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Kutztown Area School District

Elective Course Proposal, ELA High School


Proposed by: Melanie Chester, Grade 8 ELA Teacher
Course Title: Music is Poetry, ELA Elective

Course Description:

In this elective online course, students will explore the connection between music and poetry.
An emphasis will be placed on analyzing songs for figurative language, meaning, theme, and
purpose. Students will be creating a “Soundtrack of My Life” blog and writing poetry inspired
by songs of their own choosing. Students will be communicating on the course’s discussion
forums, blogs, and via padlet, and zoom for group projects and our final. This course will use
the school’s learning management system, Canvas, to complete assignments and to create
discussion forum posts. This course will be available to all 9-12 grade students attending
Kutztown Area High School or KVA (Kutztown’s Virtual Academy). The course will last a full
semester (20 weeks) and will be offered once a year.

Rationale:
Because of our school district’s initiative to increase student enrollment in AP classes, BCTC
vocational school, and dual enrollment at Kutztown University, scheduling electives required for
graduation has become increasingly difficult. Additionally, students enrolled in our virtual
online academy are lacking a solid Elective ELA course offering. This course, which will be
taught entirely online, will help to alleviate this problem and offer all students, regardless of
career path or academic track an elective choice offering. This elective will be student-
centered, meeting the diverse learning needs of each student and empowering students with
the tools and skills they need to master course content.

Objectives:
1. Students will learn to analyze music for theme, meaning, and use of figurative language.
2. Students will make meaningful connections between music and their own lives.
3. Students will develop communication skills by interacting with peers through discussion
boards and by authoring a course “Soundtrack of My Life” course blog.
4. Students will explore music from the decades of the 1950s to the present.
5. Students will create poems inspired by music and create projects using digital tools to
complete assigned tasks.

Student Expectations:
1. Students are expected to log on to the course via Canvas at least three times a week and
respond promptly to email and course correspondence. All discussions in Canvas and
blog posts should be at least 150 words so that we may gain an understanding of your
ideas.
2. Students are expected to be respectful of others at all times, including maintaining a
professional and courteous rapport with all students and the instructor. We all will have
different musical preferences and opinions of the value and quality of the musical
selections. Please use thoughtful analysis of lyrics and avoid personal criticisms.
3. Students should only post songs with “school-appropriate” language. When in doubt,
please email me directly or choose another song for your assignments.
4. Have fun and enjoy learning about new music and writing poetry!

Related ELA Standards:


CC.1.2.8.F Analyze the influence of the words and phrases in a text including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings, and how they shape meaning and tone.

CC.1.3.9–10.A Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development
over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific
details; provide an objective summary of the text.

CC.1.3.9–10.J Acquire and use accurately grade appropriate general academic and domain-
specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or expression.

CC.1.4.9–10.D Organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and
distinctions; use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text;
include formatting when useful to aiding comprehension; provide a concluding statement or
section.

CC.1.4.9–10.U Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update
individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other
information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

ISTE Standards:
1c Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and
to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.

6b Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new
creations.

6d Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their
intended audiences.

7c Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and


responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

Office Hours:
- Please email me for help at any time at mchester@kasd.org A reply will be made within
24 hours.
- Virtual Office Hours via skype will be available upon request.

Course Syllabus

Week Topic/Activities Related Resources and Assignments


1  “Music is Poetry” Course o Download the free Spotify App
introduction o Complete the Icebreaker Activity
 Student introductions via o Respond to three students on our Canvas
Icebreaker discussion forum

2  Set up your class blog o Sign up for your free blog via Wordpress
 Blogging Basics https://wordpress.com/ This blog will be
 Post to blog used all semester long as a way to share
songs, analyze them, write poetry, and
communicate with classmates. Be sure to
come up with a catchy title that relates to
music and/or poetry.
o Complete the following post: If you could
have dinner with any singer, songwriter,
musician, or band from any time period,
who would it be and why? What insight
would you hope to gain? comment on at
least two classmates’ blogs.

3  Learn/Review 25 Poetic o Study vocabulary on Quizlet


Devices o Complete Gimkit assignment
o Take Summative Assessment on Quia
4  Song Analysis Practice o Complete the song analysis practice guide
 Blog Post with song and submit assignment to Canvas
Analysis o Find a song that uses at least TWO of these
figurative devices and post the song and
your analysis to the discussion forum AND
to your blog.
5 o March Madness Week of Voting (created
 March Madness-Style using the all students’ top choice.) All four
Voting Week rounds will be completed EACH DAY this
week, so it is imperative that all students
log in to the Canvas Discussion Forum and
vote each day.
o Complete the March Madness Song
Reflection on your blog. Respond to two
classmates.
6  Making personal o Create a “Soundtrack of My Life” entry to
connections to music your blog by choosing a “theme song” and
 Focus on theme in music reflect on your choice with a justification
 Learn about the paragraph. Comment on at least two of your
“Soundtrack of My Life” classmates’ blogs.
assignment o The entire assignment instructions are
HERE, but you will only be completing the
“theme song” analysis this week.
7  Songs which evoke o Continue the “Soundtrack of My Life” with
memories a song selection which evokes memories of
your childhood and where you are from.
Post your song choice to your blog.
Emphasis should be placed on uncovering
theme, analyzing for figurative language,
and making a strong connection to your
childhood memories.
8  Analyze mentor text and o Examine the mentor text “Where I am
create your own “Where From” by George Ella Lyon website and the
I’m From” song you selected as a song which evokes
memories of childhood
o Write a poem inspired by the Lyon’s poem
and the lyrics of the song from your
childhood and your hometown. Upload
assignment to Canvas.
9  Blackout Poetry o Watch the following video about creating
Blackout Poetry.
o Read these 5 Tips for Creating Blackout
Poetry
o Create a “Blackout Poem” with the lyrics
from one of your favorite songs. Post a
picture of the results to your blog and
comment on at least two classmates’ blogs.

