Making Musical Masterpieces By Paul Provencio, Townsend Elementary

Making Music Masterpieces - Reading In 1961, the Tokens recorded their biggest hit, “ The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The song is based upon an African folk tune, “Wimoweh.” Roughly translated, this phrase means “the lion is sleeping.”

Making Music Masterpieces - Questions If you could write a song inspired by a popular phrase or folk saying, what saying would you choose? Write your lyrics (the words) first. Then improvise a song by singing the lyrics aloud.

Making Music Masterpieces Teacher’s Page General Tips for success: First let class read silently. Then read out loud as class. Brain-storm to find out their schema and stimulate ideas. Repetition of key words or phrases is an important lyric writing technique. When singing, making it up as you go: think about melodies that go high and low, fast and slow, in steps or skips, loud and soft to create interest. Don’t worry about sounding like Pavarotti. God gave you a voice, you give it right back. Don’t worry if your voice won’t do what you want at first. Keep trying until your voice listens to you. You’re the boss. Tell your voice you want to sing. Have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously. Laugh and look like your having fun. Kids will follow. Work in structured cooperative learning groups to create a classroom song. Each group creating a variation on a theme or different part of the song. Perform. 1 Activity notes

Activity 1 Examples: Seven principles of Kwaanza:Imani-faith, Kuumba-creativity, Ujamaa-working together, Umoja-unity, Ujima-responsibility, Nia-purpose, Kujichagulia-self determination. Current classroom math, science, social studies concepts, spelling, rules, procedures, etc. School motto or district theme: Learning for all. Words of wisdom: Silence is golden; Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; A penny saved is a penny earned, etc. Making Music Masterpieces Teacher’s Page