Music Monday #15 (Do They Know Its Christmas by Band Aid)

 

"Do They Know Its Christmas" by Band Aid

*This song brings me back to my high school days and the "press" about a group of British musicians who were recording a song to raise money for Africa.

*I thought it was so cool that another group of artists got together 30 years later to remake the song.  It was still just as great thirty years after the first one.

*To me this isn't a song about Christmas, it is a song about helping our fellow man-kind.  That is what I stress when we talk about the song and the message. 

*Today is our FIFTEENTH 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
Week #11 - "Thankful" by Josh Groban                                            Click Here for Week #11 Music
Week #12 - "Hall of Fame" by The Script and will.i.am                    Click Here for Week #12 Music
Week #13 - "Clouds" by Zach Sobiach                                               Click Here for Week #13 Music
Week #14 - "Hopeful" by Bars & Melody                                          Click Here for Week #14 Music