Post-Show Classroom Activity

When words fail, sing! Invite students to create their own version of a sung-through story using songs or an album that they love. 

As always, please note that some steps of the activity may be condensed, eliminated, or extended based on the needs of your classroom. 

What Would I Do?

Activity Preparation

• Supplies:
  • Internet access, or access to students’ preferred music streaming platform 
  • Paper or digital writing materials 
  • Headphones (if available) 
• Set-Up:
  • If needed, review terms like monologue, dialogue, protagonist, and conflict during the activity. These terms are referenced in Step 4. 
  • The activity is designed for students to select one album that they love and utilize it as a source text. As desired, present students with an alternative or additional option: they may choose songs by different artists or from different albums, still to the same end of a three-part story. 

This activity will take approximately 40 minutes. 

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Learning Sequence

1. Ask students to reflect for a moment before turning and talking: What is a feeling that is best (or can only be) captured by a song? Invite a few pairs to share their answers. (~3 minutes)
2. Remind students that Falsettos is a sung-through musical, meaning that the entire story is told through song, and there is virtually no spoken dialogue. Tell them that this activity will guide them to tell a story of their own in three parts, also using only songs (but not ones they have to write!). (~2 minutes)
3. Have students access writing materials (print or digital). Prompt them to brainstorm the names of one or more albums that they absolutely love. (~1 minute)
4. Once students have a short list to work from, ask them to pick one album they’d like to work with. They will be excerpting songs and lyrics from that album to tell a story in three parts (with a beginning, middle, and end). If needed, give them an opportunity to look through the lyrics of the albums to decide what might tell the best story. (~5 minutes)
5. Have students decide who their characters are and what kind of story they are telling (~1 minute). Ask:
   • Is this story told in a monologue? 
   • Is it a dialogue? 
   • Is there a protagonist? 
   • What is the conflict? 
   • How will your story begin, develop, and end? 
6. Give students an opportunity to consider the answers to these questions and write down any notes they have. (~7 minutes)
7. Prompt students to pick at least two songs, and not more than four, to use for their source text. Explain that they will use any pieces of the songs they’d like to and use them to create dialogue and to tell their story. (~3 minutes)
   • For example, if a student were to choose the album Lemonade, they might select the songs “Pray You Catch Me” and “Hold Up.” They would then examine the lyrics to each of these songs and decide which character might say what. Students may choose to select individual lines to add to their dialogue, or they may wish to start with all of the lyrics and delete those that they do not wish to use. They can delete individual words, or use only one word from a selected line to help build their story.
8. Have students complete their song-stories. (~15 minutes)
9. As desired, pair students and have them share with their partners what their original inspiration was, and what their story is after they sliced-and-diced the lyrics. (~5 minutes)

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• This activity aligns with the following standards:
  • Illinois Arts Learning Standards 
    • Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    • Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
    • Anchor Standard 3: Revise, refine, and complete artistic work. 
  • Common Core State Standards 
    • CCSS.ELA.W.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
    • CCSS.ELA.W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
    • CCSS.ELA.W.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Posted on November 6, 2024 in Learning Guides