Hello everyone!
click on the picture above, or here, for welcome video
I wanted to talk to you a little bit about music and how it can really help us every day.
Music can make us feel happy, sad, excited, energetic, sleepy and a million other things!
Music can help our imaginations dream up magical far-away lands, sunny summer
days and bright, white, frosty winters. We can enjoy music together - singing in a group or
playing an instrument in a band or we can listen to a beautiful piece of music all alone with
our thoughts.
There is a scientific reason why music is good for us, too. Music releases a
chemical in your brain which improves your mood and reduces your anxiety and worry.
It can also help your body make a stress-reducing chemical which helps to make you feel
pleasure, joy and motivation.
You might have heard your teachers, parents and friends talking about something
called ‘Express Yourself’?
'Express Yourself' is a brilliant project set up by a wonderful charity called Place2Be.
Seven years ago, Place2Be launched the first ever Children’s Mental Health Week to tell
everyone about the importance of children and young people’s mental health.
'Express Yourself' is the theme for this year.
Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share your feelings, thoughts, or ideas –
to let people know how you are feeling and what you are thinking - through being creative.
This could be through art, music, writing and poetry, dance and drama, film, sport and
doing activities that make you feel good.
Some thoughts about 'Express Yourself'
Please remember, being able to express yourself is not about being the best at something
or putting on a performance for others. It is about finding a way to show how you are feeling
that can help you feel good about yourself.
Of course, it is always very important that we think about others – our family, our friends,
our classmates – and we try to support each other by:
- Being kind and friendly
- Being helpful and thoughtful
- Listening to each other
- Trying to understand how it feels to be that person
It is also very important to make sure that you look after yourself. Sometimes we can feel:
- Sad, lonely, confused
- Not as good or clever as our friends
- A bit unwell without knowing why
I am very lucky because I am a music teacher and I get to spend every day sharing music
with people like you, which is my absolute favourite thing. Even so, I sometimes feel sad and
that, even though I am trying really hard, I might not be good enough.
This is all ok, and very normal. Believe it or not, everyone feels these things, it is just that
some people are better at pretending they are ok than others.
It is always very important to talk to somebody about how you feel – a family friend, a teacher,
someone in your family. When you can tell somebody how you feel, it will make you start to fee
better.
Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share your feelings, thoughts, or ideas – to let people
know how you are feeling and what you are thinking - through being creative. This could be through
art, music, writing, dance & drama, sport and doing activities that make you feel good.
We are going to ‘Express Ourselves’ through music!
I really believe that music has 'superhero' powers which help to lift our spirits and put a smile on our
faces, even when we feel a bit fed up. So, let's start expressing ourselves through music!
We are going to sing a really fun song called ‘I’m OK’ - it is a happy song all about feeling good
about ourselves, being proud of what we can do and seeing the good things about ourselves.
Well done! Great singing!
You now know the song - I hope it has made you feel 'ok!'
FURTHER WORK TO THINK ABOUT ...
Now that we have learned the song 'I'm Ok!', please complete the activities all to do with
'Expressing Yourself' and the positive power of music.
ACTIVITY 1
Over the years, many people – famous and not-so-famous – have said some amazing
things about their experience of music. Here are some quotes:
The super famous German composer Beethoven said:
‘Music can change the world’
The famous Scottish novelist JM Barrie, who wrote ‘Peter Pan’ said:
'If you cannot teach me to fly – teach me to sing'
And the famous American musician Taylor Swift said:
'People haven’t always been there for me but music always has'
I wonder if you can find three more musical quotes by famous people that you could
share with your class? Please fill in the table below - why not ask your grown ups to help?:
ACTIVITY 2
How does music make you feel?
Songs can make you feel different emotions. Some songs make you feel happy or excited, while
others make you feel sad or scared. These feelings come from how the song is composed (or
written), the instruments used and how performers play them.
Please click on the picture below to learn more:
Think about how your favourite songs make you feel. Listen again and see if you can spot what is
causing those feelings.
Once you have watched the video and done some thinking, please write three sentences (or more!)
to describe what you have learned:
ACTIVITY 3
When you have learned the song, please click on the picture below for some fun activities to do:
I would love you to send me your answers and thoughts!
And finally ... well done!
That was a lot to do! Well done, you have worked really hard.
I hope you have enjoyed learning this song and working on the activities!
I am looking forward to singing 'I'm Ok!' with you in school.
Mrs Sumner
Acknowledgements
https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk
Thank you to the BBC for providing us with the 'How does music make you feel?' activity.
There is lots more of information on the BBC website:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bring-the-noise/childrens-mental-health-week/zkfyscw
Thank you to the wonderful people at Out of the Ark for sharing this brilliant song with us via their
Singing at Home programme. For more songs, visit:
https://www.outoftheark.co.uk/ootam-at-home/
Summer Term 2025
Fun, Inspiring (and often quite loud!) Music Lessons for Home School Hubs and Primary Schools
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- Whole Class Instrumental teaching
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In association with
Little Strummers
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