Saturday, August 21, 2010

Lookin' For Lyrics (in All the Right Places!)

The eighth grade reading class is searching for lyrics to songs.The assignment is to find a song that tells a story. Here is the link to the only lyrics site you will be able to use for this assignment. If the song you are looking for is not here, see me and I will find it for you. Do not do a Google search! 

A-Z Lyrics Universe

Because much of the music played on the radio is not appropriate for school, choose wisely. If you think the song you want to look for is inappropriate for school, do not search for it. If you search for songs that are inappropriate, the school handbook will be followed and you will

If you cannot think of an appropriate song to search for, here is a great Wikipedia page on Folk Songs. You should be able to find an appropriate song here without any trouble.

2 comments:

tmmaerke said...

I've thought about this a lot because every Tuesday for the past two school years I've done a "Tunes on Tuesday" activity where we listen to a song, read the lyrics, and then respond to a prompt. I teach 8th grade, and mostly the prompts were analytical in nature. Sometimes it was pure, "write from inspiration from the song" prompts.

Many students gave me suggestions for songs to use, and even the best of kids didn't quite realize what they're listening to on the radio. I was pretty strict on myself, allowing no "adult" references. Many popular songs on the radio now have those references. Sure, the radio bleeps out foul language, but not all references.

When the students actually looked up the songs and read them is when they realized, "Oh, this song wouldn't work." Because of this, I suggest you allow the students some leeway on looking songs up. Yes, your warning should be stern, and they must use their best judgment, but even "I've Gotta Feeling" has references like "Look at her dancing, just take it off." That's not Eminem or Blink 182, but it's not quite something I want to hear a male student say to a female student, so it's out of bounds in my book.

That being said, the support you're providing is important, and if the students solely focuses on the lyrics and not the style of music, the stories told in Folk music are amazing, and lots of students will engage.

I hope this was helpful. I'm interested in how things go.

Mr Wood said...

I think this is a wonderful idea and I will be following your progress as my class will be exploring the video and songs from Daft Punks Interstellar 5555.

Like the surfing internet will just have to teach students to make smart choices with music.