy has a fascinating history, in that it has morphed multiple times before it became the song that we know it to be today.
A Quick History:
It was originally a Czech lullaby by Miss Jakubickova. It wasn’t until later that English words were added by Percy Dearmer in 1918 for the official Oxford Book of Carols. The carol no longer sounds like the original because in 1941, it was changed significantly by Katherine Kennicott Davis who originally wrote the song for her girls choir. Not longer after her rendition it caught the attention of the Austrian Trapp Family who recorded it with their own arrangement in 1955. The song morphed a few more times by Jack Halloran Singers and then Harry Simeone Chorale before it became the song that we know it to be today.
If you don’t already have your own book in your story collection you can listen to the one I have included below.
You can grab your own book here:
I have included The Little Drummer Boy as part of my 12 Days of Grab and Go Holiday Lessons, you can check out the rest of them here.
The Little Drummer Boy
Choose one of the two books to fill out the story map with. If you want to spend more time on discussion then you may need to consider using the longer of the two books.
The little drummer boy is about a boy who is too poor to bring a gift to the newborn king. Have your student consider what talents or gifts they have that can be brought to a king. This king can be the newborn Jesus that the song refers to, or it can be a gift for a king.
Encourage your student to practice reading by reading through the lyrics of the Little Drummer Boy. The repetition should make it easy and then feel free to use it to sing along.
After reading through the lyrics, use them to point out the nouns and verbs and then fill out the worksheet below.
If you have a student that likes to draw, have them illustrate the story through this picture story map. Start at the beginning and in story sequence draw the parts of the story.
Finish off the story with a fun word search using the words from the story.
Grab your printables here:
Angela is the Homeschool Encourager for the Overwhelmed & Under-Caffeinated and the Chaos-to-Confidence Specialist behind Schooling with Grace. With a no-fluff approach, a dash of humor, and a whole lot of heart, she helps homeschool moms cut through the chaos, ditch unrealistic expectations, and teach with confidence.