Lyrics & Literature: Making the Text Come Alive
through Songwriting
An Artist in Residence program for 3rd - 12th graders
A Songwriting Residency with Priscilla Sanders:
- Meets and implements Common Core and Tennessee state standards: Music, Language Arts, Writing, Critical Thinking
- Provides tactile and differentiated learning for kinesthetic learners
- Connects students to the text in a new way which creates understanding on a deeper level
- Integrates into their existing curriculum because residency is designed in collaboration with classroom teacher
- Introduces the basics of songwriting structure: melody, rhyming, and rhythm
- Reviews and implements figurative language
- Gives opportunity for self expression
- Creates a safe space where students can take risks and build confidence
- Stretches students beyond their comfort zone in a rewarding and fun way
- Inspires students through group participation which increases accountability and builds community
Passion fuels students' self-expression
Music has been a passion and a means of expressing myself throughout my life, and songwriting has been instrumental in helping me find my own voice. Children and young adults have a lot to say, and I have witnessed them having fun and feeling satisfaction in the process of setting their own words to music.
My intention as a Teaching Artist is to cultivate students’ gifts and nurture their creative spark as they build self-confidence in their creative abilities. My work is designed to help students discover new facets of themselves and to develop collaborative skills.
My intention as a Teaching Artist is to cultivate students’ gifts and nurture their creative spark as they build self-confidence in their creative abilities. My work is designed to help students discover new facets of themselves and to develop collaborative skills.
Why this program?
We all know kids like music. In these artist residencies in the schools, I collaborate with 3rd through 12th grade classroom teachers to design an arts integrated program in which the students will write and perform songs.
We will analyze and write songs as a whole group first to learn the basics of songwriting, melody, and rhythm. Students use texts from the Language Arts curriculum to integrate the writers’ voice with their own to create original lyrics. They then will put the lyrics to the music of songs they know, or compose their own melodies.
Through this process, they build a connection to the material and relate to the text in new ways that make it come alive. As students work together in small groups, they build community in a way that is safe to take risks.
We will analyze and write songs as a whole group first to learn the basics of songwriting, melody, and rhythm. Students use texts from the Language Arts curriculum to integrate the writers’ voice with their own to create original lyrics. They then will put the lyrics to the music of songs they know, or compose their own melodies.
Through this process, they build a connection to the material and relate to the text in new ways that make it come alive. As students work together in small groups, they build community in a way that is safe to take risks.