Creating a Compelling Story From Music

CREATING A COMPELLING STORY FROM MUSIC

CREATING A COMPELLING STORY FROM MUSIC

Learning Description

Encourage your students to exercise their imaginations and write with courage and conviction. Using music from a wide variety of cultures, students will develop good listening skills and write from the heart using their own voices. This aural exercise will help students think creatively.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: MUSIC & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • Compose an original story inspired by a piece of music.

Essential Questions

  • Essential Question: How can music be used to inspire narrative writing?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

ELACCKW3 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

 

Grade 1:

ELACC1W3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

ESGMK.RE.1 Listen to, analyze, and describe music.

 

Grade 1:

ESGM1.RE.1 Listen to, analyze, and describe music.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

K.MCC.3.1 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, to tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and to provide a reaction to what happened. 

 

Grade 1:

1.MCC.3.1 Explore multiple texts to write narratives that recount two or more sequenced events, include details, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 6: I can analyze music.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Character - A person, or animal or other entity that has human characteristics, in a story.

Setting - Where and when a story takes place.

Event - A happening, something that occurs in a story.

Detail - A small, interesting part of a larger whole.

Title - The name of a creative work.

Arts Vocabulary

Dynamics - The volume of sound; how loud or soft it is.

Pitch - How high or low a note sounds.

Tempo - The speed at which a musical piece is played; how fast or slow.

Duration - The length of time a sound lasts; how long or short.

Timbre - The quality of a sound (round, brassy, sharp, bright).

Form - The structure or pattern in music; how the sounds are put together.

Rhythm - A pattern of sound which can be repeated to a regular beat.

 

Materials

  • Pencils
  • Crayons
  • Paper
  • Audio recordings
  • Sound source (CD Player, iPod, etc.) - 3-5 selections of instrumental music
  • Photographs and prints (optional)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Warm-Up:  Moving to Music

  • Tell the students they are going to have a chance to move to music.  In order to stay safe, remind them to stay in their own personal space.  Have students stand by their desks or tables, or spread them around the room.  Have them keep their feet in one spot, and then stretch out their arms all around; if their hands or arms touch each other, reposition them, or have them reposition themselves, so that each student has ample personal space.
  • Tell students you are going to play instrumental music – just instruments, no words or singing - and as they listen they can sense how it makes them feel, and then move accordingly.  Remind them they must stay in their assigned places, and move only in their own personal space.
  • Put on a selection of instrumental music, possibly from another culture.
  • Model different ways of moving to the music, describing as you do (e.g, “I am waving my arms slowly,” or “This part makes me want to go up on my toes”) and encourage students to move in their own ways.  Possibly, use observational language to comment on some student choices (e.g., “I see Arianna swaying gently,” “Terrence is shaking his knees very quickly”).
  • After the activity, reflect by asking the students how they felt moving to the music, and why they made some of the movement choices they made.  Ask if the music made them imagine particular kinds of people, animals, places, times of day, weather, landscapes, etc.  Perhaps share some ideas of your own (e.g., “I imagined a teenage girl in a long blue dress.  I imagined a big rock along the seashore.”)

 

Work Session

  • Ask students to describe, in general, what we hear when we hear music, and how pieces of music are different from one another (e.g., some are faster, some have loud drums, some are sad, some have quiet parts).  Lead them to discussion of various elements of music – dynamics, tempo, pitch, duration, melody, etc.  Talk about the extremes in each (loud/soft, fast/slow, etc.)
  • Explain that students will listen to another piece of instrumental music.  This time, they will not move, but should listen for the musical elements, and think about the images these elements create in their minds.
  • Play a different piece of instrumental music, ideally one that contrasts the piece used in the opening activity.  Encourage students to listen with their eyes shut.
  • Tell students that they will be creating/composing original stories in response to the music.  Post and review with the students the following questions:
    • What is the title of my story? 
    • Where does my story take place? 
    • When does my story take place? 
    • Who are the characters? 
  • Give students paper and writing/drawing utensils.  Depending on the teacher’s goals and the students’ skill level, students can write and/or draw to create their stories.
  • Play the music again.  Ask the students to listen carefully again and to write or draw answers to the questions.
  • Repeat the process with two or three more contrasting pieces of instrumental music.  Have students create an idea page for each.
  • Have each student choose their favorite piece of music and compose a story that includes the title, setting, characters, and events inspired by the music.  Encourage them to include details.
  • Have students share their stories in pairs or trios.  Possibly, have volunteers share their stories in front of the entire class.  If they can speak loud enough, possibly play the selection of music softly as they are reading/telling their story.

