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 For Ages 14–18
Personal Playlists: Ten Favorite Songs
Work with a teen to create a wiki with everything people should know about the teen’s top ten favorite songs—and your favorite songs as well! Then invite friends to add their favorite songs too.
Time
3 or more hours (can be completed over several days).
What You Need
Why This Is Helpful
Learning how to use an exciting new technology, wikis, while researching their favorite songs and musicians, teens can gain a better understanding of the meaning of the songs they love and why they are relevant, important texts in their lives.
Here’s What To Do
- Before starting this activity, decide on ten favorite songs you and the teen want to share with people this summer. Think about why these songs are important to you and the teen. Do they have a special message? How do they make you feel? Do they teach something?
- Work with the teen to compile the lyrics for your ten favorite songs. (If you don’t have the lyrics handy, use the LyricsFreak Web site or do a Google search for “song lyrics” for more Web sites with song lyrics.)
- Watch the tutorial Wikis in Plain English to find out about how Wikis work.
- Set up a wiki account using PB Wiki, WetPaint, or WikiSpaces (all offer free wikis).
- Look at the example music wiki for ideas. Decide what categories you would like to include on your wikis. What do you want people to know about the music on your wiki? Possibilities include:
- title of song
- name of the artist(s)
- year of release
- album title
- type of music
- review of the song/why you like it
- meaning of the song lyrics
- interesting facts about the artist
- history of the type (or genre) of music
- similar songs/artists
- pictures of the artist/album cover
- links to related information
- Do some research. Using the Internet, see how much you and the teen can find out about the songs and artists on your lists. Many artists have their own websites with biographical and other types of information. Decide what information you would like to use on your wiki, and bookmark it on your computer.
- Using the wiki account you and the teen created, name your wiki and organize them by song title. Start creating categories and fill them with information.
- Invite friends to check out your wiki and add to it with their favorite songs and information.
More Ideas to Try
- The project can also be completed on paper instead of online. Using the Flip Book, record information about each of the ten songs using each of the ten pages. The Flip Book can be printed out and shared with friends.
- Visit the Flip Book Tool Tip Sheet for more information about using this tool.
Glossary
Wiki
Computer software that allows users to create, edit, and share information on a webpage quickly and simply.
Research
Researching a topic or question can take many different forms, from year-long studies resulting in publication to a quick search of available resources on the Internet. For these activities, we refer to research in the informal sense, using readily available resources (Internet, magazines, books, interviews, etc.) to answer questions.
This activity was modified from the ReadWriteThink lesson plan “A Collaboration of Sites and Sounds: Using Wikis to Catalog Protest Songs” available online at http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=979.
Clipart copyright 2008 JUPITERIMAGES, and its licensors. All rights reserved.
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