Say It With A Song

TITLE

LES

DURATION

LEARNING &
EVALUATION
SITUATION

75 minutes

TEXT(S)

Forged By Fire by Sharon Draper

MATERIALS

SUBJECT AREA

LEVEL

Smart board, class speakers, laptop, 4 song clips

English Language Arts

Secondary
Cycle One

<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 1 (Gr. 7)
<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 2 (Gr. 8)

Secondary
Cycle Two

Year 1 (Gr. 9)
Year 2 (Gr. 10)

<INPUT TYPE=\
Year 3 (Gr. 11)

Competency 2: Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts

PROGRAM CONTENT

Integrates reading profile, stance and strategiesto make sense of a textin a

specific context.

Talks about own response to a text within a classroom community.

Interprets the relationship(s) between reader text and context in light of own
response.

Students will be able to:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will produce four brief creative writing pieces based on musical scores.
Students will make a connection between how music influences their writing.
Students will be able to identify one literary device in the text.
Students will be able to use five new vocabulary words in a new sentence.
Students will be able to identify the similarities between Angel and Tiger.
Secondary
Cycle One

SUBJECT-SPECIFIC
COMPETENCIES

Secondary
Cycle Two

Competency 1. Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 2. Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 3. Produces texts for personal and social purposes
Competency 1. Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn
Competency 2. Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
Competency 3. Produces texts for personal and social purposes
Competency 4. Writes a variety of genres for personal and social purposes

CROSS-CURRICULAR
COMPETENCIES

BROAD AREA
OF LEARNING

Competency 1. Uses information

Competency 2. Solves problems
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 3. Exercises critical
judgment
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 4. Uses creativity
Competency 5. Adopts effective work methods
Health and Well-Being
Personal and
Career
Planning

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 6. Uses ICT

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 7. Achieves his/her
potential
Competency 8. Cooperates with others
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 9. Communicates
appropriately

Environmental Awareness /
Consumer Rights and
Responsibilities

<INPUT TYPE=\ Media

Literacy
<INPUT TYPE=\ Citizenship
and
Community Life

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 1. To act as a

professional inheritor, critic and interpreter of
knowledge or culture when teaching students.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 2. To
communicate clearly in the language of
instruction, both orally and in writing using
correct grammar, in various contexts related to
teaching.

PROFESSIONAL
COMPETENCIES

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 3. To develop

teaching/learning situations that are
appropriate to the students concerned and the
subject content with a view to developing the
competencies targeted in the program of study.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 4. To pilot
teaching/learning situations that are
appropriate to the students concerned and to
the subject content with a view to developing
the competencies targeted in the program
study.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 5. To evaluate
student progress in learning the subject
content and mastering the related
competencies.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 6. To plan,
organize and supervise a class in such a way
as to promote students learning and social
development.

<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 7. To adapt his

or her teaching to the needs and
characteristics of students with learning
disabilities, social maladjustment or handicaps.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 8. To integrate
information and communications technologies
(ICT) in the preparation and delivery of
teaching/learning activities and for instructional
management and professional development
purposes.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 9. To cooperate
with school staff, parents, partners in the
community, and students in pursuing the
educational objectives of the school.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 10. To
cooperate with members of the teaching team
in carrying out tasks involving the development
and evaluation of the competencies targeted in
the programs of study, taking into account the
students concerned.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 11. To engage in
professional development individually and with
others.
<INPUT TYPE=\ Competency 12. To
demonstrate ethical and responsible
professional behavior in the performance of his
or her duties.

CLASS PERIOD
& DURATION
CLASS 1

15 minutes

Say It With A Song

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1: FBF CHAPTER 9 & 10

Every class begins with fifteen minutes of silent reading. Students will enter the class and be
instructed to pull out their novels. During the time, the instructor will take attendance. Students
were responsible to pick a new novel to begin reading; the instructor will circulate and take down
each students novel title.
Introduction/Warm-Up
The instructor will begin the lesson with a hook on music:
Premise: I went to go see a movie this weekend and the song in the soundtrack really made me
very emotional. Why is that?
Development
1) Guiding question: How does music affect us?

