Song lyrics in geography

One of the most useful additions to my daily routines over the last year has been SPOTIFY.

Each day that I work from home, I choose an artist from my old LP collection - mostly sadly in landfill now...

Yesterday was Joni Mitchell day, starting with the 1980s when she made some classic albums with then-husband Larry Klein and various jazz musicians. Sadly, the classic "Shadows and Light" with Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays and Jaco Pastorius isn't in the Spotify catalogue...

I had a chance to listen to the album she made with the Starbucks record label in 2007, and came across the track "This Place".

Song lyrics are part of the range of texts that geography students could use in the classroom.

Here are a few lines from the song: search online to find the rest....

How could you use this song ?

You see those lovely hills
They won't be there for long
They're gonna tear 'em down
And sell them to California
Here come the toxic spills
Miners poking all around
When this place looks like a moonscape
Don't say I didn't warn ya...

How have you used song lyrics in the classroom ?

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Those teachers who have opted for the Edexcel 'A' level specification in the UK (for students aged 16-18), there is a unit called "The World of Cultural Diversity" . Today, the pre-release titles were announced. Students will be expected to prepare OPTION 4: The World of Cultural Diversity • Explore what is meant by a global culture, how it is defined and, if it exists, what its characteristics are. • Research contrasting locations, some of which show the effects of cultural globalisation and others which seem to be resisting the process. Would be interested in hearing the thoughts of any blog readers on any suggested resources or thoughts on these particular contexts...

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