10  Examine emotion in music o Using Padlet, brainstorm a list of songs


through tone and mood which evoke strong emotion. Consider
 Pantoum Poetry anger, regret, love, joy, sorrow, etc. Each
student should contribute at least one song.
These songs will help to inspire a poem.
o View this document (includes instructions,
a model, and a rubric) and write a “pantoum
poem” where you make an abstract emotion
more concrete.
o Post the pantoum poem to your blog and
include a 150 word minimum reflection on
using emotion to create poetry and how
emotion is made concrete in music.
11  Parody in music o Learn about parody and explore the music
of Weird Al Yankovich via this playlist and
complete the Venn Diagram. Upload to
Canvas.
o Discussion Forum activity about the
function of parody. Comment on least two
classmates’ posts.
Weeks 12 and  Writing a parody o Create your own parody of a song of your
13  Peer collaboration/review choosing. The directions are found here.
o Complete a self-assessment using the
rubric. Find a partner for a PEER
assessment. Give specific advice for
improvement and revisions.
o Post both the song and parody to your blog.
Be sure to give credit to the original artist.
14 and 15  Researching music of the o Work together in groups of 2-3 students to
decades research and compile a list of influential
 Group collaboration music through the decades. Each group
must “claim” a decade of music to research
on the discussion forum.
o Together, you will create a ten-slide
minimum google slide presentation to teach
the rest of the students about this decade of
music — influences, pop culture, list of top
ten songs, important bands, etc. Post this
Google Slide project to the Discussion
forum and respond to at least two other
projects
16  Self-reflection o Consider what you’ve learned about the
decades of music and write a reflection blog
post about what you’ve learned about the
music of this decade and what lessons you
learned working in groups.
17  Song Analysis o Final Soundtrack of My Life blog post with
 Blog Exploration THREE additional songs and analyses. Use
the instructions found HERE.
o Blog exploration week. Explore student
music blogs and comment on at least two
classmates’ blogs. One MUST be a blog
that you’ve never commented on before.
Week  Learn about the art of o Learn about slam poetry via the playlist
s 18 spoken word poetry and complete the spoken word observation
and 19  Slam Poem inspired by a sheet on any three performances. Upload
song in your “Soundtrack assignment to Canvas.
of My Life” o Choose ANY of the five songs from your
“Soundtrack of Your Life” and create a 12
line minimum poem inspired by that song.
See final project rubric.
o Present song and your original poem
inspired by your song choice to your
classmates via Zoom.
20  Course reflection o Post Course reflection video to flipgrid.
Comment on at least two classmates’
videos.

Scoring:

Assignment Point
Value
Icebreaker Activity 10 pts
Discussion Forum 5 pts
Blog creation and Introductory 10 pts.
Post: Who is coming to dinner?
Gimkit Assignment 5 pts.
Poetic Devices Assessment on 25 pts.
Quia
Song Analysis Practice Guide 5 pts.
Song Analysis Post on Blog 20 points
March Madness Voting 5 pts.
Participation and Blog 10 pts.
Reflection
Soundtrack of My Life (3 50 pts.
assignments this semester)
“Where I’m From” Poem 20 pts.
inspired by mentor texts
Blackout Poem 10 pts.
Emotion in Music Padlet 5 pts.
Pantoum Poem 20 pts
Emotion in Music Reflection 5 pts
Parody Venn Diagram 5 pts.
Parody Discussion Forum 10 pts.
Original Parody of Song 30 pts.
Google Slide Group 20 pts.
Assignment: Music of a decade
Reflection Post 10 pts.
Blog Exploration Posts 10 pts
(Soundtrack of My Life due)
Slam Poetry Observation sheet 5 pts
Slam Poetry Writing 20 pts
Zoom Presentation Slam Poetry 20 pts
Final Course Reflection on 10 pts
Flipgrid
Responses to classmates 5 pts
Total 350 pts

Range (Point totals) Letter Grade

342-350 A+

323–341 A

314-322 A-

303-313 B+

289-302 B

279-288 B-

268-278 C+

254-267 C

244-253 C-

233-243 D+

219-232 D

209-218 D-

Under 209 F

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