Resource

Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Pictorial Tribute to the Negro National Anthem by James Weldon Johnson

Medium
Book

Annotation/Rationale
Johnson provides a brief history of how the inspirational anthem Lift Every Voice and Sing was composed. The lyrics are beautifully laid out against historical photographs illustrating the struggle for equal rights in America. Song lyrics are also included for easy distribution. This resource introduces students to both orchestral musical instruments and the rhythm of poetry about the musical subjects. Students will find this book a playful read while learning new information and the beat needed in some writing styles. Can be used as a model for poetry writing. A non-fiction resource that explains what sound is, how sound is measured, and how echoes are heard. Many student friendly images and diagrams in addition to a glossary and additional resources students can access for more information. This classic realistic fiction text depicts the story of a young boy who discovers how he can communicate with the world through sounds he creates found objects instead of speaking. Students can easily relate to the main characters reluctance to speak on a bad day. The generalized urban community setting also feels familiar as a local West Philadelphia street.

Resource Limitation
Some students may struggle to understand the mature subject matter depicted in some of the photographs or why author use the word negro in the books title is not derogatory. Some language is sophisticated for second grade however there are other accessible context clues students can rely on for the deciphering the meaning. A certain amount of creativity is needed also to realize how some actions are exaggerated for the poetrys purposes. The reading level is fairly basic and some information maybe just review for second graders. This is a good resource still though for the lowest level readers to still confidently participate in the curriculum materials. A few students may find it difficult to connect with the storys main problem and solution. Also a few others could find the story too trivial and miss the storys greater message about how we use sounds to implicitly communicate our feelings in many forms than just speech.

Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin by Lloyd Moss illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Book

First Science: Sound by Kay Manolis

Book

Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkney

Book

Ah Music! written and illustrated by Aliki

Book

Mary Had a Little Lamb, recording by Thomas Edison

CD

The Magic School Bus - In the Haunted Museum: A Book About Sound adaptation by Linda Ward Beech Play, Mozart, Play by Peter Sis

Book

Book

Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco

Book

This foundational text is found in the student Storytown anthology readers. Students are encouraged to consider how music influences the listeners feelings. The original nonfiction book is a lengthier resource with additional information about instrument type, musical genres throughout the world, and musical styles over history. This is the first known recording of sound. Students can hear Edison introducing his recording experiment and then reciting the nursery rhyme. The sound quality of the recording is a good comparison with current music recording quality due to advances in technology. Students are easily engaged and excited about learning how sound is critical to music. The storys familiar characters provide readers an adventure to journey along and encourage their own questions about what mysteries are occurring. This beautifully illustrated story simply retells the story of young, talented Mozart and his fathers insistence on always practicing. The elaborate images give students opportunity to creatively infer what Mozarts young life was truly like as both gift and burden. A class read aloud story by Polacco shares the practice of counting the seconds between lightning and thunder to estimate how far away a storm is. A young girl develops self-confidence against a thunderstorm under her Grandmothers guide for baking a thunder cake during the rainstorm. This story expands how sounds

While this is a nonfiction text some of the text features are untraditional. Students could be confused by the comic strip still of illustration and text bubbles used with this genre type. The original expanded form has too much material for second graders to read in only one lesson. Playing this recording on a CD or computer loses some of the effect of how the first recording was made with a record and gramophone player. While scientific facts are presented about sound and music this storys genre is not nonfiction. Some students may want to only focus on the fiction storys elements of problem and resolution. For some students they may not enjoy the books basic text and reliance on illustrations to enhance the story. Others may enjoy this style yet not fully be able to relate the images to Mozarts musical experiences. The rural farm setting in Michigan and Russian tradition calling ones grandmother Babushka will need explanation to second grade students so they can comfortably follow the storys events.

communicate all forms of messages beyond just speech, e.g. with distance here.

Science and Children, January 2013, Vol 50,5 NSTA

Magazine

Thomas Edison

Book

The professional development magazine includes lesson plans inspired from childrens literature. One lesson from this month has students exploring the early inventions of Thomas Edison and researching for a modern day invention for benefits and disadvantages this new technology provides. Corresponding standards and additional internet resources are provided. A brand new text by the author of the popular, Now and Ben.

There is a wealth of information in such publications and busy teachers can easily overlook strong classroom ideas. This specific lesson plan is targeted for upper elementary students so will need modifications and more scaffolding adapted to meet the learning needs of second graders.

