Overview

Combine music and literature instruction to improve reading comprehension and to enhance understanding of musical terms and concepts among students in grades 3–5.

Literature and music: a keeping score lesson

This lesson plan was a winning entry of the 2008 TEE & Scholastic "Best-Ever Lesson Plan" contest. The following lesson plan and resources appear in their original form as they were submitted to TEE in 2008.

Essential Understanding

What is the "Big Idea" of the unit or lesson?

Students will understand that: Music can enhance and evoke a response.

Skills and knowledge students need and/or will develop.

• Good listening skills
• Expose students to classical music by having them listen to classical music.
• Students will become familiar with musical terms.

Will develop:

• The ability to read the novel, Island of the Blue Dolphin, or other literature book.
• The ability to summarize chapters.
• The ability to recognize and plot, setting, problem and solution, rise and fall of action, etc to make an excitement graph of the chapters in the novel, using coordinating grids.
• The ability to become familiar with a variety of pieces of classical music, as they listen critically to different music, using adjectives to describe each piece.
• The ability to illustrate chapter.
• The ability to choose music to enhance illustration.

Objectives: (final performance or product) In what way(s) will students demonstrate what they have learned?

Students will: Write a short summary of a chapter, illustrate that chapter, and choose music to enhance the chapter. Each student will be responsible for one chapter and will contribute to a class movie.

Equipment, Materials and Resources

What equipment, materials, and resources will you need to implement the unit/lesson and the student assessment?

• Novel
• Computer with access to the internet and sfskids.org
• Adobe Premiere software

Additional Notes

What adaptations might you make to the learning sequence, to meet the needs of different students? Any other notes or comments you would offer with regard to implementing this unit/lesson?

This is planned as a long-term unit, in which several aspects in different curricular areas, will be taught simultaneously. Since few, if any students, may have any expose or background in music, instruction will need to begin below current grade level.

Download complete lesson plan (224 KB Microsoft PowerPoint file)