Lesson 1: Song Lyrics Analysis
Whole Class:
Provide each student with a copy of the song lyrics to "American Soldier" by Toby Keith. Read the song lyrics out loud as a class. Have the students use the margins of the song lyrics page to dot down any ideas that come to their mind as their read the lyrics. Play the song for the class, and have them highlight verses that make the most impact on them. After reading and hearing the lyrics, have a class discussion where student share their annotations of the song lyrics and the reasons why they highlighted specific verses.
Guiding Questions:
- Why does Toby Keith start the song with a description of the soldier he is singing about?
- What message is Toby Keith trying to make with this song?
Provide each student with a copy of the song lyrics to "If You're Reading This" by Tim McGraw. Have the students read the song lyrics independently or quietly in pairs. Have the students use the margins of the song lyrics page to dot down any ideas that come to their mind as their read the lyrics. Play the song for the class, once everyone has had a chance to read the lyrics. Remind students to highlight verses that make the most impact on them. After reading and hearing the lyrics, have the students answer the guiding questions about the song.
Guiding Questions:
- What is the meaning of the song title?
- What message is Tim McGraw trying to make with this song?
- What is a common theme among both songs?
After I have worked through both of the songs above with my students, we will read the lyrics and listen to the song "Highway of Heros" by The Trews. They will then independently explain the meaning of each verse.
Lesson 2: Videos
Below are four short video clips that really help visualize the meaning of Remembrance Day. Have students watch each video clip, then provide them with time to fill out the Remembrance Day Video graphic organizer. The organizer asks students to explain what image from each video was the most memorable.
Canada At War
Pittance of Time
NBC Tribute – Highway of Heroes
Video Graphic Organizer
Lesson 3: Paragraph Response Writing
After listening to the songs, viewing the photos and videos students now need to use their knowledge to form an opinion. Ask the students to answer one of these two questions in proper paragraph format.
- Should Remembrance Day be a holiday?
- How should Canada honour our war veterans on Remembrance Day?
Once the paragraphs are complete, have the students complete a fold the line activity. Have the class line up with one end being the students who think Remembrance Day should not be a holiday, the other end being the students who think Remembrance Day should be a holiday and the middle students are the ones who are undecided or who are unsure. They you ask the class to fold the line in the middle so that each student is standing facing another student. Have them their share their opinions, then ask them to shuffle down the line X number of spots. Repeat the opinion sharing process for a long as you hear meaningful responses.
Lesson 4: Choral Reading
First we read the poem "A Prayer for the 21st Century" by by John Marsden, out loud and analyse the meaning of each verse as a class. Then I break the class up into six different groups that each learn a different verse of the poem. We present with the class standing in six rows facing forward. It looks really dramatic, and adds some creativity into a traditional activity like choral reading. As an extension to this activity you could have students read and listen to "Imagine" by John Lennon, and compare/contrast the message in each piece.
remembrance.docx |