Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Boogie Woogie With a B
Using a famous World War II propaganda song, students will explore alliteration by changing the lyrics to create a new version of the song. After discussing what alliteration is and why this particular song was used and enjoyed by the...
PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music: Lesson One: Finding the Story in the Song
For this lesson, students will identify and discuss themes expressed in song lyrics, analyze the social use and historical meaning of a song, and write a verse of a song drawing on contemporary events.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Favorite Things Poetry
Using the song "My Favorite Things" from the musical, The Sound of Music, as inspiration, students will create their own song or poem (to the same tune) that lists their favorite things. Each verse will focus on their favorite things...
Other
How Anyone Can Write Better Lyrics
If you like to write lyrics or poems then you will want to look at this site. It gives good advice on how to improve your writing and suggests other resources you may want to invest in.
Other
Verse Development
You have written some lyrics to a song, but are they any any good? Do they capture the listener? This column offers great advice about how to develop your verses to keep them interesting. Through analysis of other lyrics the author will...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Color My World Grey and Blue
After listening to the song "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band, and the song "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell, students will explore the lyrics and discover what role color can play when combined with a particular setting. Students...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: c.s.i.: The Cory Crime Scene
The character talked about in E. A. Robinson's poem, Richard Cory, is about a man with everything, a man that everyone wants to be like, a man who ends his own life without explanation. Singers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, intrigued by...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Your Glorious Gene Pool
Students read the books like I Am the Dog. I Am the Cat by Donald Hall and Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman and read the lyrics while listening to the song "Shallow End of the Gene Pool" by the Austin Lounge Lizards. Then students learn...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Poems vs Lyrics
After listening and analyzing song lyrics and, subsequently, doing the same analysis with poems, students will discover how similar song writing and poetry writing can be. Students will get their own chance to write a small version of...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Song Parodies About School
After celebrating (and singing) some of the delightful songs from Alan Katz's "Take Me out of the Bathtub" and listening to songs by Weird Al Yankovic, like "Eat It," young scholars will discuss the concept of parody. To practice writing...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: "Ain't Gonna Rain No More"
Students will study the rhythm of the old campfire song, "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," and they will study how Karen Beaumont borrows the rhythm for her book I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! Students will create their own lyrics that can be...
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: The Golden Treasury of Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in Eng Lang
Electronic text of Thomas Palgrave's book, "The Golden Treasury: Of the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language". There are several ways to find the poem that you want to study: by author, by title, by first line, and by...
PBS
Pbs: Off the Charts Web Karaoke
This online karaoke machine, developed for "Off the Charts," an episode about songwriters that aired on the award-winning PBS series "Independent Lens," lets you try out your songwriting talents. First you write the lyrics for a song set...
PBS
Pbs: Continental Harmony
PBS presents several activities and lesson plans that cover the concepts of identifying different forms of music, learning about musical imagery, writing in response to music, and creating lyrics. The Sound Lounge has many interactive...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Billie Holiday Classroom Activity
A short lesson/activity over the popular jazz artist Billie Holiday, in particular her song "Strange Fruit." Provides a link to the song's lyrics and a clip, as well as other lesson plans, web links, and a bibliography. From April 7, 2007.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Ain't That America
Students think that classic literature and historic events have little in common with life today, right? Think again! In this instructional activity, students get a chance to compare themes from classic novels or from American history to...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Itsy Bitsy Math Songs
This is a great writing lesson for math teachers. The picture book Take Me Out of the Bathtub by Alan Katz demonstrates his love of familiar songs and nursery rhymes by writing new lyrics that can be sung to them. For this assignment,...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: The Dust Bowl Blues
The 1930's Dust Bowl era was about the grueling times of people suffering in the drought-stricken region of the Oklahoma pan handle. This lesson will help students to gain an understanding of the plights of the people. Using Woody...
Other
Irene Jackson's Songwriting Tips
Numerous postings from this Canadian song writer. Maybe they will inspire you to write an award winning song.
Other
Musical English Lessons
Learn English vocabulary and grammar through songs from a wide range of famous pop artists from the Beatles and Elvis to contemporary standouts like Avil Lavigne, Good Charlotte, and James Blunt. Find an exercise by grammar or vocabulary...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Stairway to Heaven Examining Metaphor in Popular Music
Contains plans for two lessons that ask students to make connections between literary texts and popular culture texts like song lyrics. After checking popular culture texts for literary elements, these elements are then examined in...
Other
The Confederation Poets: Bliss Carman (1861 1929)
A great resource on Confederation poet Bliss Carman. This site provides numerous primary texts and essays on Carman's writing style.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Anglo Saxon Literature
This lesson focuses on Anglo-Saxon Literature including the importance of the monks who listened to the stories and poems and wrote them down and the two nonfiction pieces that had an impact on creation of the written language: The...
Other
Jeff Mallett's Songwriter Site
thinking about becoming a songwriter? Look here to get advice, find organizations, get writing tips, even a little business advice.