I asked my 3rd grade middle school students (9th grade in America) the question:
Should I listen to this song?
Then they had to watch bunch of different Music Videos, give it a score from 0-10 and then answer as follows
“Yes, you should because…..”
‘”No, you shouldn’t because….”
Although I got many answers from the students like “Yes, you should because it is good” or “No, you shouldn’t because it is boring” some students wrote a few off the wall, funny, and/or deeply profound sentences.
The BEST answers I got from my students:
“Ode to Joy” by Beethoven (Classical)
Score: 7 “Yes, you should because it is helping the mind.”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should it has spirit evolution.”
Score: 9 “Yes, you should because it is to slient (care my heart).
Score: 7 “Yes, you should because sweat.”
Score 10: “Yes, you should because it is elegance.”
Score: 10 “It feeds my musical senses full”
Score: 1 “No, you shouldn’t because it’s lazy.”
Score: 5 “No, you shouldn’t because it was not joyful.” –> I guess they saw this GIF
“Rock and Roll all night” by Kiss (Rock)
Score: 2 “No, you should because it was dirty.”
Score: 1 “Bad. :-)?”
Score: 2 “No, you shouldn’t because it has people headache. ”
Score: 0 “No, you shouldn’t because it was duty.” Duty?? “dirty!”
Score: 1 “No, you shouldn’t because they are ugly.”
Funniest paper I read in class (It’s so good I have to share it)
Student wrote: “Yes you should because I want a Rock!!”
“Lose Yourself” by Eminen (Rap)
Score: 5 “No you shouldn’t because I don’t understand what he said. However, if you can understand this rap, I think you should.”
Score 9: “Yes, you should because It’s Rap is soft and Wild.”
Score 6: “No you shouldn’t because the man know handsome himself.”
Score 10: “Yes, you should because main Charatcher is handsome.”
Score 5: “No , he shouldn’t because he can’t rap.” <— Don’t say that to Eminem fan girls!
“Valio la Pena” by Marc Anthony (Latin)
Score: 2 “No, you shouldn’t because the melody is messy.”
Score: 4 “No, you shouldn’t because very cheese style.”
Score: 4 “No, you shouldn’t because it is messy.”
Score: 100,000 Yes, you should because it is very fantastic”
Score: 0 “Yes, you should because it is very very good good and great handsome”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because it is my country’s music.”
“Walkin'”by Miles Davis (Jazz)
Score: 1 “Yes, you should because it’s noisy song. It’s Arabia”
Score: 2 “No, you shouldn’t because it was dirty.”
“Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood (Country)
“Score: 10 “Yes you should because Lady is sexy.”
Score 100,000 “Yes you should it is so very so sexy.”
Score: 8 “Yes you should because it is fowerpull”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because good filling”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because she is pretty.”
Score 6: “Yes, you should because it is violent.”
Score: 8 “Yes, you shouldn’t because I fell soul.”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because she is sexy.”
“Call me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepson (Pop)
Score: 100,000 Yes, you should because the boy is very handsome.”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because it is perefect body and voice.”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because it sounds very handsome”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because the music video has chocolate stomach muscle.”
Score: 10 “Yes, you should because he is handsam”
Score 100 “Yes, you should because his body is very good.” <— all the girls were SCREAMING when they saw this.
One Love by Bob Marley (Reggae)
Score: 0 “No, it makes you born.”
Score: 3 “No you should beacause no highright”
Score: 10 “Yes you should Loli dieski”
Score 8: “Yes, you should because it fee like soft chocolet”
Score 4: “No you shouldn’t because it’s like butter.” <— Paula Dean would like it !!
Butterception
Groaning the Blues by Eric Clapton
Score: 0 “NO, NO!!! You shouldn’t because it is too bad to hear.”
Score: 0 “No you shouldn’t because it is butter.” <—- More Paula Dean Love! Check out this link (I think this is HILARIOUS)
Score 3: “No, you shouldn’t because it makes you uncomfortable.”
Score: 5 “No, you shouldn’t because the singer sings look hard.”
Score: 10 “Yes, you shouldn’t becauseo I lik Erek Clepton.” <— You and my Dad need to be BFFS
Lights and Sounds by Yellowcard (Alternative) <— one of my favorite songs
Score: 7 “Yes, You should because the vocal’s voice is nice”
Score: 9 “Yes, you should because it is handsome.”
Score: 5 “Yes, you should because Fungky”
Score: 9 “Yes, My lord.”
Score: 7 “Yes you should because it is make my heart beat.”
Score 10: “Yes, you should because it is violent.”
You will notice a HUGE trend in students writing that you should listen to a song based on the singer’s appearance. Koreans are really image conscious, and since many students couldn’t understand most of the lyrics, they wrote their opinion about the people in music videos.
I suppose if I wanted the students to focus purely on the music itself I could have played the song without showing the video.
BUT, I feel that it was WAY more entertaining watching their reactions to the videos. Crazy kids 🙂
** Note: A couple students wrote multiple funny things on their paper, others just wrote one funny thing. I divided the responses by songs, not by the students.”
