Description
Often when we listen to songs, we don't appreciate them enough for the full value of the lyrics; similarly, this same concept is overlooked with poetry as well. After listening and analyzing song lyrics and, subsequently, doing the same analysis with poems, students will discover how similar song writing and poetry writing can be. Students will get their own chance to write a small version of each genre to truly see that songs are really poems just put to music. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.
Website(s)
The Northern Nevada Writing Project: WritingFix
Six-Trait-Overview
The focus trait for this creative writing assignment is word choice,
specifically in the area of taking risks with language by using
alliteration, 'playing' with words, and possibly inventing words. The
secondary trait is idea development with emphasis selecting a unique topic to write about and using a unique technique to explore a topic.
Author
This lesson was created by Northern Nevada teacher Crystal M. Johnson.
Materials
Lesson plan
Graphic organizer
Sheet of 6 Sentence Fluency Post-It Notes
Sheet of 6 Idea Development Post-It Notes
Editing Post-It
Pre-step...before sharing the song
The day before the lesson is presented, assign
students bring in (on CD or iPod) his/her favorite, yet most
meaningful, lyrical, song and a copy of the lyrics.
Begin
by having a few students share their songs with the class. Play 3-5
students songs and discuss each individually regarding the precision of
the words in the song, specifically word choice, and also any literary
devices that the song(s) contain. Next, have each student go through
their personal lyrics and highlight some poetic elements that they
believe are in the song. Share out ideas with 3-5 students.
Distribute this graphic organizer
to students with the Venn Diagram side up. Have students fill in the
diagram addressing the differences and similarities between songs and
poems. Make sure to guide students in noting that it is simply not just
about music. They also need to progress through the worksheet
discussing their preference in songs or poems and also some
commonalities that they share.
Step one (sharing the songs and poems)
Hand out the Poem or Lyric worksheet
to students. Tell them to take about 3-5 min to decide if each numbered
set (#1 - #6) is a poem or a lyric. Remind students that the examples
could be full versions of the song/poem. When students are finished
reading through, quickly share students thoughts.
Now
play song #3 "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. Have students
correct sheet, if necessary. Next play song #4 "All These Lives" by
Daughtry. Again, have students correct sheets, if necessary. Finally,
play the last song #6 "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson. Next, have students
volunteer to read the remaining poems aloud. After each poem, tell
students the title and author of the poem. #1 "Mad Girl's Love Song" by
Sylvia Plath, #2 "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost, and #5 "i carry my
heart with me" by E.E. Cummings.
Finally,
discuss with students why they initially chose each option as a song or
poem, and if they now have new perspective on how songs and poems are
written. Additionally, students should acknowledge the similarities
between the two and have a better understanding and appreciation for
poetry. Ideally, students will see that poems can be lyrics without the
music- so why do some of them hate poetry as much as they claim?
Tell
students they will be writing a poem and a set of lyrics today to show
they understand the differences (and similarities) between poems and
lyrics.
Step two (introducing student models of writing)
In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The groups will certainly talk about the word choice, since it's the focus of the lesson, but you might prompt your students to talk about each model's idea development as well.
Currently, there are no student models for this lesson.
Step three (thinking, talking and pre-writing)
Now ask students to use this graphic organizer. Students will now have time to try to write a poem and lyrics themselves.
First,
they must decide which is their favorite song and then favorite poem.
They need to copy that information down in the top boxes. Next, they
need to mimic their choices in the bottom boxes. As they compose,
remind them that they must pay close attention to the concept of word
choice and thus their own personal word choices, as well as their idea
development. Students should consider why the author/song writer wrote
the piece and why they (the student) want to write about the topic they
have chosen.
To
help students develop ideas for topic choice, instruct them to use the
interactive buttons attached to this lesson as idea prompts. Student
might also want to consider or look back at the Venn Diagram side of
their graphic organizer to see what they initially wrote that poems
contain and that songs contain. Finally, they can simply analyze or use
a similar topic to their stated favorite song and favorite poem.
These
are simply drafts for students to work through and better understand,
so having a clean final draft is an extension and noted on the bottom
of the graphic organizer as extra credit. However, this can be easily
changed as part of the full assignment.
Step four (revising with specific trait language)
To
promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach
WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts.
Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5."
Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It
rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response
Post-Its, click here.
Step five (editing for conventions)
After students apply their
revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to
find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among
your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple
peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and
highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it.
Extension of Lesson (publishing for the portfolio)
When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your
students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming
writer's workshop block. Their words might become a longer poem, a
more detailed song, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the
poem they started here. Students will probably enjoy creating an
illustration for this poem as they get ready to publish it for their
portfolios.
Content Provider
The Northern Nevada Writing Project: WritingFix
