INTRODUCING HABITS OF MIND TO YEAR 8 STUDENTS I thought while I had a chance I would share with you my second sequence of lessons that followed on from my introductory lessons of Habits that I did with my year 8 classes. We had previously researched a famous person and looked at persistence etc. I hope this can help in some way. We had very pleasing results from these lessons as the students really 'owned' the task and came up with much of the content. 1. Review previous lessons and links to habits of persistence, responding with awe and wonderment, working interdependently and making links to the past. Explain to students that today they will focus on the same habits but also we will incorporate communicating with clarity and precision. 2. Explain the task of locating a song that has lyrics that illustrate persistence. Task could be presented in groups, pairs or individually. I chose pairs because of size and dynamics of my classes. 3. Ask students to copy blackboard song lyric assignment guidelines: Introduction of Speech Start with a quote, rhetorical question to grab audience attention. Greet audience and teacher and state purpose of speech. What is the song title and what does it mean? Which artist/s sing it Who wrote it? What year was it recorded? Do they know any background about why the song was written e.g. what inspired the artist to write the song? Was it written from a personal experience? Body of Speech Discuss the theme/s of the song. Does it have a specific lesson to teach the audience, could it be any of the following themes; Not giving up Remaining hopeful when others aren't. Trying your very best Persist belief in yourself and your dreams Courage to stand up for what you believe in e.g. fighting racism, produce, violence through gentle persistence. Overcoming difficulties, facing hurdles or obstacles that make persistence difficult e.g. peer or family pressure. Visualising success through persistent positive thinking. Not blaming others for lack of success - changing negative habits of mind. Beating the odds e.g. a handicap or disability that seemingly prevents success. (Use at least five examples from the song lyrics to support your evidence). Discuss techniques used by the song writer. Briefly discuss the structure of the song including the verses, chorus, hook and musical style. Look at any repetition of lines or words and how that is used for effect. Discuss specific devices used e.g. similes, metaphors, alliteration, personification or onomatopoa Use of imagery and emotive words. Use of colloquial language. (Remember to use examples to support your points)
Conclusion Sum up main points. Review the theme/s of song. Reflect on the impact of the song on you and audiences. How does it inspire, encourage, teach, motivate, provoke, challenge, sympathise, help you to develop persistence.
Remind students that during their speeches they need to communicate with accuracy and precision. Therefore some teaching time needs to be spent on the presentational aspects of giving a speech. We had already previously worked on this in term 2, so I simply reviewed, eye contact, body language, voice control, gestures, visual aids etc. I have encouraged students to play part of the song or display lyrics on the overhead projector. Currently students are in the planning phase. They have responded enthusiastically and have enjoyed the content immensely. I would highly recommend using song lyrics as a inroad for persistence. Don't be put off by your own limited knowledge of current songs, my students were very quick to give lots of fine example of persistence (if only they were always so passionate about other aspects of their learning!) Here is the list that my year 8 students generated. Songs of Persistence Please note that some of these songs are more suitable for older students as some of the songs contain swearing, however we found edited radio versions of the songs. The lyrics were to powerful to disregard. James, I think your student clientele is very similar to ours, I think they would love this task don't you? 1. Fighter by Christina Aguilera 2. Changes by 2pac (edited version) 3. Born to Try by Deltra Goodrem 4. Make it Through the Rain by Mariah Carey 5. I believe I can Fly by R. Kelly 6. I can by NAS 7. Survivor by destiny's Child 8. Innocent Eyes by Deltra ( A great song for Responding with wonderment and awe) 9. Hands by Jewel 10. Intuition by Jewel 11. Try Again by Aailiyah 12. What would You Do? by City Limits 13. Dreams by Ashanti 14. Hope by David Campbell 15. Absolutely Everyone by Vanessa Amorossi 16. Affirmation by Savage Garden 17. 8 Mile by Eminem (edited version) 18. Lose Yourself by Eminem (edited version) 19. Girl in the Mirror by Pink 20. Beautiful by Christina Aguilera There are many more, if you want your students to search we found the following websites useful: getlyrics.com songtext.com anysonglyrics.com or for a broader search on google we just simply typed the song title followed by song lyrics regards from the west
Jackie, Denise, Francine and Alan