ALEX Learning Activity

  

Wild Things: A Song Study

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Jeanette Shorey
Organization:-1
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 1816
Title:
Wild Things: A Song Study
Digital Tool/Resource:
Alessia Cara - Wild Things (Official Audio) YouTube
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

This activity is designed to allow students to make connections to their own lives, to help them use background knowledge, and to help them understand that reading comprehension is just as important when singing or playing an instrument as it is when reading a story or text.

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.
  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
Arts Education
ARTS (2017)
Grade: 5
Music: General
16) Demonstrate and explain, citing evidence, how selected music connects to and is influenced by specific interests, experiences, purposes, or contexts.

Unpacked Content
Artistic Process: Responding
Anchor Standards:
Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Process Components: Select
Essential Questions:
EU: Individuals' selection of musical works is influenced by their interests, experiences, understandings, and purposes.
EQ: How do individuals choose music to experience?
Concepts & Vocabulary:
Rhythm
Melody
  • Pitch set: Do-centered diatonic
  • Treble clef reading (choral octavos)
  • Grand staff
  • Bass clef
  • Accidentals
  • Major scale
Harmony
  • Part singing/ playing
  • Chord progression (I, IV, V)
  • Arpeggio
  • Descant
  • Level bordun
Form
  • Rondo form
  • 12-Bar blues
Expression
  • Vibrato
  • Tremolo
  • Reggae
  • Blues
  • Timbre: soprano, alto, tenor, bass
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (Ab3-F5)
Skill Examples:
Performing
  • Analyze the formal structure of music that is to be performed.
  • Identify elements of music to be performed for a specific context (for example, dynamic markings that are appropriate for a lullaby).
Creating
  • Choose a literary work, such as a poem or story, to generate musical ideas for performance.
Reading/ Writing
  • Examine performance music for expressive elements, and use correct notation to indicate placement.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Justify personal preferences for certain musical pieces, performance, composers and musical genres both orally and in writing.
  • Discuss contributions of musical elements to aesthetic qualities in performances of self and others.
  • Consider and articulate the influence of technology on music careers.
  • Develop and apply criteria for critiquing more complex performances of live and recorded music.
Learning Objectives:

  1. Students will demonstrate and explain how this song connects to their life and their experiences.

  2. Students will explain the composer's purpose in writing this song.
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
Before/Engage
Activity:

  1. Listen to the song, Wild Things, by Alessia Cara.

  2. While listening, look at the lyrics on the PowerPoint.

  3. Turn and talk to a neighbor about any connections (what the song made you think of or reminded you of) you made to the song.

  4. Discuss new vocabulary using the PowerPoint.

  5. Have a whole group discussion about the song, stopping frequently to make connections, discuss new concepts, and discuss the composer’s purpose (relate to the author’s purpose – the reason the author wrote the book or story).
Assessment Strategies:

Determine whether students understand the new concepts, new vocabulary, and comprehend the meaning of the song by observing their discussion. 
Advanced Preparation:

  1. Download the PowerPoint.

  2. Set up the PowerPoint for viewing.

  3. Look over the lyrics and the new vocabulary to be prepared for the whole group discussion.
Variation Tips (optional):

  1. As a whole group, compose a new verse for the song, based on the connections made during the discussion.

  2. Break into groups and compose a new verse based on the connections your group made during the discussion.
Notes or Recommendations (optional):

Be sure to have a complete understanding of how the literacy vocabulary relates to the music. For more information on this, visit Stories That Sing!
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: