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Create Lyric Learning Lessons for Your Classroom

Music is a universal language. Integrating music in your classroom or online lessons can be a great way to teach content and engage students. Students love to listen to music, so why not make it part of your lessons? This strategy is called “Lyric Learning,” and I would like to show you some examples.

To start with, please take a few minutes to do the following:

• Listen to, and read the lyrics from this famous Stevie Wonder song, “Sir Duke.”
• After listening to the song, think about your connection to the music. Do you “feel it all over”?
• Ask yourself what that phrase means to you. This might be an interesting discussion to have with your students!

Many of our 21st-century learners are permanently wired to their headphones.  Some students claim they love listening to music because they like the beat, some love the lyrics, others might experience the mood a song creates or the memories it might evoke. Indeed, most of our students love music, and “tapping” into their interests is a strategy to engage and motivate them.

Incorporating music into a lesson can provide you with new and powerful ways to teach concepts or skills. However, although rhythm and melody provide a simple way to connect with your students at a visceral level, it is equally important to have them think about the lyrics that convey the key message in many songs.

Lyric Learning provides a structure for teachers to help students learn more deeply by asking them to read, analyze, and discuss the meaning of the lyrics before playing the song (or before the students present a song). Let’s look at two more examples of Lyric Learning strategies.

Lyric Learning Strategy One: Integrate Music into Content

Lyric Learning: A Teacher Presented Lesson

“Hero” by Mariah Carey (YouTube video with the lyrics)

There are heroes within all disciplines. Here are some examples:

• Math: René Descartes: (1596–1650) A creative mathematician who developed the techniques that made algebraic (or “analytic”) geometry possible.
• Science: Thomas Edison: (1847-1931) A famous and prolific inventor who created inventions such as the light bulb, the phonograph, the camera, and the telephone.
• History: Rosa Parks: (1913-2005) An American activist in the civil rights movement who the United States Congress hails as “the first lady of civil rights.”
• Literature: Dr. Seuss: (1904-1991) An American children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, screenwriter, and filmmaker.

Lesson Example: Hero

1. Challenge the students to analyze the lyrics of the song, noting the qualities of a hero.
2. Have students brainstorm a list of heroes related to the subject you are teaching (i.e., living, nonliving, fictitious).
3. Instruct students to identify at least three reasons that support why they selected their hero. What qualities or accomplishments made them heroic?
4. Instruct students to select a hero (she-ro) from their identified list, conduct research to learn more about him/her, and then choose one of the following projects listed. Each project must include the following criteria:
   • Evidence of Research: Facts about the hero and his or her accomplishments
   • Hero Qualities: Select three qualities attributed to the hero along with pertaining song lyrics
   • Summarization: Explain the impact the person you chose has (or had) on the discipline you are studying
5. Share your project (See suggestions at the end of the lesson).

Project Ideas

• Dramatize Your Hero: Create a costume and write a script. Portray your hero in a short video.
• Roleplay: Conduct an interview about the hero’s accomplishments and personal traits.
• Create a Mural: Think about the lyrics of the song and the accomplishments of your hero. Create a mural depicting the subject you are studying. Make it eye-catching and have a theme.
• Write a Biography/Autobiography: After collecting research on your hero, write a biography about your hero (or write an autobiography from the hero’s point of view).
• Design an Award: Think about the accomplishments of the hero you selected and design and create an award. Write a speech that would be given at the Awards Ceremony.
• Front Page Newspaper Feature Story: Design a front page newspaper feature story focusing on your hero. Include the facts discovered, select a software application for your design, and include pictures. Tell the “What, When, and Where.”
• Subject Superhero: Create an original superhero related to the subject you are studying. Give him/her a name and draw a picture in the center of your paper. Surround the superhero with characteristics needed to be a superhero in your selected subject. List a fantastic feat the superhero accomplished.

Lyric Learning Strategy Two: Ask students to identify a song related to the content they are studying.

Lyric Learning: A Student Selected Song

This strategy requires students to identify a song related to the topic of study.

Lesson Example:

1. Challenge your students to identify a song that relates metaphorically to a concept or topic they are studying. For example, I use the song “Step by Step” by Whitney Houston when students learn Math (e.g., Order of Operations), Language Arts (e.g., the Writing Process), Science (e.g., Scientific Method), and Social Studies (e.g., “How a Bill Becomes a Law” or “What Steps Contributed to a Historical Event?”).
2. Instruct students to analyze the lyrics of the song and identify three reasons for selecting the song.
3. Cite the phrases that led to the selection.
4. Share your project (See suggestions at the end of the lesson).

Project Ideas

• Language Arts: Think about a novel you are reading. Identify a song that represents the theme of the story, describes a character or conflict, or relates to the setting.
• History: Think about the period you are studying. Identify a song that represents historic struggles or celebrations of the time period, a historical event, a key player in history, or a social issue.
• Math: Think about a mathematical process you are learning. Identify a song that describes the steps to reach the answer or represents how you feel about a new mathematical concept you are learning.
• Science: Think about environmental issues. Identify a song that represents climate change, a natural disaster, the division of a cell, evolution, or the spread of viruses.

Share Projects: Consider some of the following applications for student use:

• Google Slides
• Padlet
• Flip Grid
• Voice Thread

In Conclusion

In my experience working with K-12 students, EVERYTHING IS AWESOME when you integrate music into your classroom lessons. Students are motivated, engaged, and excited to participate in the learning experiences you create. Beyond teaching academic content, I have successfully used music to address classroom challenges, introduce service-learning projects, and address students’ social and emotional needs. 

Here are some resources related to integrating music in your classroom curriculum:

• Benefits of Using Music in the Classroom by Chris Brewer, MA.
• Eight Ways to Use Music in the Language Arts Classroom by Heather Worpert-Garon
• Effective Integration of Music in the Elementary School Classroom by James DiDomenico
• How to Use Songs in the English Language Classroom by Adam J. Simpson
• Use of Technology and Music to Improve Learning by Ronald A. Burk