 

Classroom Tips:

  • A wide range of music is best (e.g. Native American, Scandinavian, African, Asian, Latin American, flute, international jazz, violin, saxophone, harp); avoid using music familiar to or easily identified by students.

Closing Reflection

Ask students:  How did the music inspire story ideas in your mind?  Which elements of the music were most important to you in creating your story?  What did you like about this activity?  What was easy or hard about this activity?

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students participate actively in the warm-up.
  • Students cite the elements of music in their reflections on their music-listening and story composition.
  • Students use their time efficiently to write or draw ideas for their stories.

 

Summative

Student stories as written or drawn show clear evidence of having characters, settings, events, and titles.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: 

Add in the concepts of conflict/problem (“a challenge that the main character faces and must resolve”) and/or protagonist and antagonist (“the main character in the story,” and “the character who is opposed to or in conflict with the main character”) as elements that the students must clearly develop in their stories. 

Remediation: 

Work as a full class to develop the first story.  Then develop more stories as a full class, or have students work in small groups. 

Take care to choose musical selections that are not too challenging or jarring.

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

  • Putumayo World Music can be accessed at Putumayo.com, or accessed through streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music.
  • Longer loops in GarageBand or similar apps can be useful.
  • A search of “World Music” will bring up links to YouTube videos that feature varieties of multicultural instrumental music.

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by:  Janice Akers
Modifications, Extensions, and Adaptations Contributed by: Peggy Barnes, Candy Bennett, Lindsey Elrod, Jennifer Plummer, Vilma Thomas, and Barry Stewart Mann.

 Revised and copyright:  Date updated @ ArtsNOW

The Shades of Monster Emotions

THE SHADES OF MONSTER EMOTIONS

THE SHADES OF MONSTER EMOTIONS

Learning Description

Using the book The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions, by Anna Llenas, students will investigate story elements and dive into the world of emotions and colors. They will actively explore emotions using their faces, bodies, and voices.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 2
CONTENT FOCUS: THEATRE & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can make connections between emotions and colors.
  • I can use my body, face, and voice to convey emotions and colors.

Essential Questions

  • How are emotions like colors, and how can colors represent emotions?
  • How does talking about and exploring our emotions help us?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 2:

ELAGSE2RL1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. 

ELAGSE2RL7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Arts Standards

Grade 2:

TA2.PR.1 Act by communicating and sustaining roles in formal and informal environments. 

  1. Use imagination and vocal elements (e.g. inflection, pitch, volume, articulation) to communicate a character’s thoughts, emotions, and actions. 
  2. Use imagination and physical choices to communicate a character’s thoughts and emotions. 
  3. Collaborate and perform with an ensemble to share theatre with an audience. 
  4. Explore character choices and relationships in a variety of dramatic forms (e.g. narrated story, pantomime, puppetry, dramatic play).

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 2:

2.RL.MC.5.1 Ask and answer literal and inferential questions to demonstrate understanding of a text; use specific details to make inferences and draw conclusions in texts heard or read. 

2.RL.MC.5.2 Make predictions before and during reading; confirm or modify thinking.

Arts Standards

THEATRE

Anchor Standard 3: I can act in improvised scenes and written scripts.

VISUAL ARTS

Anchor Standard 5: I can interpret and evaluate the meaning of an artwork.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

Emotion – A state of feeling such as: angry; sad; excited; nervous; happy. 

Theme – the lesson of the story

Arts Vocabulary

Color - a component of light which is separated when it is reflected off of an object.

Actor – This is a person who performs a role in a play, work of theatre, or movie. 

Facial Expression – how an actor uses his or her face (eyes, cheeks, mouth, chin, nose) to convey meaning. 

Gestures –any movement of the actor’s head, shoulder, arm, hand, leg, or foot to convey meaning.

