TURN UP THE MUSIC LINKY PARTY

Those of you who know how I roll can probably imagine the look on my face when I saw a linky party centered around music in the classroom!  Well, let's just say that my heart skipped a beat and I knew that this was a linky that I had to be in on.  Thanks Amanda at Teaching Maddeness!

  
I use music with my students ALL the time.  It is such a powerful teaching tool. Not only is it über brain compatible, but it also drives emotion . . . the essential ingredient to turning those short-term memories into long-term learning for our kiddos.  And, in addition to all of this technical stuff, music is just flat out fun!


Obviously, I have a favorite songwriter who makes up the majority of my MP3 action (more on this in a moment), but I do have a few others that I like to bump as well.  


RON BROWN'S INTELLI-TUNES
No surprises here (well, if you follow me).  Ron is my dad and I love to use his stuff in my classroom.  My pops started out as a primary teacher and taught for  25 years before retiring early to focus on creating classroom music. With this said, he "gets it."  Because he worked as an educator, Ron knows what makes kids tick and what teachers want.  I know.  I know.  I may be a little biased, but take a listen.  His talent speaks for itself.  Unfortunately, I ended up with my mother's singing voice . . . YIKES!  


Here are a few samples of his tunes and a few videos that other teachers have put together.  In addition, Kim Sutton from Creative Mathematics uses Ron's music like crazy.  I have included a video of Kim so you can see some of the movements you can incorporate with his songs.

Pirate Sound - AR
Ron Brown's Intelli-Tunes
This is still one of my favorites - we break out the eyepatches.
Push PLAY to start and PAUSE to stop the sample.

AI/AY
Ron Brown's Intelli-TUnes

I am from Nor Cal (way NORTH) . . . I love me a hoedown :)

Push PLAY to start and PAUSE to stop the sample.

Visit Ron Brown's Intelli-Tunes today to load up on MP3s or CDs.  Also, if you liked the Number Eating Alligator Song, you can get it HERE FOR FREE :)

HAP PALMER

Yes, he is older than the hills, but I still dig this guy.  I especially like the Bean Bag Alphabet Rag.  We always play this game a TON at the beginning of the year - I personally love to "drop the bag and dance!"  This song is available on iTunes.

  

VOWEL PRO/HIP HOP PHONICS (BY READ ALONG WITH WAYNE)

I only use this one song from Wayne, but it is one of my faves.  It cracks me up and the kids love to get down to the beat!  I looked forever for a video, but this is the only snippet I could find (it's a commercial - sorry).  Scroll in to about 1:15 . . . it's short (less than 30 seconds), but you can get the "flavor" of it. This song is also available on iTunes.

That's what I've got for you today my friends.  Be sure to check in with Amanda over at Teaching Maddeness for more classroom music inspiration.  Maybe you want to join in the fun too??  

**Check back tomorrow for a MEGA GIVEAWAY announcement . . . I am six away from celebrating 500 :)  So many wonderful bloggers have jumped in to support this!  I am one lucky lady . . . and speaking of lucky . . . someone will be very lucky indeed when Rafflecopter selects a BIG winner**