Unit Lesson

In order to implement the use of music into my English classroom, I would develop a unit on music and poetry. Teaching pop music/ culture would be taught in a unit intertwined with poetry. I think it would be easier to justify the use of music in my classroom if it is taught with the state’s standards on poetry. Students can learn about figurative language, structure of poems in relation to lyrics of a song, theme and idea development in writing, descriptive writing, and the comparison of Standard English to other dialects. These lessons will be used to help students to develop the skills they will need for their major end of the unit project.

The end of the unit project will consist of an activity that looks at the social and political aspects of Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life” in comparison to the hard knock life that is described in Disney’s Annie. This idea was developed after reading an article, http://popmatters.com/chapter/04Autumn/coberlake.html that I found in a Google search on hip-hop. Lake argues that Jay-Z is possibly making a mockery of orphan Annie with his authentic depiction of the real hard knock life.

Lesson 1: Using Music to teach Poetry Structure

For lesson 1 of the unit, students will focus on understanding that poetry and music are closely connected in ways they are structured. Students will compare/contrast the poem, “I, Too Sing America” by Langston Hughes in relation to the lyrics of 50 Cent’s “I get Money”. A copy of the poem and a copy of lyrics of the sing can be juxtaposed and projected on the big screen for students to view. Students’ attention should be directed at getting the students to identify beginning and stopping points in the poem (stanzas and lines). Students should number all stanzas and lines in each text and hence understand that poetry and music have a very similar layout in their physical appearance. Both pieces of work are literature and differ in the way they are recited.
Poem can be retrieved at: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/langston_hughes/poems/16945
Lyrics can be retrieved at: http://lyrics.rapbasement.com/?id=1521&sec=listing


Lesson 2: Using Poetry and Music to Study Figurative Language

Lesson 2 of the unit will consist of a focus on figurative language, which can include any poem of lyrics that are examples of this type of writing. For this lesson, the focus will be on similes and metaphors. The teacher will begin the lesson by asking if there is anyone who knows the meaning of the words simile and metaphor. The teacher will allow students to answer and then provide students with a definition of each. The teacher will display the poem, “Willow and the Ginkgo” on the overhead projector and read the poem aloud to students. Students will identify similes and metaphors and the objects they are comparing in the poem. Students will use the list of compiled similes and metaphors as a future reference for these types of figurative language.
“Willow and the Ginkgo” poem can be found at http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/merriam.htm.


Lesson 3: Using Poetry/ Music to understand Theme Development, Idea Development, and Perspective Development

Lesson 3 will emphasize the importance of understanding that poems and songs are composed of a main idea or theme that the writer/singer wants to conveyed in their message. The poem, “I, Too Sing American and 50 Cent’s “I get Money” can be reused in this lesson as a model for the activity. The teacher should also select lyrics of 5 new songs and 5 new poems for students to use in their self-facilitated activity. Teacher should assign songs/poems to pairs of students. (Note: You may choose more songs and poems if your class size is bigger.) Each group of students will analyze their poem to and jot down the main idea/theme/perspectives of their poem. Students will be asked to choose the role of the inner voice and one student will choose the role of the outer voice. The student that is the outer voice will recite the words of the text, and the student that is the inner voice will express what the character is thinking and not saying. Inner voice student should focus on conveying the main idea, theme, and perspective of the writer. Students can perform this activity in class in the reader’s theater area for their peers.

End of Unit Group Project: Jay-Z’s and Annie’s Hard Knock Life

Day 1: Provide students with background information about the movie. Students should view Disney’s Annie in class and be asked to take notes. Notes should include likes, dislikes, questions, criticism, objective and subjective perspectives etc.

Day 2: Students should view Jay-Z’s video, “Hard Knock Life” twice during the class. The first viewing should consist of students only listening to the music and viewing the video. The second viewing should consist of students taking critical notes and observations on the video/song.

Days 3, 4, and 5, 6, 7: Teacher and students will discuss the social and political aspects of both texts. Teacher can encourage student thinking with the following questions: What message are the two texts conveying to the audience? Are the texts contradictory to one another? What social and political messages are prevalent in these texts? How does this information configure into a definition of the hard knock life? Students should be assigned to groups of 4 in which they work together to complete their final assignment. Students will create a song/poem (500 words in length) to respond to Jay-Z’s and Annie’s position on the hard knock life. Students will be expected to incorporate all of the previously learned skills earlier in the unit into their writing (skills from lessons 1-3). Students will also be to use some type of creativity visual or sync a beat with poem/song to present in addition to their writing. Possible ideas: create a video, record their response in the form of a song, or produce a piece of art to represent their response.