Students will prepare songs for submission to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5 Vocabulary songs, metaphor (review), point of view (review), revision, simile (review) Preparation Make copies of Partner Revision Handout. Reserve computers or computer lab for students to type their songs. Make copies of Song Assessment Rubric (see Supplemental Materials) to use in your evaluation of each student’s work. For advanced students, make copies of “Spotlight on Verses” (Page 92). Free Write 5 minutes Brainstorm 5 minutes Review the two figures of speech, simile and metaphor. Explain that a simile is a descriptive comparison that uses “like” or “as.” A metaphor makes similar comparisons without using “like” or “as.” Prompt: For the final brainstorm, work with a partner to write down as many similes and metaphors as you can in three minutes. For the remaining time, allow students to share their favorite similes and metaphors with the class. Activity 35 minutes 1. Share with students: Just like any other style of writing, songwriting requires revision to make the song the best it can be. To revise lyrics, songwriters may do something as simple as swapping out a few words or they might rewrite whole verses or the chorus. They have to be brave enough to accept feedback from other people and to consider changing words and phrases they may have thought were perfect. Professional songwriters often keep revising their work, even up to the last minute. Bob Dylan, for example, originally wrote the song “Tangled Up in Blue” in the third-person point of view, from the perspective of someone else. But then
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. Music Curriculum Standards & Music addresses the following Tennessee Music Standards: Standard 6.0 Listening and Analyzing Students will listen to, analyze, and describe music. Standard 7.0 Evaluating Students will evaluate music and music performances. Standard 8.0 Interdisciplinary Connections Students will understand relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. Standard 9.0 Historical and Cultural Relationships Students will understand music in relation to history and culture. & Music addresses the following National Music Association of Music Educators Standards: Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. Standard 7: Evaluating music and music performances. Standard 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. Standard 9: Understanding music in relation to history and culture. Supplemental Materials Material Purpose When Pre-Unit Assessment Rubric to be used with “Try a Song” Handout Lesson 1 Final Lyric Assessment Rubric to assess students’ final lyrics Lesson 9 Brainstorm Wheel for students who have not yet a topic for their song Lesson 8 Songwriting Template to support struggling songwriters Lesson 8 Sensory and Emotion Brainstorm to help students generate more supporting details Lesson 8