We are the Children of the World

Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide for We are the Children of the World.

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Get audio tracks and activities with a Donna & Andy Membership

The Computer Cat  CD - Donna & Andy performance and instrumental tracks (24) are available for download or physical CD on this website.

Use We are the Children of the World with your choir, in your music classroom, with your small group vocal class, or as an all-school finale. Approaches will vary depending on the group with whom the song is being used.

Choir

Elementary school choirs often find part singing difficult. To assist with this process, teach all singers the melody throughout. Once the melody is well established, choose a select group of singers to sing the descant. NOTE: The accompaniment includes the descant melody that will be added, preparing students for the musical line that is sung in the second chorus.

If students are finding the lyrics a challenge, divide your singers into two groups and share the responsibility for learning alternating phrases. As you continue to rehearse the song, all students may feel comfortable to sing all the lyrics, but there will be a core group to anchor that section.

Speak the lyrics phrase by phrase with the teacher modeling the syncopated rhythms and students echoing by rote.

Sing the song phrase by phrase with the teacher modeling both the melody and rhythm and the students echoing by rote. 

Find the syncopated rhythms in the music. Sometimes these are created with ties, sometimes there are dotted notes and sometimes there are eighth/quarter/eighth combinations. Find examples of each kind of syncopated rhythm and see where they are repeated.

Classroom or Vocal Studio

Use this song as a discussion starter when exploring character traits such as community, respect, empathy, acceptance, responsibility, etc.

Use discussion to make an emotional connection with the song.

Focus on / discuss specific lyrics:

  “Every face is different, yet we are all the same.”

  “We have the same hopes and fears and dreams for the future.”

How are students the same as other people they know? How are they different? We are all part of community and the world. Our differences make us unique and our similarities unite us.

  “We are the children of the world.”

Does this include adults?

Comparing the age of the world with the age of the people who live here, even adults are children of the world. We all learn throughout our lives regardless of our age.

   “We know the future’s in our hands.”

Is this just the responsibility of the adults? Of the children? Or all of us?

  “Yesterday was yours, we have tomorrow, but in between we all must share today.”

We are all responsible for how we treat others and our planet.

Learning the Music

Teaching this song as part of an elementary music class may involve more rote learning versus trying to read the complicated syncopated rhythms. The melody and lyrics are created with natural flow that should be fairly easy for students to learn by rote.

The amount of lyrics may prove to be challenging to learn. Singers may be divided into groups to learn specific parts of each verse. This allows students a moment to be in the spotlight without expecting them to be responsible for all the lyrics.

23 Cross-curricular activities are provided in the PDF download (Unison / optional 2-part version) extending the focus of this song to other subject areas including:

• Language arts
• Fine arts: music, visual art, and drama,
• Social studies
• Technology
• Science

Cross-curricular activities are included with a "Top of the Class" Donna & Andy Membership

We are the Children of the World

I cannot remember the initial inspiration for this song. I do remember the lyrics for the opening chorus came quickly and the “pop balled” style evolved as I wrote the piece. I also remember struggling with the chord progressions of the song. Every time I would finish a section, the key would seem to need to change. I really tried hard not to create this song with all the key changes, but the music “had its way” and the key changes became part of the song. 

I wanted to create a song with a positive message for my students. Sharing the world peacefully, embracing our differences and celebrating the things that unite us were important concepts. I had young singers in my school choir who were starting to learn the skill of singing simple harmony parts and the descant line was added. I used the song as an all-school finale with over 400 students and the ending worked well with the “folding over” of the final phrases, again incorporating harmony that was simple and easily accessible.

Later, I created SATB choir harmonies to be added in a joint performance with treble choir. The depth of the harmonies provided by the adult singers was lovely as they supported the simple treble voices. Truly, we are all “children of the world” regardless of our age. Sharing the joy of making music across ages and generations is a fitting way to celebrate the fact that we are all “children of the world.”

When you have enjoyed singing this song with your students and choir - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. If you have a performance video - we might be able to post it on this page. 

Thanks!