Music Monday #10 (The Power by Will i Am and Justin Bieber)

Last week we went country with "I Won't Let Go" by Rascal Flatts and talked about supporting each other and being there for each other.

This week we went hip-hop with #That Power by Will.i.am and Justin Bieber.  The discussion about having our own power and strength was quite deep and meaningful.   

The kids were thrilled with this selection because it was a modern song from the current playlist on radio stations and the beat of the song was right up a 4th grade alley. 

The video was exciting to watch and as I surveyed my room, everyone single one of my students were all eyes on the screen.  I also noticed a lot of writing was going on as we listened to the song a second time. 

It is so fun to present music each Monday and have the songs be completely different.  My students never know what to expect...

Our Music Monday List for 2012-2013...

Music Monday #1 (What I Am by Will I Am)

Music Monday #2 (Proud by Heather Small)

Music Monday #3 (Good Time by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen)

Music Monday #4 (Dreamer by Chris Brown)

Music Monday #5 (Home by Phillip Phillips)

Music Monday #6 (Count on Me by Bruno Mars)

Music Monday #7 (Louder by Charice)

Music Monday #8 (Thriller by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #9 (Firework by Katy Perry)

Music Monday #10 (Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo ole)

Music Monday #11 (Hall of Fame by The Script with Will I Am)

Music Monday #12 (Shooting Star by Owl City)

Music Monday #13 (Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas by Band Aid)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas from Glee)

Music Monday #15 (Take a Look at Me Now by Greyson Chance)

Music Monday #16 (My Wish by Rascal Flatts)

Music Monday #17 (Dream Big by Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand)

Music Monday #18 (The World's Greatest by R. Kelly)

Music Monday #19 (Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and Glee)

Music Monday #20 (Rainbow Connection from The Muppets)

Music Monday #21 (One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston)

Music Monday #22 (One Day by Matisyahu)

Music Monday #23 (Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys)

Music Monday #24 (Vitamin String Quartet playing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga)

Music Monday #25 (I Believe by Yolanda Adams)

Music Monday #26 (That's What Friends Are For by Dionne Warwick and Friends)
Music Monday #27 (Bailando Por El Mundo by J. Magan, Pitbull, El Cata)

Music Monday #28 (Waka, Waka - This Time for Africa by Shakira)

Music Monday #29 (I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts)
Music Monday #30 (#That Power by Will.i.am and Justin Bieber)



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (5/20/13)

**With it being the end of the school year (12 days as of this posting), I find I don't have a lot of time to read, but the upside of this is that summer reading is just around the corner...

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to their site...

                

                 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Books I Read this Past Week...

The Runway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

*We finished this as our class read-a-loud.

*We loved it.

*5 STARS out of 5 Stars!!! 

Books I Will (continue to) Read This Coming Week...

 

Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

*This is our current read-a-loud.

*We are loving it and enjoying the story so much.

*A great novel/story to end the year with! 

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

*Just started this epic novel, but I believe it is going to be a good one!

*It has been reviewed in so many places, I couldn't pass this one up. 

Music Monday #9 (Waka, Waka - This Time for Africa)

The last couple of weeks we have had a Hispanic flare to our selections.   This is mainly due to the music they are learning during Spanish class.

Today's selection was a complete JOY to share with the class.  They so enjoyed watching the video, listening to the music, and then writing their reactions. 

Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the list of songs.  It certainly is fun to watch...

Our Music Monday List for 2012-2013...

Music Monday #1 (What I Am by Will I Am)

Music Monday #2 (Proud by Heather Small)

Music Monday #3 (Good Time by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen)

Music Monday #4 (Dreamer by Chris Brown)

Music Monday #5 (Home by Phillip Phillips)

Music Monday #6 (Count on Me by Bruno Mars)

Music Monday #7 (Louder by Charice)

Music Monday #8 (Thriller by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #9 (Firework by Katy Perry)

Music Monday #10 (Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo ole)

Music Monday #11 (Hall of Fame by The Script with Will I Am)

Music Monday #12 (Shooting Star by Owl City)

Music Monday #13 (Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas by Band Aid)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas from Glee)

Music Monday #15 (Take a Look at Me Now by Greyson Chance)

Music Monday #16 (My Wish by Rascal Flatts)

Music Monday #17 (Dream Big by Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand)

Music Monday #18 (The World's Greatest by R. Kelly)

Music Monday #19 (Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and Glee)

Music Monday #20 (Rainbow Connection from The Muppets)

Music Monday #21 (One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston)
Music Monday #22 (One Day by Matisyahu)
Music Monday #23 (Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys)
Music Monday #24 (Vitamin String Quartet playing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga)
Music Monday #25 (I Believe by Yolanda Adams)
Music Monday #26 (That's What Friends Are For by Dionne Warwick and Friends)
Music Monday #27 (Bailando Por El Mundo by J. Magan, Pitbull, El Cata)
Music Monday #28 (Waka, Waka - This Time for Africa by Shakira)



It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (5/6/13)

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to their site...

                

                 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Books I Read this Past Week...

The Runway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

*This is our current read aloud in my classroom.

*We are in the final three chapters and can't wait to see how things end! 

The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore

*4 STARS our of 5 Stars

Who Could That Be at This Hour by Lemony Snicket

*3 STARS out of 5 STARS

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

*3 STARS out of 5 STARS

 The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

*4 STARS out of 5 STARS

*This is our current and final book club selection for my "Breakfast with Books".

*We will be skyping with the author at the end of the month. 