The Sound of Music Cassette Tape, CD, and iTunes MP3 file

Audio Media

BrainPop, Jr. Videoclips

Youtube Video Clips

http://www.scholastic.com/mag icschoolbus/games/sound/

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/e arlychildhood/theme/music.htm l

Can You Hear It? by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Book/Audio CD

Other websites

Curriculum Resources: Harcourt Storytown

Peter Ustinov reads The Orchestra

CD

Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat by Nikki Giovanni

Book/Audio CD

The Jazz Fly written and performed by Matthew Gollub

Book/Audio CD

Read and Do Science: Sound by Melinda Lilly

Book

Another easy read for more beginning readers explaining how sound and hearing functions in ordinary experiences. Photographs of young children enacting the books text makes it appealing to students and includes many simple experiments students can perform with only a few supplies needed. A beautiful biography detailing the inspirational life of Philadelphia born singer, Marian Anderson. Marions story has many connections to our class theme of big dreams, integrity, and the Civil Rights March on Washington, DC. The text and accompanying illustrations enliven this beautiful and courageous story that students will find just as compelling. Another biographical story of Jazz legend Duke Ellington. Jazz is Americas music and this book depicts the rise of jazz music through one musician, Duke Ellington. Duke work ethic and support of his orchestra is reinforced through the books playful images of colorful musical sound. Students can make connections here to Ah, Music! in what music makes the listener think of.

When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan

Book

While the experiments can be conducted by all students, there is limited explanation from the text of why certain results happen due to how sound functions. Many students will ask, and should be encouraged to do so, about the properties of sound that are occurring during the experiments. The length of this story is quite long for second graders. Since the book raises so many pertinent discussion questions and enrichment opportunities this resource should be spread over at least two days.

Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Book

For children with no previous knowledge or experience with jazz music could find this books spirited depiction of the musical style difficult to interpret. Playing a sound clip of Duke Ellington playing beforehand would be extremely helpful.

Gonna Sing My Head Off! America Folk Songs for Children arranged by Kathleen Krull

Book

The Science of Sound: Projects and Experiments with Music and Sound Waves by Steve Parker

Book

Our National Anthem by Stephanie St. Pierre

Book

This resource is a collection of American folk songs with lyric sheet music, an introduction, and geographic region included for each song. Classic national songs often sung in conjunction with the national anthem, such as Yankee Doodle and We Shall Overcome, can be found in this resource. A colorful nonfiction text resource that depicts interesting experiments to further explore how sound works. The text level is for advanced readers. Each page uses multiple text features to examine and explain a property of sound. More historical information on the how Americas national anthem came to be can be found with this nonfiction text resource. Five chapters detail the anthems creation during the War of 1812 through leveraging the song during wartime and campaigns for national unity. A nonfiction book that introduces young readers to the history of America and how the national anthem was influenced by this past. The text level is an appropriate level for many second graders to read independently or sections as a read aloud. Illustrations augment what the text is explaining.

The Star-Spangled Banner by Catherine A. Welch

Book

Since this resource is probably best suited for a traditional music class there is limited use for the extensive collection in a general classroom setting. Select songs could be used as powerful secondary examples during social studies lessons in this curriculum. Most of the projects suggested by this resource are too complex for second graders to conduct. The text explanation of the subject is not dependent on students completing the experiment. This is not a resource to give out to students for individual or shared reading due to the length and sophistication of text. Historical photographs and artifacts from this book could be shared during a lesson about the national anthem with another text resource. There is a very limited selection of books that tell the story of the creation of the national anthem for lower elementary school students rather than just outlining the anthems lyrics as a picture book. This text is still too lengthy to be read aloud in one setting and also does not include a range of nonfiction text features to expand the subject matter.

Sounds All Around by Wendy Pfeffer

Book

A fun read aloud text that introduces students to the basic elements of sounds such vibration, decibels, and sound waves. It also explores how more exciting aspects of how sound is used to help people communicate throughout the world and animals seek out prey with echolocation. Students are impressed with the new trivia facts they learn from this text. Another great science resource text that explains in depth the elements of sound with corresponding experiments. Many of the experiments can be easily adapted to the school classroom with the whole class safely participating. There is also a heading devoted to exploring whether it is sound or music, a curriculum unit focus. A cute, fun fiction story about a frogs big dream of becoming a singer. As the frog shares his dream with family and friends they do not take him seriously. Frog is determined to succeed and eventually impresses the other animals with his talent so much that people say he inspired Rhythm and Blues. This book showcases both musical styles throughout history and geographic areas. Elaborate illustrations are labeled with clear descriptions explaining often detailed facts that support the text overview.

Project Science: Sound and Music by Alan Ward

Book

The information learned from this book is sophisticated new knowledge for second graders however the book uses solely illustrations to inform the text. Some students may prefer more elaborate photographs or diagrams to further understand the information. A few of the illustrations are also misleading such as showing physical lines radiating out from a sound when defining sound waves. The text level is too sophisticated for second graders to read independently. This resource is an appropriate introductory text about sound and music.

The Frog Who Wanted to be a Singer by Linda Goss.

Book

This book is similar to other read aloud texts but replaces the main characters with animals. Some readers may struggle with the familiar storyline now from the perspective of a frog. The wealth of information here can be counterproductive for younger readers. Such readers would need to be given specific pages and research questions to answer when using this resource. Another good text to use for supplemental study not introduction material.

The Usborne Story of Music by Eileen OBrien

Book

Bravo, Maurice! By Rebecca Bond

Book

Here students can follow along with a young boy discovering his own talent while his family tries to decide this for him. The urban setting and family depictions are familiar experiences for many students. The prose is written with vivid detail supporting the readers five senses.

There is little factual information about sound or music to learn from this realistic fiction text.