Songs of Our Lives: Using Lyrics to Write Stories

Lesson Plans

Student Interactives

Calendar Activities

Professional Library

Activities & Projects

 

LESSON PLANS

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Unit

Music and Me: Visual Representations of Lyrics to Popular Music

Students will whistle while they work on this lesson, creating a photomontage movie of their interpretation of a favorite song’s lyrics that will end everyone’s day on a high note.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

On a Musical Note: Exploring Reading Strategies by Creating a Soundtrack

Students create a soundtrack for a novel that they have read, as they engage in such traditional reading strategies as predicting, visualizing, and questioning.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Unit

It’s My Life: Multimodal Autobiography Project

Students express themselves verbally, visually, and musically by creating multimodal autobiographies, exchanging ideas with other students and sharing important events in their lives through PowerPoint presentations.

 

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Unit

The History Behind Song Lyrics

Students research the items listed in the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel, noting their historical relevance, and then document their findings using an online chart.

 

Grades   7 – 12  |  Lesson Plan  |  Minilesson

Playlist for Holden: Character Analysis With Music and Lyrics

Students compile a playlist of 10 songs representing a literary character and explain their choices based on the book’s dialogue, plot, conflict, and resolution.

 

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 8  |  Student Interactive  |  Writing & Publishing Prose

Book Cover Creator

The Book Cover Creator is designed to allow users to type and illustrate front book covers, front and back covers, and full dust jackets. Students can use the tool to create new covers for books that they read as well as to create covers for books they write individually or as a class.

 

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CALENDAR ACTIVITIES

Grades   9 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  October 9

In 1940, Musician and peace activist John Lennon was born.

After listening to "Imagine," students reflect on the lyrics and answer questions. Then, they have a chance to write a stanza for their own song.

 

Grades   3 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  March 3

Music in Our Schools Month is in March.

Students explore the effects of music on a story by reading a story, novel, or play, viewing the musical version, and comparing the two. Students can then select a text read in class and create a musical adaptation.

 

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PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY

Grades   7 – 12  |  Professional Library  |  Journal

From Sheryl Crow to Homer Simpson: Literature and Composition through Pop Culture

High school teacher Jerome Evans makes popular culture an integral part of his courses. Through analyzing themes in song lyrics, rhetorical devices in essays and advertisements, and psychology in contemporary film, students improve their skills in critical thinking and writing.

 

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ACTIVITIES & PROJECTS

Grades   9 – 12  |  Activity & Project

Soundtrack for My Life

In this project, teens create autobiographies, adding music selections to their life stories.

 

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