Music Monday #11 (Thankful by Josh Groban)

"Thankful" by Josh Groban

*We only have two days of school this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

*I wanted to pick a song with the theme of being "thankful".  This is a bit heavy, serious, and important, but I think my writers can handle it.

*In my opinion, it is just a beautiful song with a beautiful message.

*Today is our ELEVENTH Monday together and that means it is time for another musical selection.

*I truly believe Mondays are my favorite day for our writer's notebooks.  

*Each Monday I present a piece of music to my fourth graders.  I usually present this song via a video so they are hearing and seeing the music.  

*After I share the video, we discuss the song/video for a few minutes as a class.  It is always a joy to hear what my young listeners have to say about the song.  

*They then get busy writing in their notebooks.  We start off at the beginning of the year writing for about five minutes.  This will gradually increase as the year progresses.  

*Here are some ideas I give the writers to think about during their writing time...

*Their opinions of the song.

*Their likes and dislikes of the song.

*What the song reminds them of.

*Any connections they may have to the music.

*What they think the message in the piece may be.

*What listeners can learn from the song.

*A fictional story about the music/video.

*These are just some ideas I give to the writers.  They are really free to write anything they would like as long as it connects to the song.

*After our silent reading, we spend a few more minutes sharing out what we wrote.  

*I keep a collection of the videos on our Schoology Site so that my students can always go back and rematch them anytime they wish.


Our Musical Monday Selections for 2016-2017 
Week #1 - "What I Am" by will.i.am                                                 Click Here for Week #1 Music
Week #2 - "Clay" by Grace VanderWaal                                           Click Here for Week #2 Music
Week #3 - "One Voice" by Billy Gilman                                           Click Here for Week #3 Music
Week #4 - "I Don't Know My Name" by Grace VanderWaal           Click Here for Week #4 Music
Week #5 - "Proud" by Heather Small                                                 Click Here for Week #5 Music
Week #6 - "There's a Hero" by Billy Gilman                                     Click Here for Week #6 Music
Week #7 - "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake                  Click Here for Week #7 Music
Week #8 - "Thriller" by Michael Jackson                                           Click Here for Week #8 Music
Week #9 - "Beautiful Thing" by Grace VanderWaal                          Click Here for Week #9 Music
Week #10 - "Live Like a Warrior" by Matisyahu                              Click Here for Week #10 Music