Chance the Rapper, Lupe Fiasco and 10 Other Songs That Inspire My Students

1. Your kids love music.
2. You love your kids.
3. Therefore, you love music.

My proposal

• Find a song you love soon/tonight/right now. I put some suggestions below!
• Print out the lyrics and give them to your kids. (Major key alert as DJ Khaled likes to say.)
• Play the song for/with them. Feel free to do this twice.
• Share what you love about the song. Make sure kids share what they love, too! I’d even have them share first.
• Repeat as regularly as you can. Also, ask kids which songs they want to hear to see if they have any good suggestions. They will.

So no matter what you been through No matter what you into No matter what you see when you look outside your window Brown grass or green grass Picket fence or barbed wire Never ever put them down You just lift your arms higher

Used to look up at the stars and be like ain’t too much that’s different I be shinin’, they be shinin’, get your one shot don’t you miss it What you know ‘bout wakin’ up everyday like you on a mission?

Greatest gift I ever learned is helpin’ someone else You feel fully fulfilled ’cause you forget about yourself

Hey yo, I’m just like my country I’m young, scrappy and hungry And I’m not throwing away my shot

Sometimes you have to hurt for the cause to be reached But one day you’ll be stronger than all that you beat … Money cannot buy All the love that’s here tonight

Do it for your people Do it for your pride How you ever gonna know if you never even try?

I speak of wondrous unfamiliar lessons from childhood Make you remember how to smile good

Selma’s now for every man, woman and child Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd They marched with the torch, we gon’ run with it now

They say the best is yet to come But I swear it’s already here Just open up your eyelids

All we need, all we need is hope And for that we have each other

But you gotta live right now You got everything to give right now

I can lead with pride, I can make us strong I’ll be satisfied if I play along But the voice inside sings a different song

Yo, whatever happened to the values of humanity Whatever happened to the fairness and equality Instead of spreading love we’re spreading animosity Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity

Love is the key Love is the answer Love is the solution They don’t want us to love

Read more, learn more, change the globe

I’m proud of who I am No more monsters, I can breathe again And you said that I was done Well, you were wrong and now the best is yet to come

On the outside, always looking in Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?