what is the soundtrack of your life?. step one – what makes you, you? list several (10 or more)...
TRANSCRIPT
Step One – What makes you, you?
List several (10 or more) events, people, or places from your life that you believe have made you who you are.
Example:-Broken collarbone-Evil step-mother-7th grade football-Newspaper reporter-First date—Ginger Bell-Parents reunite-Married-Woooo Pig Soooie
Step Two – Make Song Connections
Select songs which represent or connect to your different events/people/places. Consider the following tips:
-Start with events that have songs playing during them
-If you have chosen a person, does that person have a favorite song or a song that you associate with her?
-Does a place you’ve picked have a song associated with it? Is anybody going to San Antone?
Step Three – Tell the story
Connect the song and event/person/place in a “paragraphish” length piece of writing
-tell the story
-explain the song
-use lyrics if you want (remember them)
-describe the connection or association
Step Four–PublishBook cover
Create album art and post those around the classroom or in the hallway
Facilitate a way that students can share their writing with each other
Let’s do some unpacking
• As I use this assignment with my students, it is an eleven + paragraph personal narrative, including at least eight events/people/places matched with songs, an introduction, personal statement, and conclusion.
• I use this assignment early in the year to both assess my students’ writing strengths and learn more about them as people.
• Personal narrative is a softer place to start but can also provide a basis for other modes of writing, skills.
• 1/509 students failed to complete this, he wanted to do a “film score of his life.”
CLASSROOM Timeline • Begin with one track
• Help students select events/people/places and then make the connections
• Green Book of Songs by Subject as a resource; students are their own/each others’ resources
• Provide examples of different genres in which to explain each/describe/justify each connection
• Writing/listening time
• Presentation/album art
VALUE• Affective domain – helps students feel
more comfortable with each other, the classroom, the teacher, the curriculum
• Cathartic and Therapeutic potential (is being used in hospice and social work environments)
• Raises expectations for writing – often the longest piece of writing students ever completed
• Narrative skills are at the heart of good expository writing—consider the NWP research record
• Chance to discuss issues of confidentiality/appropriateness/copyright
Other Uses for SOYL
• Follows the same process as SOYL except with a work of fiction or non-fiction—soundtrack of the novel
• Connect songs to mood or tone
• Used to teach historical events or people
• Defend connections to any content area using academic language