RECENTLY// Songs That Teach - Sara Jordan shares songs, lyrics and activities (for free) with the homeschooling community every two weeks. This blog features our latest offering, plus a link to sign up so that our free newsletter (and songs) can be delivered directly to your inbox.
Fostering and Developing a Global Perspective
Posted on April 29, 2008
I have a nickname for my daughter. I call her G.G. That's short for Genius Girl. Last week G.G. came to visit and brought me a birthday present she had sculpted and painted - a cute little fridge magnet. G.G. has a talent for sculpting, illustration, animation, film making and designing clothes. School has never been easy for G.G. who daydreams and struggles through academic courses. I am mentioning this because I believe that all kids have a little genius inside of themselves. Of course, geniuses are not good at everything they do, but as teachers and parents, we can spot and encourage the talents and strengths in each child.
A Special Note to Our Readers
The students of Lancaster High School in Ohio have been collecting supplies to donate to Silvia Saga de Pineda’s small mission school in Guatemala. Anyone planning a trip to Guatemala from the US, who wouldn’t mind taking a second suitcase of supplies, is asked to contact teacher Jenny Spencer. ¡Gracias!
This Week's Theme - Fostering and Developing a Global Perspective
If you've been watching CNN as much as I have, you probably wonder what is going on in this world. In North America we are living in an Age of Excess. Global warming is damaging the glaciers in the Arctic and affecting the rest of the world. There is a drastic rice shortage which brings devastation to countries where the main staple is rice. Meanwhile, newscasts are peppered with stories of the American primary elections and the hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into campaigns. I thought that this week we'd feature the song, "Who's Going to Save Us Know?" in English, Spanish and French. The theme of this song is really ecology but it also teaches the names of the continents and oceans.
Free Song Downloads
Who's Going to Save Us Now? is from the album Reading Readiness Songs.
¿Quién nos salvará? is from the album Fonética funky. Qui viendra a notre secours? is from the album Folies phoniques.
Click here to purchase Reading Readiness Songs on special this week only!
Click here for your free download of the song Who's Going to Save Us Now? in Mp3 format:
http://www.sara-jordan.com/promo-EnvironmentMp3.shtml
Lyrics for Who's Going to Save Us Now? can be downloaded here:
http://www.sara-jordan.com/WhosGoingToSaveUs.pdf
Click here to purchase Fonética funky on special this week only!
Click here for your free download of the song ¿Quién nos salvará? in Mp3 format:
http://www.sara-jordan.com/promo-NossalvaraMp3.shtml
Lyrics for ¿Quién nos salvará? can be downloaded here:
http://www.sara-jordan.com/NosSalvara.pdf
Click here to purchase Folies phoniques on special this week only!
Click here for your free download of the song ¿Quién nos salvará? in Mp3 format:
http://www.sara-jordan.com/promo-NotresecoursMp3.shtml
Lyrics for ¿Quién nos salvará? can be downloaded here:
http://www.sara-jordan.com/Notresecours.pdf
Corresponding Online Links and Activities
Learn About Europe By Having Fun Judging the Eurovision Song Contest
You'll have a great time with this activity! Have your students learn about geography, and the countries in the European Union, as they listen, critique and vote on all of the participating bands involved in this year's Eurovision.
This year there will be two Semi-Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest held on May 20th and 22nd. Twenty-five finalists (bands) will be chosen from the original 48 bands competing. These finalists will compete in on May 24th in the Finale, to be held in Serbia.
Students in your classes could each choose a band, play the video of the song for the class, and research the country represented by the band. Have students in your class vote for their favorite band/song.
Further study could include why contestants of many countries feel that they have a better chance if they perform in English. Your class could discuss whether it might be better to preserve the heritage of each country by insisting that countries perform in their native languages. (Would this be a disadvantage to smaller countries who may have fewer potential voters speaking that language?)
You'll find a list of participating countries/bands here:
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/participants-2008
By clicking on the link (of each country) students can print out the bios of each group and the lyrics of each song.
You can find out a little about the history of the Eurovision Song Contest here:
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history
The curious will find frequently asked Questions and Answers about the song contest here:
http://www.eurovision.tv/page/help-faq
AND NOW FOR THE REALLY EDUCATIONAL PART!
Check out these links. I searched the net for the very best European geography quizzes I could find. Congratulations to the folks at ILike2Learn.com. These quizzes are bright and the maps are cheerful. There is even a little help box for those of us who need help! I'd probably make this part of the contest too. Students should learn all of these!
Here is the map quiz:
http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/europe.html
Here is the capitals quiz:
http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/Europecapitals.html
If your students are a little young to participate in Eurovision, please accept my apology. So often our newsletters include activities for early learners. If you'd like to participate in something a little simpler for younger students, I suggest you have your class write to pen pals in European countries (see below for our Pen Pal Forum). The European map quizzes would still be fun and challenging for kids of any age.
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