Music hasn’t caught up with women’s equality, at least if you measure that by songs about famous and inspiring women. So GreenBookofSongs.com® has compiled this list of songs for Women’s History Month, representing the stories of five great women who deserve to be heralded in song.

• Clara Barton Country Joe McDonald; Thank The Nurse (Rag Baby).  Country Joe left politics out of this song about the famous Civil War nurse and humanitarian. He lets her heroism shine — whether reuniting families torn by the war, or in her later years, when she helped establish the American Red Cross. Click here to listen to a sample on Amazon.com.
• Eleanor Jonathan Sprout; More American Heroes (Sprout).  Sprout has written many children’s songs about American heroes, none better than this tribute to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who worked tirelessly to help others. Click here to listen to a sample on Amazon.com.
• Song For Rachel Walkin’ Jim Stoltz; Little Piece Of Earth (Wild Wind).  Folk singer Stoltz dedicated this song to Rachel Carson, an environmentalist whose book “Silent Spring” warned of the dangers of pesticides to the birds that herald spring. Click here to listen to a sample on Stoltz’s website
• True Story Of Amelia Earhart Plainsong; Plainsong (Water).  This aviation pioneer logged a lifetime of firsts. She was, for example, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Both her courageous life and her tragic death are captured in this song. Click here to listen to a sample on Amazon.com.
• Who’s The Best Female Pitcher Phil Coley; Sports Songs And Beyond (King Of The Road Music).  Did you know that a 17-year-old female pitcher named Jackie Mitchell struck out the mighty Babe Ruth? AND the great Lou Gehrig? This little-known athlete will be an inspiration to anyone who’s ever thrown a ball. Click here to listen to a sample on Amazon.com.  

See the GreenBookofSongs.com® category Feminism for more songs about women heroes!

Read Me Week is an effort sponsored by the Tennessee non-profit Book ‘Em. The group’s goal is to provide books to lower-income children and teens and promote the joy of reading. You can learn more about the group and Read Me Week here.

In support of Read Me Week, GreenBookofSongs.com® selected the following songs from a list of 200 in our category Storybook Characters. Each song refers to a book or story young people may enjoy reading! Get them ready for book time with one of these:

• Beauty And The Beast Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson; ST/Beauty And The Beast (Disney)
• Hey Nancy Drew L Price; ST/Nancy Drew-Music From The Motion Picture (Bulletproof)
• I’ve Gotta Crow Original Cast/Mary Martin; Peter Pan-The 1954 Broadway Production (RCA Victor)
• House At Pooh Corner Loggins & Messina; The Best Of Friends (Columbia)
• Love Story Taylor Swift; Fearless (Big Machine)
• Next Harry Potter Tommy Gardner; Kangaroo Waffles & Other Treasure (Blackwater)
• We’re Off To See The Wizard Original Cast; The Wizard Of Oz (TVT)  

You’ll find more songs about stories and characters in our categories Books, Books: Story Songs and Cartoon Characters.

One of our subscribers, teacher Jo-Ann Trifiro of Millstone Twp. Elementary School, just told us how she used the GreenBookofSongs.com® database to focus her Fourth Grade students’ attention for a lesson on division with remainders.

Here’s what she said:

I wanted the kids to carefully examine each division number story to understand how to use (or not to use) the remainders. I started by making “spy glasses” out of tin foil; this got them motivated to zoom in, and when I added the “Theme To ‘Mission Impossible’”, it really got them moving as detectives!

That ran into some working songs as they circled around the room: “Across the Great Divide” [by The Band] and “Biggest Part of Me” [by Ambrosia].

Next, I just continued some fun music as they completed their carousel: “ABC” and “Enjoy Yourself” [by the Jacksons]. My Fourth Graders also love “Shakable You”, by Imagination Movers.  This song directs the kids to shake certain parts of their bodies, and it’s just long enough for them to loosen up and get some movement. 

Here are two more ideas for activity songs:

• “Shout”, by the Isley Brothers.  There’s a point in the song where the volume is dropped to a whisper, which offers a good way to ease into quiet time.
• “Peanut Butter Jelly Time”, by the Buckwheat Boys, is a silly song that’s great for letting energy loose!

Ms. Trifiro also suggested the following for class dismissal:

• “Who Let The Dogs Out”, by the Baha Men
• “Saved By The Bell”, the television theme song 

Here are some other songs to help illustrate division with remainders:

• “One”, by Three Dog Night. With its well-known line, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do,” it’s a great match for problems with a remainder of one.
• “Sole Survivor”, by Asia, is another good choice for remainders of one.  
• “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”, by Herman’s Hermits, helps illustrate eighths specifically, and fractions generally.
• “Two Divided By Love”, by the Grass Roots, has hooks that can help demonstrate the division process.

For more songs for teaching math and science, check out the GreenBookofSongs.com® category Science & Math. For activity songs, try our categories Carefree, Dance, Fun and Party.

Are you using songs to teach science or math? Please add your comments!