Randi Ruff
Listening Map Lesson Plan
Grade: Middle School
Objective:
The student will listen and follow along with the map to better get an idea on the phrasing
and shape of the Christmas tune. Also, the student will engage in a group discussion
about the origins on many common Christmas tunes, reading from a handout and
discussing them in class.
Curriculum:
National Standards
Materials:
Listening map, CD and stereo, handout and quiz
Web address: http://www3.pair.com/montrsmu/index.html
Procedure:
The Chicago Christmas CD will be playing overhead when the class comes in. I picked
the Chicago version because of it’s great chords and use of instruments. The map will be
passed out and we will listen and follow along with the CD. I will ask the class what they
heard…anything in particular that caught their attention. Is it traditionally arranged?
What is different? What instruments did you hear? Was there a chorus? Is there a
pattern in the phrasing and if so, what is it? We will discuss all of this, then listen to it
again. It’s not too long in length and this gives them a chance to listen for things that we
talked about. After the final listening we will discuss the song and get any other opinions
on the tune.
We will also read the handout that I pass out. I found a website that gave a brief history
of many of the common Christmas carols we know. We will read about each carol and
discuss the song. Some have a wacky background, so it will be fun. After all have been
reviewed, I also found a little quiz that is based on the same information given. We will
do this in class, or perhaps with partners…it depends on how much of the information
seems to be sinking in and how well behaved the class is today. They will complete the
quiz and turn it in to me with their name on it.
Supplemental:
This lesson has lots of history about the different songs that have been sung for
generations around the holidays
Evaluation:
Through group discussion, and reading of the materials I can assess the students on both
activities.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!
The music is from the second chorus of a contata by Felix
Mendelssohn (1809-1847) written in 1840 to commemorate Johann
Gutenberg and the invention of printing. The words are from a
hundred years earlier, written in 1739 by Charles Wesley whose
brother, John, founded the Methodist Church. "Hark, how the welkin
(heaven) rings," he originally wrote.
A colleague, the Calvinist Whitefield, substituted the familiar
opening line over the protests of the author. In 1855, after both
Wesley and Mendelssohn were dead, Dr. William Cummings put the
words and music together in spite of evidence that neither author nor
composer would have approved.
Silent Night
Silent Night was written on Christmas Eve in 1818 in Oberndorf,
Austria. One common story of this carol was that the organ at St.
Nicholas Church was broken, and the repairman could not get there in
time to fix it, but recent research has found no evidence in the church
records or elsewhere to back this up. Joseh Mohr, the assistant pastor
of the church, had written a poem, "Stille Nacht" in 1816. On
December 24, 1818 he gave the poem to his friend the church organist,
Franz Gruber. Gruber immediately composed the melody and arranged
it for two voices, choir, and guitar in time to be performed that night at
the Midnight Mass. By 1955, Silent Night had become the most
recorded song of all time
What
Child Is
This
This melody is the beautiful Greensleeves. It dates from Elizabethan
time, possibly even earlier. The song was first registered in 1850 to
Richard Jones with lyrics that were neither religious nor respectable.
Shakespeare mentions it by name in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"
in which is it played while traitors are hanged. In 1865 William
Chatterton Dix (English) wrote "The Manger Throne", three verses
of which became "What Child Is This."
Deck the
Halls
The music is an old Welsh melody. Mozart used it in a piano and
violin duet in the 1700's. The words are believed to be American
from the 19th century.
Jingle Bells
The words and music were written in 1857 by James Pierpont for a
Thanksgiving program at his church in Boston. It was so well
received that the children were asked to repeat it at Christmas. It has
been a Christmas song ever since.
Away in a
Manger
The first two verses of "Away in a Manger" were originally published
in a Lutheran Sunday school book in 1885. Two years later, James R.
Murray published it as "Luther's Cradle Hymn," thus creating the
misconception that Luther had written it. Although some attribute the
words to Luther, they are usually considered American anonymous.
Some credit the music to Murray; others think he merely harmonized
an old German folk song. the words are frequently sung to the tune of
the Scottish song "Flow Gently Sweet Afton."
The First
Noel
Sometimes given the English spelling, Nowell, it first appeared in
print in England in a collection of William Sandys (1833). The words
and music are traditional. Most think it is from 16th or 17th century
France; others claim it never had any French origins and is very
English
O Come All Ye Faithful
(Adeste Fideles)
This carol is sometimes attributed to John Wade, a British exile living
in France. Otherwise it is considered to be an anonymous Latin Hymn.
Around 1751, Wade put the text with music, probably by John
Reading (English). In 1853 the familiar translation first appeared,
attributed to Rev. Frederick Oakley.
God Rest You
Merry
Gentlemen
When Scrooge, in Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", heard this
cheerful carol, he grabbed a ruler and the singer fled in terror. It
is traditional English going back to the 16th or 17th century. The
usual harmonization, like that of "The First Noel" is from Sir
John Stainer (1840-1941).
Jolly Old St.
Nicholas
This traditional American carol is generally considered
anonymous, although it may have been written by Wilf Carter.
Wilf Carter was also known as cowboy singer Montana Slim
It Came
Upon A
Midnight
Clear
The words for this American carol are based on a poem written by
Unitarian minister Dr. Edmund Sears in 1849. The following year,
inspired by the poem, Richard Storrs Willis, a composer as well
as editor and critic for the New York Tribune, wrote a melody
called "Carol" to which the words were adapted.
Cantique de
Noel (O Holy
Night)
This carol was written by Adolphe Charles Adam (1803-1856),
the French composer best known for his ballet "Giselle." At the
time, it was frowned upon by church authorities who denounced it
for lack of musical taste and "total absence of the spirit of
religion." The French text is by Cappeau de Roquemaure; the
English by American clergyman John Sullivan Dwight (18121893).
The Christmas
Music Quiz
How much do you know about some of the most popular Christmas
carols? If you can answer all of these questions without having read
the historical notes first, you can give yourself the ranking
CarolMaster!
1. Neither composer nor lyricist would have approved of which famous
Christmas carol, assembled after their deaths? _____________________
2. Which carol may have been written by cowboy singer Montana Slim?
_____________________________
3. Which carol (melody) was composed by an editor and critic for the New
York Tribune?___________________________________
4. Which beautiful carol was frowned upon by church authorities who
denounced it for lack of musical taste and "total absence of the spirit of
religion"? [Hint: It's composer is most famous for his ballet Giselle.]
___________________________________________
5. Which carol was originally composed for guitar, along with two voices,
and choir, because, according to some, the church organ was broken? [It
was composed on Christmas Eve and ready in time for Midnight
Mass!]_______________________________
6. When Scrooge hears this song in Dicken's "A Christmas Carol," he
grabs a ruler and the singer flees in terror. Which carol is it?
_________________________________
7. Which carol gets its melody from a song that is mentioned in
Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor"?________________________
8. Which song was originally written for a Thanksgiving program?
_____________________________________
Quiz Answers
1. Hark the Herald
2. Jolly Old St. Nick
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. O Holy Night
5. Silent Night
6. God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
7. What Child Is This
8. Jingle Bells