 The 13th-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

*4 STARS out of 5 STARS











Books I Will (continue to) Read This Coming Week...

The Runway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

*Started this book this past weekend.  Really enjoying it.

*I'm thinking it will be our final read aloud. 

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

*Just started this epic novel, but I believe it is going to be a good one!

*It has been reviewed in so many places, I couldn't pass this one up. 

Music Monday #8 (That's What Friends Are For)

We went way back today to the year 1985.  It was so fun to share with the writers about my memories of the song.  I got to teach my students about the 45 record which was quite a kick! 

The song for me has a lot of meaning and it is always a powerful moment when a teacher opens himself up to his students.  They see him as something more than just a teacher. 

While talking about the song, the artists, and the lyrics, I shared that the song reminds me of a very special group of people that were in my life during high school and have continued to stay in my life to this very day.  The fourth graders thought this was pretty cool and I would have to agree with them.  The song is all about friendship and that is a key component to all of my teaching.

The writers watched the video before we wrote and tried to identify the four artists that perform the song.  The only one they got was Stevie Wonder.  Each generation certainly is focused only on their music. 

Our Music Monday List for 2012-2013...

Music Monday #1 (What I Am by Will I Am)

Music Monday #2 (Proud by Heather Small)

Music Monday #3 (Good Time by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen)

Music Monday #4 (Dreamer by Chris Brown)

Music Monday #5 (Home by Phillip Phillips)

Music Monday #6 (Count on Me by Bruno Mars)

Music Monday #7 (Louder by Charice)

Music Monday #8 (Thriller by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #9 (Firework by Katy Perry)

Music Monday #10 (Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo ole)

Music Monday #11 (Hall of Fame by The Script with Will I Am)

Music Monday #12 (Shooting Star by Owl City)

Music Monday #13 (Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas by Band Aid)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas from Glee)

Music Monday #15 (Take a Look at Me Now by Greyson Chance)

Music Monday #16 (My Wish by Rascal Flatts)

Music Monday #17 (Dream Big by Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand)

Music Monday #18 (The World's Greatest by R. Kelly)

Music Monday #19 (Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and Glee)

Music Monday #20 (Rainbow Connection from The Muppets)

Music Monday #21 (One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston)
Music Monday #22 (One Day by Matisyahu)
Music Monday #23 (Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys)
Music Monday #24 (Vitamin String Quartet playing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga)
Music Monday #25 (I Believe by Yolanda Adams)
Music Monday #26 (That's What Friends Are For by Dionne Warwick and Friends)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (4/22/13)

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to their site...

                

                 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Books I Read this Past Week...

The Runway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

*This is our current read aloud in my classroom.

*We are LOVING it and each day the story just gets better and better. 

Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre

*This book has been making the rounds in my room and the kids asked if I would read it.

*This was a fun read for me during a gloomy Sunday afternoon.

*5 STARS out of 5 Stars! 

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

*This was our BBC (Boy's Book Club) selection.

*I loved this historical fiction book and highly recommend it.

*4 STARS out of 5 Stars! 

The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore

*I saw this book recommended on Twitter.

*I am enjoying the story.

*Looking forward to seeing how it all ends. 

Books I Will (continue to) Read This Coming Week...

The Runway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Who Could That Be at This Hour by Lemony Snicket

*I put this book down and really need to get back to it. 

*I would like to see how it ends??? 
 

The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

Music Monday #7 (I Believe)

We are back with our Music Monday selection.  I missed posting last week, but am excited to post our song from today.

I introduced the song "I Believe" by Yolanda Adams.  I first heard this song last year during an episode of the X-Factor.  The young singer Rachel Crow sang it and I feel in love with it immediately. 

The lyrics are quite powerful and send a wonderful message to the listener.  The song comes from the movie Honey.  I have not seen the movie, but after listening to this song and seeing clips of the movie, I do hope to see it one day. 

As soon as I played this for the class today I could tell that they liked it.  We had a wonderful discussion about the message of the song and what it meant to each of us.  The writers also enjoyed watching the video.  I've included several different versions of the video below.  My students watched the one from the movie and the clip with Rachel Crow from the X-Factor. 

Our Music Monday List for 2012-2013...

Music Monday #1 (What I Am by Will I Am)

Music Monday #2 (Proud by Heather Small)

Music Monday #3 (Good Time by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen)

Music Monday #4 (Dreamer by Chris Brown)

Music Monday #5 (Home by Phillip Phillips)

Music Monday #6 (Count on Me by Bruno Mars)

Music Monday #7 (Louder by Charice)

Music Monday #8 (Thriller by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #9 (Firework by Katy Perry)

Music Monday #10 (Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo ole)

Music Monday #11 (Hall of Fame by The Script with Will I Am)

Music Monday #12 (Shooting Star by Owl City)

Music Monday #13 (Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas by Band Aid)

Music Monday #14 (Do They Know Its Christmas from Glee)

Music Monday #15 (Take a Look at Me Now by Greyson Chance)

Music Monday #16 (My Wish by Rascal Flatts)

Music Monday #17 (Dream Big by Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand)

Music Monday #18 (The World's Greatest by R. Kelly)

Music Monday #19 (Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and Glee)

Music Monday #20 (Rainbow Connection from The Muppets)

Music Monday #21 (One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston)
Music Monday #22 (One Day by Matisyahu)
Music Monday #23 (Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys)
Music Monday #24 (Vitamin String Quartet playing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga)
Music Monday #25 (I Believe by Yolanda Adams)