Psychology Today has an article which discusses how music can make a visceral and physiological effect on our psyche. With the variety of music available today spanning the gam-met of human emotions, as teachers, parents and mentors of students, it would be in all our best interests if we offered them uplifting, inspirational and motivating music to listen to.
Motivational music for school students can counter-balance the negative stimulus of everyday society. Science has discovered that uplifting music can affect students emotional thinking depending on the genre. Below are great, uplifting, motivational songs with lyrics for both students and teachers alike.
I have created this playlist on Youtube, so feel free to subscribe to the playlist and have your students listen to it during down times or selected working times where you allow music.
Motivational and Uplifting Songs for the Classroom
The Mowgli’s – I’m Good
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lyric comprehension question info product
On Top of the World – Imagine Dragons
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Somewhere Over the Rainbow – sung by srael “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole
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Can’t Stop the Feeling – Justin Timberlake
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Boby Marley – Three Little Birds
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All 20 songs as a playlist on Youtube is in the embedded content below and in this link here. Make sure you subscribe to my channel Theaternook at Youtube.
Ways to Utilize the Music and the Lyrics in your Classroom.
Using Song Lyrics for Literacy
You can put together a powerpoint embedding your favourite uplifting music. To the side you can write in some questions which can be related to evaluating, analysing, inferencing, summarising, finding keywords, reflections, comprehension questions and figurative language questions.
Use these songs as a competition between classes and or hubs etc.
Students can write the lyrics into a story. They can add characters, settings, and have a typical writing arch, introduction, rising action, climax, fall action and conclusion.
Annotate the sheet of lyrics with your students. They can underline the key points and write on the sheet words which make them want to know more. What do they wonder about the set of words in a line. The can discuss their ideas and questions with their fellow students in class.
What is the writers purpose and reasoning for writing certain lines.
★ Rhyme Scheme
★ Writers purpose
★ Figurative Language
★ Mood/Tone
★ Meaning of the Lyrics
Song Lyrics for Social Development
Use the songs to break down values and morals. Have students reflect on the values they have found in the lyrics, and write reflections in which they can relate.
Meditation
Have students meditate to the songs by listening and closing their eyes. They don’t have to do anything but purely listen to the song lyrics themselves.
For more ideas how to use lyrics in your classroom, Scholastic has a great post which covers a variety of ways in which musical lyrics can be used in the Literacy programs.
