I talked to the students today about different ways to memorize the planets, in order.
I taught them the mnemonic I learned as a child:
M = My = Mercury
V= Very = Venus
E = Excellent = Earth
M = Mother = Mars
J = Just = Jupiter
S = Served = Saturn
U = Us = Uranus
N = Nine = Neptune
P = Pizzas = Pluto
They of course reminded me that Pluto is no longer a planet – “It is a Dwarf Planet, Mrs. Brooks!”. I agreed, but assured them it’s still important to know about Pluto because it was such a BIG DEAL when it fell off the list.
I went on to tell them that though I always remembered the mnemonic, I sometimes mixed up Mercury and Mars. That is, until I had children of my own, and started watching Blue’s Clues. Yes, Blue’s Clues!! I fell in love with the Planet Song from the TV show, because not only did it sing about the planets (in order), but it also gave a quick fact about each one.
So, about 10 times in a row this afternoon, we illustrated the lyrics and listened to the song:
Blue’s Clues
Planet Song!!
.
Well, the Sun’s a hot star
Mercury’s hot, too
Venus is the brightest planet
And Earth’s home to me and you.
Mars is the red one
And Jupiter’s most wide
Saturn has those icy rings
And Uranus spins on its side.
Neptune’s really windy
And Pluto’s really small
Well, we wanted to name the planets
And now we named them all
.
For those who want to listen to it over and over and over and over and over…. here’s the link:
You’ll be singing it before long, too!!