A Seasonal Poem (Language Arts)

A Seasonal Poem (using Vivaldi as inspiration)

Subject: Language Arts/Music Education

Grade Level: 1-2

Time Needed: one (90 minute) lesson from Four Season Unit

Unit in Music will be focus on Vivaldi

Previous Knowledge: Students will have had at least an

introductory class on poetry

General Outcomes and Curriculum Connections:

New Brunswick Language Arts Curriculum

• Students will speak and listen to explore, extend, clarify, and reflect on their thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences
• Students will be able to communicate information and ideas, effectively and clearly, and to respond personally and critically
• Students will be expected to interpret, select, and combine information using a variety of strategies, resources, and technologies
• Students will be expected to use a range of strategies to develop effective writing and media products to enhance their clarity, precision, and effectiveness

New Brunswick Music Curriculum

• GCO 8: Students will be expected to analyse the relationship between artistic intent and the expressive work

Specific Outcomes:

• To listen and interpret Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
• To have an understanding what program music is.
• To create a poem that expresses how the music makes the students feel about the particular season

Rationale:

This lesson is a way to bring music into the classroom. It is a way to introduce program music, and Vivaldi. Hopefully, from this experience students will see a connection between music and language arts.

Materials and Resources:

Writing Journals

Copy of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Pencil

Introduction/Procedures:

• Ask students if they have ever heard of the composer Vivaldi. (They may have already started learning about him in Music class)
• Have students brainstorm what they know about him
• Tell students some interesting facts about composer
• Talk about program music and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
• Make four columns on the board (one for each season) have students brain storm words that can be associated with each season
• Talk about poetry and how it can rhyme or not rhyme
• Read some poems about different seasons as examples

Body

• Explain to students that they will listen to a season of Vivaldi’s work and from listening come to a conclusion about what they think is happening in the music with the season
• Students will then create a poem about the piece
• Note: Students who finish the activity early can make a drawing that represents their poem

Conclusion

• Students will sit in a literature circle and share their poem and what they were thinking about when the music was playing

Evaluation and Assessment:

• Observation (checklist)

• Did they follow-directions
• Do students have an understanding of what program music is
• Can the students explain how they interpreted the music by what they wrote in their poem
• Did the student respond to others poems

Reflection: