Cool
Jonas Brothers
Activities
1) Noun Phrases
Bit of a 'SPaG spotter' activity: see if the children can identify all of the noun phrases in the lyrics ('new James Dean' for example) - there are plenty to get!
2) Similes
Get the children to identify all of the similes in the song and then ask them to change them - see imaginative they can be. As an extension they could also change the title of the song (and the line that says 'lately I've been feelin' so cool') to a different word and the the similes to fit this new title.
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Seasons
Future Islands
Questions
1) Find and copy a phrase that can be used to describe a sunrise. (1 mark)
2) How do you know the writer is singing to somebody else? (1 mark)
3) Find and copy one word that means 'to really want something'. (1 mark(
4) How do you think the singer is feeling in this song? Give evidence to support your answer (2 marks)
5) Write as many synonyms for the word 'change' as you can.
6) What gives the impression that this song is about the passing of time? (3 marks)
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Geronimo
Sheppard
Synonyms
This song is a nice opportunity to think about synonyms and have a bit of fun with them.
Listen to the song and give the children a copy of the lyrics.
1) Get the children to highlight the verbs.
2) Get the children to change the verbs for synonyms, or near synonyms.
3) When they come to the chorus (where the singer repeats the line 'say geronimo'), get them to use a different synonym for each time the word 'say' is used.
3) See what they come up with!
As an alternative, have a go at the same activity with antonyms.
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Happier
Marshmello ft. Bastille
These questions are appropriate for Lower KS2.
(Do have a flick through the lyrics to make sure it's appropriate for your class!)
Questions
1) What does the singer mean when he says 'raise your spirits'?
2) What does the singer decide to do at the end of the song and why?
3) How would you describe how the character is feeling in this song?
4) Why do you think the singer wants them to be happier?
5) Find and copy a group of words that means the same as feeling bad.
6) Write down 3 synonyms for happier.
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Thursday
Jess Glynne
Questions
1) Find and copy one word that means 'things about yourself that you are unsure of'. (1 mark)
2) Find and copy one word that means 'being able to do things on your own'. (1 mark)
3) Find and copy one word that means 'give in to'. (1 mark)
4) How does the singer use repetition to explain how they want there future to be? (1 mark)
5) Does the singer feel anxious and insecure all of the time? Give evidence to support your answer. (2 marks)
6) How does the singer feel? Give evidence to support your answers. (3 marks)
7) What do you think the message of this song is? Give evidence to support your answer. (2 marks)
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Whatever It Takes
Imagine Dragons
1) Find and copy one word that means 'to go around'. (1 mark)
2) Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word 'typical'? (1 mark)
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a) Edited
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b) Usual
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c) Think
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d) Help
3) 'Looking at my body feeling miserable/Always hanging on to the visual/I wanna be invisible' - What can we infer about how the singer feels about themselves from these lyrics? Explain your answer. (2 marks)
4) Explain how the writer uses repetition in the song? And explain what effect this has on the listener. (2 marks)
5) Give two examples of things that the singer describes himself as. (1 mark)
6) What does the word 'deceased' mean?
