Lisa Corchane
Oklahoma
The Rhythm of Words
Grade Level:
3-5
Integrated Subjects
Language Arts, Performing Arts-Music
Lesson Overview
This lesson is designed to help children learn to write poetry that easily flows. Many times when song lyrics
are rewritten people count the syllables but pay no attention to where the stressed syllables are. This makes
for a stilted and unmusical verse. My lesson hopes to shed light on what should be stressed and help teach
children (and adults) to rewrite what they wish to say in a flowing enjoyable manner.
Student Learning Overview
Students will learn to count syllables line by line in poem or song and look for the stressed words or
syllables. They will also learn to look for the lines which rhyme. As they start writing their own lyrics they
will learn how to say the same thing in various ways depending upon the length and stresses of the original
line. When a student offers an idea and it has too many or too few syllables, they have a tendency to just
completely throw the idea away. This lesson will help students learn how to rewrite their thought and not
assume it had no merit. They should also have a better understanding of the parts of speech and their various
levels of importance. Nouns and verbs should fall with the musical stresses while articles and conjunctions
should not.
Learning Sequence
1. Review the song. It is important that the children have a good grasp of the music, especially the rhythm
and phrasing. 2. Count the syllables phrase by phrase. Sometimes the complete phrase is too long so as the
teacher you may need to break it into smaller more manageable phrases. 3. After you have counted the
syllables, look for the places where the original rhymed. 4. Once you have dissected the phrases, then sing
the song again and think about the style so you can choose appropriate topics for the lyric rewrite. 5.
Brainstorm topics. 6. Once a topic is decided upon, brainstorm details about the topic. 7. It is now time to
write the opening line of the song. A strong beginning is very important. It is good to make sure it is not too
narrow so many thoughts can be connected to it. 8. As the children come up with the phrases, make sure the
stress is in the correct place. Students and adults for that matter may give you a phrase with the correct
© 2010 Lisa Corchane; created for the San Francisco Symphony’s Keeping Score™ Education program and Oklahoma A+
Schools®
Lisa Corchane
Oklahoma
amount of syllables but have not taken into account which syllables in the word are stressed. If you find
yourself changing the rhythm, stop and sing the original line again. You may have to brainstorm synonyms
and change the order of the phrase to make it fit the rhythm correctly. 9. If the next phrase should rhyme,
make a word bank of rhymes and decide if any will make sense with what has already been written. If not,
then perhaps the prior phrase needs to be tweaked. 10. Make sure your last phrase sums up the topic nicely.
11. Now sing your song and see how nicely it flows. If it is awkward to sing, maybe a little more work is
needed.
Assessment
As a group the children sang their lyrics as we went through the writing process and verbalized their
opinions. Depending upon the group consensus, we would either move forward in the piece or rewrite the
current phrase. Once the children felt they were through, we sang the piece completely through and looked
for places we might want to revisit. Finally, we had a finished piece that was easy to sing.
Classical Music Used In This Lesson
Carmen, Toreador Song, by Georges Bizet
Materials & Equipment
Written melody line, if you read music (if you do not read music, a recording of the melody line only will
help keep the original rhythm intact), thesaurus might come in handy
Time Required
At least two 30-minutes blocks, if teacher lead; small collaborative student groups may require more time.
National Music Standards
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Understanding relationships between music, other arts, and outside disciplines
State Standards
Oklahoma P.A.S.S.: Language Arts, Grade 3, Standard 2 - Vocabulary, 3; Standard 1 -Writing Process, 1 &
3; Standard 2 - Modes and Forms of Writing, 3 a & b, 5, 7; General Music, Grade 3, Standard 1 - Language
of Music, 1 b & h, 2; Standard 3 - Music Expression, 1; Standard 4 - Music Appreciation, 3
© 2010 Lisa Corchane; created for the San Francisco Symphony’s Keeping Score™ Education program and Oklahoma A+
Schools®
Lisa Corchane
Oklahoma
Connections to Pathways to Integration
GREEN: Music content merged with other content areas
Inclusion/English Language Learner
Creating word banks for synonyms and rhymes will help both the ELL and special needs in building
vocabulary. Counting syllables and understanding which syllable is stressed in a particular word will also be
of service to the ELL and special needs students.
Teacher to Teacher
If you are working with an older group of students, you could use this as a small group or even independent
activity. However, no matter what the age, I think it would be helpful to at least look at the process as a large
group if not go through the process together first. Make sure that children understand that when working
with rhythms, there are definitely stressed beats that need to be filled with important words such as nouns
and verbs. This does not mean they need to forget their ideas if they don’t fit at first but rather reword in such
a way that the thought and the rhythm flow together.
Portfolio Images

3rd Grade II-edit.JPG

3rd Grade 1.JPG
Portfolio Media Files

3rd Grade - I Promise I'll Take Care of Him.MP3

3rd Grade - Weather Song.MP3
Portfolio Links
Portfolio Documents

3rd Grade Lyric Brainstorm.doc

3rd Grade Classes Finished Lyrics.pdf
Portfolio Hard Materials
© 2010 Lisa Corchane; created for the San Francisco Symphony’s Keeping Score™ Education program and Oklahoma A+
Schools®