 

Materials

  • The Color Monster. A Story About Emotions, by Anna Llenas. 
  • Color list (below, or comparable by teacher choice)
  • Emotion list (below, or comparable by teacher choice)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Colors

  • Lead a discussion about colors.  What are colors?  Discuss how light reflects off of things in different ways, and that’s how our eyes see colors.  How do colors make you feel? What do they make you think of?  What is your favorite color, and why?  Option: show the list of colors attached below, discuss any that are unfamiliar, and compare different colors that are similar, e.g., silver and gray.  Ask what other colors they can think of that are not on the list.

Emotions

  • Lead a discussion about emotions.  “What are emotions?  How do different experiences make us feel different emotions?  How do our emotions change?  How do we express emotions?” Show the list of emotions attached below, discuss any that are unfamiliar, and compare different emotions that are similar, e.g., sad and lonely.  Ask what other emotions they can think of that are not on the list.

Connecting Colors and Emotions

  • Lead a discussion about the connection between colors and emotions.  “Can you think of any phrases that connect colors with emotions?(e.g., ‘green with envy,’ ‘seeing red,’ or ‘feeling blue,’ or ‘rose-colored glasses.’)”  Do certain emotions make you think of certain colors?  Or do you associate different colors with different emotions?  If so, why?”  Honor whatever connections the students might make, even if they seem unconventional.

 

Work Session

The Color Monster

Explain that the class will read a book that connects colors with emotions.  Discuss this connection as the theme of the book – it is the main idea or concept.  Show The Color Monster.  Explain that the author, Anna Llenas, has thought a lot about this question, and she connects certain colors with certain emotions.

  • Read the book aloud.  During the read aloud, have students add sound and body to express the characters and repeat key lines or phrases after you read them. Encourage them to become the characters with their face, body and voice.
  • After reading aloud, review the colors and emotions in the book (yellow = happy; blue = sad; red = anger; black = fear; green= calm; pink=love).  Discuss if those connections make sense to students.  Ask, “What other colors and emotions would you connect?”
  • Discuss the concept expressed in the book about feeling mixed emotions, and putting emotions into separate containers.  Ask, “What does this mean in real life?  How can we put emotions into different containers?”

Coloring Our Emotions

  • Tell the students that you will call out an emotion and they will use their bodies and faces to convey that emotion.  Start with a simple emotion like happy, sad, or scared.  Tell them they can use facial expression, body position, and gestures to convey the emotion.
  • Ask them to express what color they connect with that emotion.  (e.g., “I’m scared and it feels pink” or “I’m bored and it feels gray.”)
  • Ask them to add sound to their faces and bodies.  Ask, “Does this emotion make you use a loud or soft voice?  High or low?  How would you pronounce your words with this emotion?”  Allow different students to have different interpretations, and acknowledge that sometimes when someone is angry they could be loud or quiet, or that when someone is happy, their voice could get very high or very low.
  • Call out several more emotions from the list, and have the students repeat the process.
  • Give volunteers the opportunity, when conveying an emotion with body, face and voice, to articulate why someone might feel that emotion (e.g., “I’m angry that my sister won’t play with me, and it feels bright red,” or “I’m happy that we’re going to have ice cream, and it feels light green.”)

Finding Emotions from Our Colors (Optional)

  • Explain that now the process will be reversed.  A color will be called out, and students can respond with a connected emotion.  Tell students that they may connect the emotion directly with a color, or they may think of something the color reminds them of and find the emotional connection that way.  E.g., blue might make a student think of a swimming pool, invoking excitement; red may make a student think of a stop sign/caution; or orange may make them think of fire, invoking fear.
  • After calling out a color, allow students to use their bodies and faces to show the emotion; then ask volunteers to use their emotional voice to name the emotion they are thinking of and explain the connection, if any.

Extension

  • Have students draw a picture connecting a color with an emotion.  Have them start from either an emotion or a color.  If they start from an emotion, have them choose the color that they think goes with it.  If they choose a color, have them decide which emotion they connect with it.  Using a single color, have them write the emotion word (with guidance as needed) and draw images, lines, and shapes that convey the emotion (e.g., The drawing could include squiggles, zigzags, curves and solid shapes, as well as representational images such as a football player, two friends arguing, a piece of jewelry, or a butterfly).
  • Then have them write a paragraph describing the emotion in terms of the color and the elements they included in their illustration.  The paragraph can begin, “When I feel ______ (emotion), everything looks ________ (color) because . . .”

