how do we connect more deeply with a text?

This is a Connect module - which means we'll be focusing on developing a targeted skill. Our skill focus this week is analyzing texts, which we will do by diving deeply into our favorite music.

Module summary:

• be exposed: understand tone and mood in a text
• practice: analyze songs and connect to memories
• create: build a soundtrack of your life so far
• reflect: discuss impact of analysis on music appreciation

How do you interact with music that is significant in your life?

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essential questions

1. How do we dig deeper into texts we interact with on a daily basis?
2. How does creative writing translate to other areas of our lives?​

learning objectives

1. Students will analyze mood and tone in some of their favorite songs and new music, and understand how music can reflect moments in life. 
2. Student will define what music means to their individual life and understand that music changes with us depending on how we feel, hear, and how we live. 

activities

INTRODUCE

• Complete warm up: share two contrasting songs with Jen and complete tone and mood handout
  • E-mail Jen a YouTube link to a song you like
  • Complete mood and tone handout
• Listen to songs chosen by classmates and guess who chose which songs
  • Discuss contrasts in songs and reasoning behind choices
• Review syllabus and module expectations

EXPOSE

• Review tone and mood warm-up and definitions of the terms
• Explore music - what is happening beneath the surface and how we interact with it
  • Watch "Five Ways to Listen Better" TED talk
  • Watch "How the Jump Rope Got its Rhythm" TED talk
• Take Movie Soundtrack quiz and identify connections between mood of clips and tone of movies they came from
• Review common music genres and typical moods associated with them

PRACTICE

• Participate in discussion about the role music plays in your life
• Working with a partner, connect music to contrasting memories or experiences in your lives
  • Use Google document to complete the following:
    • List two memories or experiences you share that have contrasting moods (they can be common experiences, not specific ones - i.e. moving houses or starting school)
    • Find a song that illustrates the mood of each memory
    • Identify the tone of each song (artist's intention) and mood of the song (the feeling you get when listening to it)
    • Write a paragraph for each song that makes connections between the memory, the song, and the mood they both elicit
• Share songs and paragraphs with the group
  • Discuss song choices and identified moods
  • Critique another pair's writing with editing checklist

CREATE

• Create a soundtrack for your life by connecting contrasting memories to moods to songs, following the same process you completed for Practice. Choose memories with contrasting moods and representing at least two different music genres. Use this Google Doc. 
  • Choose five significant moments in your life
  • Identify the mood from each memory
  • Choose a song that illustrates the mood from each memory
  • Write an explanatory paragraph for each memory

• Review your choices and paragraphs with Jen
• Share your soundtrack with the class (or pick a few songs that show contrasting moods)

REFLECT

• Conference with Jen about module
  • How did the module push your thinking?
  • What was your take on the workload of the module?
  • Would you take a module like this again?

c-tachs

Writing

• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through effective selection, organization, and analysis of content
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience

Reading​

• Interpret meaning of words and phrases in context and how the use shape meaning and tone 

Language

• Demonstrate command of conventions of standard English grammar when speaking and writing
• Demonstrate command of standard capitalization and punctuation​
• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meaning 

resources

Module syllabus
Practice: Connecting Music to Memories
​Create: Build a Soundtrack of your Life