School Song This is CCPCS! By 5th and 6th Grade Music Classes

Our goal Create a song for CCPCS that is exciting, reflects who we are, and illustrates the mission of the school.

Learning Targets I can arrange a piece acoustically or electronically into a specific song form. I can make connections between music and history through evidence in the lyrics. I can create original or parody lyrics that fit accompanying instruments in style and tempo. I can sing/play in tune and in tempo with an accompanying instrument.

Our mission (Capital City PCS) Capital City Public Charter School enables a diverse group of students to meet high expectations, develop creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, achieve a deep understanding of complex subjects, acquire a love of learning, along with a strong sense of community and character. We will graduate young adults who are self-directed, intellectually engaged and possess a commitment to personal and civic responsibility.

Case Study What is the story of the Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem? Key questions: Why was it written? How was it written? Who was it written for? How is it used today?

Field Work to fort Mchenry, BALTIMORE

Finding authenticity The students were fascinated by the fact that the original words to the Star Spangle Banner was a poem set to “The Anacreontic Song”, a tavern song. The established that even though the original melody wasn’t exactly appropriate, it still had a fun melody and that’s what they would do for their school song. They chose to write a parody of Fetty Wap’s “679” because it was was upbeat with a familiar, easy and fun tune.

Writing a parody In a google doc, students listened to the the background karaoke version of the song to figure out how their own lyrics would fit. A major barrier is writing a parody of this sort is not being able to listen to the actual lyrics in class because the lyrics were inappropriate. Students who did know the lyrics were challenged to sing only the melody or the rhythm to see what would fit our lyrics. Our resources for information about our school came from the pamphlets and booklets from the development office as well as information found on the facebook page, website and twitter feed. We organized the information on posters around the classroom and used those to generate ideas for lyrics. Once the lyrics were written each class edited the lyrics for clarity, ease of singing and rhythm accuracy. Then…RECORDING!

Our expert…Fabian marascuillo! We had the privilege of having a Google Hangout with Fabian Marasciullo, one of the music industry’s biggest stars in audio mixing for hip-hop music. We got to learn about the equipment he uses, his process and of course all the celebrities he’s worked with. He got to hear our draft recording of the song before we did the real thing.

Recording in session! In order for students to have a clean recording we used noise cancelling headphones and splitters. We took several takes and even ended up doing some last minute editing to lyrics. Then it was off to making the videos. Please watch the files in the “This is CCPCS” folder.