 

Closing Reflection

Ask, “What is the connection between emotions and colors?  How can colors help us think about emotions?  How do colors make us feel?  How did we express emotions using our bodies, facial expressions, and voices?“

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Students demonstrate understanding by using their bodies, faces, and voices. 
  • Students use emotion and color words to describe what they are enacting.
  • Students articulate situations or scenarios that make sense for the emotion they are conveying.

 

Summative

Students’ illustrations and paragraphs convey their understanding of the connection between emotions and color.

 

Differentiation

Acceleration: 

Explore the concept of mixed emotions implied in the book.  Have students choose two different, seemingly conflicting emotions connected with  two different colors, and have them enact them together.  Have them articulate a scenario that might lead to conflicting emotions (e.g., getting together with a close friend who is moving away).

Remediation: 

Work through the emotions according to how they are portrayed in the book, maintaining a one-to-one correspondence to avoid confusion.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Books with a similar theme:

     My Many-Colored Days, by Dr. Seuss

     What Color Is Your Day?, by Camryn Wells

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Susie Purcell and Barry Stewart Mann

Revised and copyright:  June 2023 @ ArtsNOW

Dancing Sentences K-1

DANCING SENTENCES

Dancing Sentences

Learning Description

In this lesson, students will explore punctuation and capitalization through movement and choreography.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: K-1
CONTENT FOCUS: DANCE & ELA
LESSON DOWNLOADS:

Download PDF of this Lesson

"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can demonstrate my understanding of ending punctuation marks by matching energy quality to punctuation.
  • I can demonstrate my understanding that every sentence should begin with an uppercase letter through movement.
  • I can choreograph a five movement phrase that uses the elements of dance as a tool of communication.

Essential Questions

  • How can I use movement and choreography to show my understanding of the conventions of the standard English language?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

Kindergarten:

ELAGSEKL1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a. Print many upper- and lowercase letters. d. Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how). f. Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

ELAGSEKL2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. a.  Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.  b.  Recognize and name end punctuation.

Grade 1:

ELAGSE1L1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. a.  Print all upper- and lowercase letters. j.  Produce and expand complete simple and compound sentences in response to questions and prompts (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory). k.  Print with appropriate spacing between words and sentences.

ELAGSE1L2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. b.  Use end punctuation for sentences.

Arts Standards

Kindergarten:

ESDK.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

ESDK.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

ESDK.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance

ESDK.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

Grade 1:

ESD1.CR.1 Demonstrate an understanding of the choreographic process.

ESD1.CR.2 Demonstrate an understanding of dance as a form of communication.

ESD1.PR.1 Identify and demonstrate movement elements, skills, and terminology in dance

ESD1.RE.1 Demonstrate critical and creative thinking in dance.

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Grade 1:

1.NSBT.1.c. Read, write and represent numbers to 100 using concrete models, standard form, and equations in expanded form1.NSBT.4 Add through 99 using concrete models, drawings, and strategies based on place value to: a. add a two-digit number and a one-digit number, understanding that sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten (regroup)

Arts Standards

Grade 1:

Anchor Standard 3: I can act in improvised scenes and written scripts.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Punctuation - Used to separate sentences and their elements, clarify meaning, and end sentences

  • Declarative sentence - A type of sentence that makes a statement or expresses an opinion ending with a period

 

  • Exclamatory sentence - A type of sentence that expresses strong emotion or excitement ending with an exclamation mark

  • Interrogative sentence - A type of sentence that asks a question ending with a question mark

Arts Vocabulary

  • Movement phrase - A series of movements linked together to make a distinctive pattern

  • Choreography - The art of composing dances and planning and arranging the movements, steps, and patterns of dancers 

 

  • Level - One of the aspects of the movement element space; in dance, there are three basic levels: high, middle, and low

Energy qualities:

  • Swinging - Established by a fall of gravity, a gain in momentum, a loss of momentum, and the repeated cycle of fall and recovery, like that of a pendulum

  • Sustained - Smooth and unaccented; there is not apparent start or stop, only a continuity of energy
  • Percussive - The quality of movement characterized by sharp starts and stops; staccato jabs of energy
  • Vibratory - Quality of movement characterized by rapidly repeated bursts of percussive movements like “a jitter”
  • Suspended - Occurs in a moment of resistance to gravity, such as the instant in which a dancer hangs in space at the top of a leap

 

Materials

  • Sound source and music with a steady beat
  • Cards with ending punctuation marks written on them (one per card)

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Classroom Tips: Open space as much as possible. Guide students through choreographic decisions rather than suggest ideas. Ask questions as to why they are making their choreographic choices to check for understanding. Remind students that it isn’t about a final product, it’s about the experience in the process. Reminder–A noisy classroom isn’t necessarily an off-task classroom. 

