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Ask for help > song to start unit on environment
song to start unit on environment
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MarionG
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song to start unit on environment
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Hi dear people,
I will start a unit on the environment next week with my 5th graders (10-11yrs) and I would like to start it with a song. I know there are lots of songs on the subject but I am looking for something that would talk to them, something contemporary, the kind of stuff they might listen to on their mp �s...
(all the stuff i know, joni mitchell, michael jackson etc. tends to cause a frown..)
So I am calling upon all the �more up to date � teachers to help me out here...
It doesn �t necessarily need to be a song about the environment, a song about the beauty of the world can fit as well........
Thanks in advance!
Marion g |
3 Mar 2010
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Vernica
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Well the only one I can think of now was from Macaco "madre tierra mother earth" mmm is partly in Spanish I dont know
Check on you tube!
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3 Mar 2010
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discretissime
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What about Louis Armstrong, What a wonderful world? Ok, that �s not what I would call "something contemporary"...  but it �s a beautiful song and the lyrics fit the level of a 5th grader.
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3 Mar 2010
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fletsch
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Hi Marion:
There is a song called "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge from the documentary �An Inconvenient Truth � - starring Al Gore - about global warming and the environment. I think that it is a very powerful andmeaningful song. Good luck to you...
Cheers,
Fletsch |
3 Mar 2010
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anitarobi
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Sorry if Michael �s Earth Song doesn �t work for them, but it �s really an amazing song and video. I remember someone posting Nickelback �s If Everyone Cared here this summer, and I really liked it. I can �t seem to be able to post a link for you here, because the video is blocked in my country, but I know my sts just love Nickelback and I remember that it was a really �aware � video, so I recommend you try it. And someone here had posted this link about global warming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3EMk3m5iEA,
which is not a musical video, but it can be a great intro into your topic... |
3 Mar 2010
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fletsch
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Here is the link to the song by Melissa Etheridge:
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3 Mar 2010
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MarionG
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thank you all,
Louis Armstrong is indeed great but I did that already for the first lesson of the year..
I am not familiar with Melissa Etheridge but I �ll listen to it. Too bad I can �t have them watch video, no such option in my school at the moment. :(
Nickelback, that might be a good idea, I �ll listen to it in a moment. I know my own son likes them a lot...He talks about them now and then.
Anitarobi, I am also really sorry that music I think is really great doesn �t talk to them. I almost took it personally when my 6th graders last year boo-ed Joni Mitchell �s Big yellow taxi which in my eyes is one of the most beautiful songs ever... |
3 Mar 2010
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anitarobi
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Teenagers - what can you do... I compromise - let them have the modern stuff, then squeeze in something I like... After a while they soon realize what has a message and what just follows the beat. I remember doing My name is Luka (S. Vega) and they thought it was boring till I made them realise what it was about and then played the video - the problems are universal, so they soon forget about �style and fashion �. Last year I did Fly me to the moon by playing all kinds of versions to them to catch the lyrics (9-10 yr-olds), without showing them the vids. After three versions they begged me to play �that guy you played first, because he can really sing, and the others just moan and pretend-sing �... and, of course, the �1st guy � was Frank Sinatra, so I was delighted to see they did recognise quality.
But, as for their cirticism, we can always console ourselves that we probably did the same thing to our teachers when we were teenagers  |
3 Mar 2010
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MarionG
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I �m with you Anitarobi,
I also add some musical education whether they like it or not (i also refuse to work on songs I think are just bad) When they come with a �jonas brother �s � song I �ll give them the original Beatles and when they asked for a song from the movie Mama Mia you should have seen their faces when I showed them the original Abba video!! I brought the original a cappella version of Tom �s diner and they didn �t understand that at all, only a few of them understood when I said that the song has internal music to it...( I also brought the more modern version with the beat to it) I even brought my 6th graders leonard Cohen....Since I can �t use video anymore and the lessons are only 40 minutes it becomes harder to really appreciate the songs...
Did your teachers work with songs? Mine didn �t! The only song I remember we learned in school was indeed in English class and I remember it untill this day. It was �Streets of London� and it made an enormous impression. Next year, in 6th grade, there will be a chapter on London and I intend to work on it then. It will be interesting to see their reaction to that one... |
3 Mar 2010
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anitarobi
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I did the same thing with Abba.... He-he-he.... Feel a bit like a witch during those lessons, my naughty spark comes out...
Yes, my teachers did work with music - I really had great teachers in elementary and high school - it �s probably what made me love English so much. |
3 Mar 2010
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lshorton99
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I have two:
Miley Cyrus did something about save america - not sure what the title was but someone made a video to it on you tube with loads of environmental stuff.
The one my difficult students surprisingly liked was �Pollution � by Tom Lehrer set to a doctor who montage on you tube.
Good luck!
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3 Mar 2010
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