Ang Sinina Ko’ng Bag’o
(My New Dress)
Ang Sinina Ko’ng Bag’o (My New Dress) is a Cebuano rhyme in the Visayan language that my mother grew up hearing during her childhood in Cebu, Philippines.
Speaking Visayan
Visayan is one of many languages/dialects spoken in the Philippines. Generally speaking, Filipino languages use the same phonetic rules as Spanish. When introducing this song, keep these things in mind:
Vowels
A is an ah sound like in Moana
E is an eh sound like in elephant
I is an ee sound like in feet
O is an oh sound like in open
U is an ooh sound like boo
Two vowels next to each other have a small glottal stop in between (e.g. gipaangay: gipa+angay)
Consonants
The apostrophe between letters is a glottal stop, similar to the sound that you make when you say “uh-oh!”
R is a rolled r, almost sounding like a d
T is not an aspirated sound, a mix of a t and d
Procedure
- Introduce the song as a children’s rhyme from the Philippines. Explain that the rhyme is about all the new clothes and shoes.
- Teach rhyme phrase by phrase with the below movements:
| Suggested Motion | |
| Ang sinina ko’ng bag’o | With both hands, touch head and then shoulders. |
| Pinalit sa merkado | With both hands, touch knees and then toes. |
| Gitahi sa akong nanay | Place the right hand over heart and the left hand over the right. |
| Kanako gipaangay | Left hand goes out, palm facing up as if holding a piece of cloth. The right hand pretends to sew. |
| May medyas, may laso | Move as if you are putting on one sock with two hands. Then, move as if you are tying a string around the waist. |
| May sapatos ko’ng bag’o | Bring the left foot up and tap it with the right hand. Then, bring the right foot up and tap it with the left hand. |
| Parisan ug pitikot | With both hands, touch shoulders and then move as you are putting on a coat over the shoulders. |
| Sa dalan nag’igot ‘igot | Sway from side to side to show the new clothes to friends. |
- Teach the first half of ostinato “brand new dress and shoes, brand new dress and shoes” and have students clap the rhythm before transferring to woodblocks.
- Teach the second half of ostinato “sway, twirl” and have students snap the rhythm before transferring to triangle.
- You can ask students to change the last two words (“sway, twirl”) to other action words they’d use when getting brand new clothes.
- While students are speaking the rhyme, the teacher speaks the words for the ostinato.
- Split the classroom into three groups. Two groups will play woodblock and triangle and one group will speak the rhyme with movements.
- Perform three times, so each group has a chance to speak the rhyme with movements or play each instrument.
Depending on your class and your classroom’s set of instruments, you can let your students choose which un-pitched instruments are appropriate for each ostinato.
2 Responses
Is it possible to hear a recording of this song anywhere?
I love this lesson, is there a way that she could sing this song or video it? Thank you Janna