15 minutes

2) The instructor will play a piece of instrumental music for two minutes and ask the
students to write whatever they think of during that time. The instructor will also
participate in the writing.
3) When time is up, the instructor will ask if anyone wants to read his or her story out loud
(the goal is to have three students feel comfortable enough to share). Once the students
have taken turns and shared their work the instructor will read her own work.
4) A class discussion will follow where the students will discuss how the music affected
their writing.
5) This process will continue three more times with three different pieces of music.
6) The instructor will ask students to keep this in mind while reading the novel.
7) As a class we will read chapters 7 & 8 of Forged By Fire by Sharon M. Draper. The
instructor will begin by reading aloud.
8) The instructor will stop at four predetermined vocabulary words (words listed in
appendix 1) and ask the students to either define the words then use them in an original
sentence or find a synonym.
a) The instructor will have appendix 1 projected on the smart board and will use the
smart board technology to write the class definition on the smart board allowing
students the opportunity to copy the definition rather than retain it orally.

40 minutes

9) The instructor will also pause at key moments in the text and ask a guiding question to
stimulate class discussion. While the discussion is taking place the instructor will be
checking for understanding by assessing the students responses. The instructor will also
pause at key quotes that will lead into analysis questions in appendix 1. Students will be
given time to write down their responses then sharing them with the class.
a) He had asked her once, and her answer was more frightening than the question
(p.55)
I.

Students will answer this question in appendix 1 then share their responses
with the class.

b) Angel had forgotten their presence, and was moving, eyes closed, to the sweet
rhythm of the song (p.55).
I.

How was the music able to help Angel forget?

II.

Students will answer this question in appendix 1 then share their responses
with the class.

c) Please dont, Gerald. If your do, Ill run away and hide in the snow. Ill say youre
bad and you made it up! (p.58).
I.

Introduce journal topic: Why is it so hard for us to ask for help?

d) Mamma had fixed peanut butter today (p.62).

I.

Connect peanut butter to Geralds essay in Tears Of A Tiger.

Closure/Wrap-Up
1. Ask the students to summarize chapter nine and ten.
2. Ask the students to make predictions of what will happen.
Extension/Whats Next?
Say It With A Song activity.

PERFORMANCE TASK: Say It With A Song: A FBF Soundtrack

Assessment
Students will be given appendix 2. Students will be asked to create a five-song soundtrack
connecting each song to a specific moment in the novel. They will be responsible for finding the
music and writing a paragraph on why they think that song best represents that moment. The
assignment will be due Monday April 4th. Students will be expected to share one song with the
class and explain their song choice orally.
Evaluation Criteria
This assignment will be formally evaluated. The instructor will assess the writing and check for
understanding between a link to the song choice and the moment the student selected. There
will also be a informal oral assessment when the students present their song to the class.
Extension/Whats Next?
FBF chapter 11 & 12.
Mock Trial Activity.
Multi-level Modifications

Tutorials are offered at lunchtime for additional help.

If there are students who are struggling, the instructor may choose to have those
students produce three songs instead of five.

For those students who are advanced, the instructor may ask them to produce more
songs or create a album cover for their soundtrack.

TEACHING GOALS

This class can get easily distracted and easily loose their focus. There are four students
that I have identified as being very influential in poor behavior. One of my goals is to
maintain the focus of the class and limit the amount of disruptions. I will be circulating
and making frequent eye contact with those students in order to prevent misbehavior.

When students know the answer, they get excited and often call out their answers. It is
my goal to reinforce the students to raise their hands to be called on to answer
questions. I accomplish this by before asking the questions, stating: Raise your hand if
you

REFLECTION:

APPENDIX

Appendix 1: FBF vocabulary and analysis questions.

Appendix 2: Say It With A Song: FBF Soundtrack.