  • Begin by engaging students in movement that introduces students to the Elements of Dance: Body, action, space, time and energy.
    • Have students arrange themselves in the classroom with enough personal space to move freely without touching a neighbor.
    • Turn on instrumental music with a steady beat.
    • Element of Body: First, have students bring awareness to their bodies by leading them through gentle stretches starting from the head and moving to the toes (e.g., head circles, shoulder shrugs, toe touches, etc.). Then, ask them to make different shapes with their bodies.
    • Element of Energy: Now, direct students to explore energy variations with different movement qualities such as sharp movements–quick, precise actions like punches or snaps, and smooth movements–slow, flowing actions like waves or circles with arms.
    • Element of Space: Levels - Bring students’ attention to levels (high, middle, low) with movements such as stretching up high and moving on tiptoes, crouching in a small ball close to the floor, and bouncing in place at a middle level.
    • Have students practice what they just learned by saying words such as “high level movement” and have students create a spontaneous high level movement.
    • Have students return to their seats or the carpet.

 

Work Session

  • Divide students into partners or small groups. Tell students that they are going to pick three movements to put together to make a brief dance/movement phrase.
    • Allow time for groups to choreograph and practice.
    • Allow time for those who would like to perform to share.
  • Next, ask students what type of letter every sentence must start with. Students should respond with an uppercase letter.
    • Using dance levels, ask students to create a new movement to represent an uppercase letter in their movement phrase and where it should go (the beginning). Students now have a four movement phrase. 
  • Next, assign each group an ending punctuation for their movement phrase. Ask what type of movement they could create to show the assigned punctuation (i.e., an exclamation mark might be a high-energy jump).
    • Remind students of the element of energy from the activator. Ask students how energy can be used to communicate different types of punctuation. 
    • Provide time to guide students through experimentation of different energy qualities and movements. 
    • Ask students where their punctuation mark should go in their movement phrase. Students should respond that it should be the final movement in their phrase. 
    • Students will then go back to their groups or partners and add a movement to reflect their punctuation. Students should have a total of five movements in their choreography.

 

Closing Reflection

  • Students will perform their dances for their classmates. Discuss appropriate audience participation and etiquette prior to performances.
  • After each performance, the audience will identify the movement that showed the uppercase letter and the type of ending punctuation mark. Students should explain how they came to their conclusions.
  • Have students finish by creating a sentence that uses their ending punctuation mark.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Teachers will assess students’ understanding of the content throughout the lesson by observing students’ participation in the activator, discussion of uppercase letters and ending punctuation, ability to translate punctuation into energy levels in movement, and collaboration with groups to choreograph a movement phrase that demonstrates uppercase letters and ending punctuation.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

  • Students can demonstrate their understanding of ending punctuation by matching energy quality to punctuation.
  • Students can demonstrate their understanding that every sentence should begin with an uppercase letter through movement.
  • Students can choreograph a five movement phrase that uses the elements of dance as a tool of communication. 
  • Students can produce a sentence that correctly uses their ending punctuation mark.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Acceleration: Challenge students to create choreography demonstrating the sentence that they created at the end of the lesson. Students can add in other types of punctuation, such as commas. Students can think about how they can express their nouns and verbs through movement.

Remediation: 

  • Complete the whole five-movement choreographic process as a class before assigning individual partners/groups their own choreography.
  • Chunk the lesson by creating the three-movement phrase in one session, adding a movement for uppercase letters in a second session, and adding a movement for ending punctuation in a third lesson.

 

 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed: Melissa Dittmar-Joy. Updated by Katy Betts.

Revised and copyright:  August 2024 @ ArtsNOW