1. Activity for the day
1.1. Put lyrics of a popular song up on the board
1.1.1. Have students take a moment to look at the words on the board
1.1.1.1. Questions to think about during this time
1.1.1.1.1. What is the form?
1.1.1.1.2. What do you think the meaning of the song is?
1.1.1.1.3. How do the words influence the meaning?
1.1.2. Possible Examples of the song
1.1.2.1. Happy
1.1.2.2. Joy to The World
1.1.2.3. Any Holiday song
1.1.3. Explain how the text influences the music that is being composed
1.1.4. For ESL students, put the translation on the board for them so that they can still participate even if they have a hard time with the song.
1.1.5. For Life Skills students: Meet with their aide, if they have one, and give the aide the questions and have them be multiple choice so that the concepts aren't as abstract for the students.
1.2. After the students look at the lyrics without music, play the song
1.2.1. Allow the students to listen to the song twice
1.2.1.1. The first time to just listen to the song
1.2.1.2. Give the students questions to think about when listening
1.2.1.2.1. Questions to think about
1.2.1.3. Listen to the song a second time through and have them think about the questions
2. Day 3
2.1. Students walk in with another song playing
2.1.1. Student can own up to the song being theirs or it can stay a secret
2.2. Hand back students their Form Worksheet from the day before
2.2.1. Answer the questions that students had from the day before
2.3. Word Choice
2.3.1. Students create their definition of word choice
2.3.2. Explain why artists pick the words they do to evoke emotion
2.3.2.1. Small explanation of emotion within music
2.3.3. Explain that the artist has a purpose behind the words that they picked
2.4. Remind students to bring their poems they've been working on in class to music tomorrow
2.4.1. Possible problem: The students may have to write a poem outside of class because I can't work with the English Teacher
2.4.1.1. Solution: Give the students more time to work on the poem in class but have them think of it as a song. Give them detailed guidelines for the poem but more freedom for the song choice
3. Day 4
3.1. Music will be playing when the students walk into the classroom
3.1.1. The song that was played for example yesterday will be the song that is played when the students walk in
3.1.1.1. Ask the students if they remember the song from the day before
3.2. Recap Form and Word Choice for a few minutes
3.2.1. Answer any questions that the students have
3.2.1.1. Reinforce the idea of how the text influences the music.
3.3. Melodic Line
3.3.1. Natural speaking voice flows with a melodic line
3.3.1.1. Inflection is everything
3.3.2. Melody is the main musical line with the piece
3.3.2.1. Possible problem: the students don't have a ton of musical background
3.3.2.1.1. Possible solution: Allow more time to explain melody, play more examples of melodic line so that students get a better understanding of the idea
3.3.3. The artist has a specific purpose
3.3.4. Give them a work sheet on Melodic Line
3.3.4.1. Use it as an exit sheet, have the students turn it in so that they can use it to help the students with the project
3.3.4.1.1. Under their name on the exit sheet have them write an "I am good at..." phrase to help get to know them better but also to have them think about themselves and why they are important.
3.4. Activity for the day
3.4.1. Short activity to show melodic line
3.4.1.1. Students will get into small groups of 3-4
3.4.1.1.1. Bring in short poems (around one stanza each) and assign them to each group
3.5. Introduce the project if time allows
4. Day 5
4.1. Music playing when the students walk in
4.2. Reinforce the big idea for the week
4.2.1. Text influences music
4.2.2. Poetry as a vessel of learning
4.3. Introduce the project
4.3.1. students write their own poem in their English class
4.3.1.1. Guidelines for the form given to them by their English teach, make sure we are both on the same page with the goal of the unit
4.3.1.2. Students will pick a song from a playlist provided for them to put their poem to
4.3.1.2.1. the students can record their voice over the song or perform the song live over the music
4.3.1.2.2. The song must represent the word choice and correlate with the form of the piece
4.3.1.2.3. Melodic line: the students can either sing the poem or speak the poem.
4.3.1.2.4. ESL Learners: Can write perform their poem in their native language and have the English Translation written on the board for the other students to follow along
4.3.1.2.5. For Life skills students: Provide them with a smaller list of songs and allow them to do a shorter poem.
4.3.2. Project timeline
4.3.2.1. 2 days of in classwork time
4.3.2.2. Due 4 days after assigned, so two days of outside work time
4.3.2.2.1. Can set up time before and after school if the student needs more time for the assignment
5. Day 1
5.1. Music playing when students walk in (my favorite song)
5.1.1. Explain to the students why the song I picked is important
5.1.1.1. Have students write down their favorite song on a piece of paper and have them turn it in
5.2. Introduce myself to the students so they start to know who I am
5.3. Introduction: Human Bingo
5.3.1. Students walk around and get to know their peers by having them fill out a human bingo card
5.4. Introduce the idea of text and music
5.4.1. Big idea: How text influences music
5.4.1.1. Explain how the unit will work concurrently with their English Class
5.4.1.1.1. End of the unit project will be with their English class
5.4.1.1.2. Possible Problem: not being able to work with their English Teacher
5.4.1.1.3. How music and other subjects work together is very important. Shows that music and other subjects work together
5.5. Ideal classroom: this will be a continuation of the music class that the students had the year before
5.5.1. If not, the unit is abstract enough that they can follow along
5.5.2. Give a few more worksheets for understanding
6. Day 2
6.1. Music playing when the students walk into the classroom
6.1.1. It will be a students song written down from the day before
6.1.1.1. Students are able to own up to their or keep it to them self
6.2. Build off of the idea of text and music
6.2.1. Form
6.2.1.1. Have students create their own definition and put it up in the classroom
6.2.1.1.1. Work sheet on Form
6.2.1.1.2. bring in a poems as examples
6.2.1.2. ABA
6.2.1.2.1. How this form works within both music and poetry
6.2.1.2.2. Two separate main ideas
6.2.1.3. Verse Chorus
6.2.1.3.1. Just a musical idea
6.2.1.4. ABC
6.2.1.4.1. Explain how this form works within both music and poetry
6.2.1.4.2. Three Separate main Idea
6.3. Text can influence the music that is written
6.3.1. Composers will use poems and compose songs around that