We used to play this when I was in elementary school, twenty years ago. I assume it's one of those things that gets passed along from older to younger students but I'd like to know if anyone else knows of variants. I learned it in a private Montessori school in Denver, Colorado, in the mid-1980's.

The first kid sat on the floor or in a chair, with her eyes closed, and the second kid stood behind her, slapping her shoulders with alternating hands to "numb" her and make her focus on the chanter. The words went like this:

Concentration, concentration, listen to what I'm saying,
People are dying, children are crying, listen to what I'm saying.

Crack and egg on your head, let the yolk run down--
       [Second child "splatted" her hand on first child's head]

Concentration, concentration . . .

Stab and knife in your back, let the blood run down--
       [Second child "stabbed" first child between the shoulder   
       blades]

Concentration, concentration . . .

Take a rope and pull, pull, pull--
       [Second child pretends to put a rope around first one's neck
and pulls]