Amanda at Teaching Maddeness had a Turn the Music Up linky party back in June and since I LOVE music and absolutely have to have it playing in my classroom (even though I'm a MONTH late) I couldn't resist linking up.
Here are a few of my musical favorites:
Pandora- I think Pandora is one of the most FANTABULOUS internet resources when it comes to music!! To top it off...the site is free!! You do have to be mindful that not all districts allow access to Pandora (no bueno), but for those who are fortunate (and I do mean fortunate) you have a jewel that's only a click away for your listening pleasure.
- You can create stations for just about any artist or genre and Pandora automatically creates a playlist that includes that artist or genre and others that are similar.
- The system allows you to stop, pause, skip, and continue at your leisure.
- The best feature of all is that it saves all of your stations for you!
iPad/iPod Playlists- My iPad goes with me everyday to school. I use it for EVERYTHING such as: transitioning ques (station clean-up, timing, changing classes, during writing time, etc.), small group instruction, as an extra computer for students, to model specific lessons, and most of all for our musical entertainment in the classroom. The kids absolutely LOVE listening to the abundance of genres and artist that I have on my classroom playlists.
Here are a few artist/genres on my playlist (in no particular order):
1. Lifescapes- Caribbean Steel Drums
2. Mind Therapy
3. Miley Cyrus
4. Jonas Brothers
5. Barry Louis Polisay
6. HSM Soundtrack- High School Musical (any other soundtrack from a family/kid movie will do)
7. Micheal Jackson
8. The Beatles
9. African Drums (instrumentals)
10. Taylor Swift
11. Vanessa Hudgens
12. Switchfoot
13. Jack Johnson (Be very careful...some songs are inappropriate, so preview before hand)
14. Donald Harrison (Jazz)
15. Smooth Jazz (Pandora)
16. Nature Sounds (Pandora)
17. Nuttin But Stringz (violin players)
18. Any instrument (piano instrumentals, violin, guitar,etc.)
19. Katy Perry
20. Justin Bieber
21. One Direction
22. Demi Lovato
23. Adele
24. Shane Harper
25. Any music from Disney or Kidz Bop will always be a hit!!
I am going to stop at 25, but the list can go on and on and on. One of my tips for finding cool music is to pay attention to what's playing in popular stores or on popular t.v. shows (when they show the name of the songs/artists during credits or commercial breaks) and go from there!!
On an educational tip I have used some of these songs in the classroom for skills such as visualization, plot structure, characterization, as well as writing prompts. It works beautifully! ESPECIALLY when you use catchy songs like Yellow Submarine by the Beatles for visualization (see video below).
~Here's how it can be a mini lesson or a quick review, but be sure to time this activity because it shouldn't be long at all.~
1. Allow your students to listen to the lyrics (and do nothing else)
2. Have them listen again and take notes (mental or jot them down)
3. Draw out what they have visualized from the lyrics
4. Share their pics (it's pretty cool what they come up with)
5. Discuss/Turn it into a writing activity/or whatever your teaching heart desires (smile).
You will have kids sparatically humming this song all year long!! It's amazing how well they remember the skills they have been taught just from those musical connections.
Well...that's all folks!
Happy listening!