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Manchester
Beautiful South
Questions
1) Why does the deckchair 'make no sense'? (1 mark)
2) 'And as winter turns reluctantly to spring' - what does the word reluctantly tell you in this sentence? (1 mark)
3) Find and copy a word that means 'gloomy sadness'. (1 mark)
4) What does it mean if you 'cause offence'? (1 mark)
5) Find and copy two phrases that make Manchester sound gloomy. (2 marks)
6) How does the singer feel about Manchester? Use evidence to support your answer. (3 marks)
Click here for a link to the lyrics
Be More Kind
Frank Turner
Questions
1) Find and copy one word that means ‘struggling/in difficulty’. (1 mark)
2) Find and copy a phrase that shows the world is in a ‘confused state’. (1 mark)
3) Find and copy one word that means ‘looking for’. (1 mark)
4) ‘They've started raising walls around the world now’ – who are they? (1 mark)
5) How does the singer feel about how the world is doing? Use evidence to support your answer. (3 marks)
6) What does the singer think is going to happen in the future? Use evidence to support your answer (2 marks)
7) ‘Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind’ – Why does the author include the phrase ‘my friends’. (1 mark)
8) Summarise the message of this song. (1 mark)
One Foot
WALK THE MOON
Questions
1) Find and copy one word that means 'lots of people leaving'. (1 mark)
2) Find and copy one word that means 'the spiritual part of a living thing'. (1 mark)
3) What words or phrases tell you that the singer is trying to move forward in their life? (2 marks)
4) 'But it's our only defense to brave the wilderness' - What does the word 'wilderness' tell you about how the singer sees the world around them? (1 mark)
5) "...in the so-called 'Land of the Free'..." - Why has the author used quotation marks around the phrase 'Land of the Free'? (1 mark)
6) 'Not a soul in the road' - What does this phrase tell you about 'the road'? (1 mark)
Click here or a link to the lyrics.
Pretty Shining People
George Ezra
Questions
1) Find and copy one word that means 'to believe firmly'. (1 mark)
2) Find and copy one word that means 'likely to do something'. (1 mark)
3) Find and copy a group of words that mean 'to consider too much'. (1 mark)
4) Why were they dreaming 'about the lottery'? Use evidence to support your answer. (2 marks)
5) 'ocean full of change' - what impression does this give you of America? (1 mark)
6) How would the characters in the song had acted had they won the lottery? Use evidence to support your answer. (2 marks)
7) How do you think the singer feels about the future? Give two examples with evidence. (3 marks)
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Heal
Tom Odell
Questions
1) Find and copy a word that means 'a piece of material used on a boat'. (1 mark)
2) What can you infer about the way the singer has been feeling lately? Use evidence to support your answer. (2 marks)
3) Find and copy a simile from the lyrics. (1 mark)
4) Why does the author repeatedly use the word 'somehow' when describing the actions of someone. (1 mark)
5) This song is about 'making things better' - do you agree or disagree? Use evidence to support your answer (2 marks)
Please click here for a link to the lyrics.
Ella Eyre
Good Times
Questions
1) Find and copy one word that means to 'finally solve something'. (1 mark)
2) How is the singer feeling? Use evidence to support your answer. (2 marks)
3) 'All these old fools that we're better without' - Explain how this line from the song demonstrates that the singer is probably young. (1 mark)
4) Find and copy a phrase from the song that shows that the singer is addressing someone. (1 mark)
5) How has the singers feelings and attitude changed? Use evidence to support your answer. (3 marks)
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Mountain At My Gates
FOALS
Questions for Discussion
1) Find a phrase from the lyrics that suggests the singer’s problems are getting bigger.
2) What kind of person drives their car without the brakes?
3) What is a ‘foothold’?
4) ‘The singer has a decision to make’ – true or false? Use evidence to support your answer.
5) Why does the singer say ‘I see a mountain at my gates’?
6) Find and copy a word that means ‘emerging in a threatening shape’.
Click here for a link to the lyrics.
Smalltown Boy
Bronski Beat
This song offers a few nice writing opportunities. The story discusses a boy who is leaving his hometown; the lyrics describe what he has taken with him and touches upon why he has left. There is enough ambiguity in the reasons for the boy leaving to leave space for children to be creative. Writing could centre around why he left, how he feels about the past and how he feels about the future.
You could write:
- Diary entries
- Narratives with flashbacks (this would work well for changes in tense). This writing could be written in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person.
- A narrative poem
Here are some questions to help organise the children's thinking:
1) Why is the person in the song leaving?
2) What is the place like that they are leaving?
3) What is in their bag?
4) What happened to them?
5) How do they feel about the past?
6) How do they feel about the future?
Additional Ideas
This song would tie in well with Anti-Bullying activities.
It might be a good idea to point out that most of this song is written in the second person (use of 'You')
Click here for a link to the lyrics.