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What's Your Story Song?

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Lesson Plan

My Story, My Song Lesson Plan

Students will transform everyday experiences into simple song lyrics, fostering self-expression and creative storytelling.

This lesson helps students recognize their personal experiences as valuable sources of inspiration for artistic creation, specifically through songwriting, and builds confidence in their creative voice.

Audience

3rd Grade Students

Time

45 minutes

Approach

Students will brainstorm experiences, learn simple songwriting structure, and draft lyrics.

Materials

From Day to Tune Presentation, Brainstorming Beat Bubbles, My First Verse Builder, and Share a Line Exit Ticket

Prep

Teacher Preparation

15 minutes

Step 1

Introduction: What's Your Story?

5 minutes

  • Begin with a brief discussion: "What's a story you love? It could be a book, a movie, or even something that happened to you!"
    - Introduce the idea that everyone has unique stories worth sharing, and today, students will learn to turn their stories into songs.
    - Display the first slide of the From Day to Tune Presentation.

Step 2

Story to Song: Presentation & Brainstorm

15 minutes

  • Go through the From Day to Tune Presentation slides, explaining how everyday experiences can become song ideas.
    - Lead students through the "Brainstorming Beat Bubbles" activity. Students will fill in their bubbles with personal experiences, feelings, and ideas.
    - Encourage sharing and discussion after each section of brainstorming.

Step 3

Crafting Our First Verse

15 minutes

  • Introduce the "My First Verse Builder" worksheet. Explain the simple AABB rhyme scheme and encourage students to use their brainstormed ideas.
    - Model how to take an idea from Brainstorming Beat Bubbles and turn it into a rhyming line. For example, if a bubble says "playing with my dog," a line could be "My dog, he is so fluffy and sweet, / He loves to chase the ball with his feet."
    - Circulate and provide support as students work on their verses.

Step 4

Share a Line & Wrap Up

10 minutes

  • Have students complete the Share a Line Exit Ticket by writing down one line from their verse or an idea for a future song.
    - Invite a few students to share their line or idea with the class.
    - Collect the exit tickets and provide positive reinforcement for their creativity.
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Slide Deck

Your Story, Your Song!

Turn Your Life Into Music!

Ever wonder how your favorite songs are made?
They often start with a story... YOUR story!

Welcome students and set an exciting tone. Emphasize that everyone has amazing stories inside them.

What's Your Story?

Look Around You!

  • Your morning routine
  • Playing with friends or pets
  • A funny thing that happened
  • Your favorite things to do
  • Anything that makes you feel happy, silly, or thoughtful!

Ask students to think about things they did this morning, yesterday, or even last weekend. Prompt them with questions like: "What did you eat for breakfast? What made you laugh? What did you see on the way to school?"

Song Parts: The Verse

Where Your Story Lives

Think of a verse as a mini-story within your song.

  • It tells what happened.
  • It describes feelings or actions.
  • It helps listeners imagine your story!

Explain that songs often have different parts, like a story has paragraphs. Introduce 'verse' as a part where the story unfolds. Keep it simple and focused on storytelling.

Making Words Sing: Rhyme Time!

Words that Sound Alike

Rhyming words often appear at the end of lines.

  • cat and hat
  • play and day
  • tree and me

Rhyming makes songs sound musical and fun to listen to!

Introduce the idea of rhyming. Provide simple examples. Let them know it doesn't have to be perfect, just fun!

Time to Brainstorm!

Get Your Ideas Flowing!

We all have amazing stories inside us.

Let's use our Brainstorming Beat Bubbles to capture all those great ideas. Think about:

  • People you know
  • Places you go
  • Things you love to do
  • Feelings you have

Introduce the "Brainstorming Beat Bubbles" activity. Explain they will use this to get ideas flowing.

Write Your First Verse!

Let the Music Begin!

Now, let's take your ideas and turn them into a song verse.

We'll use the My First Verse Builder to help us put our stories into rhyming lines. Don't worry about perfection, just have fun telling your story!

Explain the worksheet "My First Verse Builder" and the next steps. Encourage them to be creative and have fun.

Every Story Matters!

Your Voice is Important!

Your experiences, your thoughts, and your feelings are unique.

When you share your story, you share a piece of yourself with the world. And that's something to sing about!

Remind students that their stories are special and important. This is a chance for them to feel proud of their creativity.

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Activity

Brainstorming Beat Bubbles: What's Your Story?

Get ready to fill these bubbles with all the awesome ideas from your life! Think about everything that makes you, YOU! These ideas will help you write your song.

My Story Bubbles

People I Know

(Who are important to you? Friends, family, teachers, pets?)







Places I Go

(Where do you love to be? School, home, park, a favorite room?)







Things I Do

(What are your favorite activities? Playing, reading, drawing, helping?)







How I Feel

(What emotions have you felt lately? Happy, excited, calm, proud?)







My Favorite Things

(What objects, foods, or colors do you love?)







Draw more bubbles if you need them! Every idea is a good idea for your story song!

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Worksheet

My First Verse Builder: Let Your Story Sing!

Now it's time to turn your awesome ideas from Brainstorming Beat Bubbles into your very own song verse! Remember, a verse tells a part of your story.

Try to make the end of your lines rhyme! We'll use an AABB pattern, where the first two lines rhyme, and the next two lines rhyme.

My Story Song Verse

Line 1 (A): (What happened? What did you do?)






Line 2 (A): (Make this line rhyme with Line 1!)






Line 3 (B): (Add more to your story or a feeling!)






Line 4 (B): (Make this line rhyme with Line 3!)






Feeling stuck? Look back at your Brainstorming Beat Bubbles for more ideas! Your story is amazing!

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Cool Down

Share a Line Exit Ticket

Before you go, let's share a little bit of your story song!

  1. Write one line from the verse you started today on your My First Verse Builder.






  2. OR, if you didn't finish your verse, write down one new idea you have for a story song!






Great job turning your story into a song today!

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lenny