End of Year Video Song List and Music in the Classroom

What kind of music do you like to listen to?  Do you play music in your classroom?  I LOVE music and I find that I am playing it at all times! Instead of the TV going on full blast in our house-it is Music Choice, a set of music stations that play uninterrupted songs based on our favorite musical genre.  In our house, it is the Pop station or 320. My husband might argue that the songs that my children and I sing at the top of our lungs are NOT his favorite choice of music, but regardless, we listen, we sing, and of course, we dance!

At this time of year I am always in search of the perfect songs of the year to add to the End of Year Video I always create for my 6th graders that are moving onto middle school.  I take pictures throughout the course of the year, and at the end, using Windows Movie Maker, I create a video with the best songs I can find to celebrate our year together.  The video is played at the end of our 6th Grade Promotion Ceremony and wraps up all of the hard work, activities, field trips, and day-to-day moments that made our year so special.  I LOVE putting this together because it helps me to reflect on all of the work we accomplished and all of the fun memories we will always share.  I guess I am a bit of a sap...

If this is a task you want to tackle, I highly recommend it-it truly helps me to see my students in the most refreshing light, even if it has been a stressful or challenging year.  To make your life easier tackling this fun project-here is a song list I created to put all of your fun memories of this school year to music...

If you have no interest in creating a video, each of these songs is perfect for classroom listening, so add them to your classroom playlist and enjoy!

If you need a classroom brain break-I love this video! Get your kiddos up and watch'em dance!

Pictures to Videos and the Music to go with...

Starting about now I am already in "full ear to radio mode" listening for potential songs for the end of year video that I LOVE making of all of the pictures I have taken of my 6th graders throughout the course of the year.  My "in your face" photography style begins on day one of the school year and is in full effect until the last week of school.  I am the same way with my own children, of course.  However, there is something about 6th grade that I have to document the growth of the students from beginning to end because the growth is tremendous!  While all pics don't make the video, I utilize them in our weekly newsletter that I create through Smilebox.  If you haven't checked out that site and you are a teacher or parent-YOU MUST! 

http://media.smilebox.com/tt/teachersToolboxHome.html

If you look at the past months of my blog you will see a variety of newsletters, slideshows, and scrapbooks I have created through this awesome site.  If you are a teacher, you can submit an application for Teacher's Toolbox.  Smilebox will give you a one-year subscription for free, although the $40 price is well worth it!  Parents love seeing their kiddos engaged in daily school events, and I love that I have the whole year documented and can share it very easily.  While I don't use this site for my end of year video, it is a hit with parents because I can e-mail them the newsletter or print off copies to share. In addition, parents can print the pictures or share the pictures with others through e-mail or Facebook.    Be sure to check the link above, you will not regret making this site a part of your life.

Here is the list of songs that made the 6th grade video this year:

• Every Tear is a Waterfall-Coldplay
• Count on Me-Bruno Mars
• Shining Star-Dan Zanes
• Feels So Close-Calvin Harris
• When We Stand Together-Nickelback
• Dynamite-Taio Cruz
• Eyes Open-Taylor Swift

Songs I have used, but try not to repeat because I teach brothers and sisters and I want the video to be unique and focused on that group of students:

• Everyday-Dave Matthews
• I Gotta Feeling-Black Eyed Peas
• Kids Again-Chris Rice
• Smile, Smile, Smile-Dan Zanes
• Don't Stop Believin'-The Glee Cast (I know Journey has the original)
• Better Together-Jack Johnson
• We are Going to be Friends-Jack Johnson
• Backyard Super Kid-Justin Roberts
• Yellow Bus-Justin Roberts
• Great Big Sun-Justin Roberts
• Giant-Sized Butterflies Justin Roberts(We have seen him in concert 3 times! He is a great performer.)
• We Are Okay-Joshua Radin
• Live Like We're Dying-Kris Allen
• Did Ya Ever Look So Nice-The Samples
• Something Good Can Work-Two Door Cinema Club

Here is a printable of all of the songs in case you want to utilize it for your own personal use.

I LOVE to include music from the school year, but sometimes the "appropriate-lyric factor" is tricky.  Let me know of other "picture perfect" songs you find...