by Gregory Schmidt
This lesson is designed to enhance the single most important skill that you want your students to acquire. That is the mastery of the written word.
Yet, in dealing with youngsters you want them to write within a context that connects to them. Since singing talent shows are the most watched programs on television, these days, you'll find that the suggestion to write their own songs will get you a positive response.
Successful song writers are a rare breed, but being able to write your own personal missives is within the reach of most all our students. So, schedule them a 30-minute block of time each week to "compose" their own song lyrics. These can be done as rhyming verse works or as free-verse "poems."
The accompanying music will come later or not at all. What matters now is that they are encouraged to express themselves (their desires, their beliefs) in words. Words that have a pattern, as in a song, are the end-game of this exercise.
Luckily, most of our youth will take off with this incentive with eager thoughts because of the popular riffs of rap music, hip hop chants, country hits and youth pop ballads that are currently on the charts. Encourage them to write, then, within specific genres such as patriotic songs, religious messages or children's ditties.
This is where you will finally be able to introduce the thesaurus to their creative experimentations. Roget's College Thesaurus offers them the luxury of numerous words that have similar meanings. It also motivates their gifts of discernment to be able to decide which word, which intent, they really mean in a line of sung verse.
It's not necessary that they be asked to "perform" their song, if even done a cappella. These written works might be personal to them and young students shouldn't be prodded to exhibit their inhibitions. Let them make these works of word craft their own artistic creation without the concern of having to bring them to some sort of public recital.
Your job should be to simply coach them on how long to make each stanza of a song, and to give them insights into the creativity of rhyming words. Instruct them to use descriptive poetic words and to adhere to proper spelling and phrase construction.
The magic in it all will be the titles that they choose, and the themes that they feel are important to write (or sing) about. Encourage them to write/sing about things that stir them emotionally.
For the more advanced students let them exercise the talent of "live" ad lib rap composition. Some kids are naturals at this and some will find the experience challenging, but enjoyable. Since this is normally done in real time, they'll need to have a tape-recorder at hand.
For the younger students start them out by writing an initial poem or piece of free verse that they could later re-compose into a set of song lyrics. Just the idea of writing a song could discourage them from writing anything at all.
Either way, most all age groups will find that the artistic freedom of creating messages/songs with their own inherent wording helps them master the English language and gives them a view into their own future of other accomplishments.
Gregory Schmidt worked with the child actors in his Bueno Gang Kids movie series for 18 months before putting them into their original production on camera. The first two movies in the series have earned the Dove Foundation stamp of approval. They can be purchased by contacting greg@festint.com. The two Bueno Gang movies are also available at ChristianCinema.com.
This lesson is designed to enhance the single most important skill that you want your students to acquire. That is the mastery of the written word.
Yet, in dealing with youngsters you want them to write within a context that connects to them. Since singing talent shows are the most watched programs on television, these days, you'll find that the suggestion to write their own songs will get you a positive response.
Successful song writers are a rare breed, but being able to write your own personal missives is within the reach of most all our students. So, schedule them a 30-minute block of time each week to "compose" their own song lyrics. These can be done as rhyming verse works or as free-verse "poems."
The accompanying music will come later or not at all. What matters now is that they are encouraged to express themselves (their desires, their beliefs) in words. Words that have a pattern, as in a song, are the end-game of this exercise.
Luckily, most of our youth will take off with this incentive with eager thoughts because of the popular riffs of rap music, hip hop chants, country hits and youth pop ballads that are currently on the charts. Encourage them to write, then, within specific genres such as patriotic songs, religious messages or children's ditties.
This is where you will finally be able to introduce the thesaurus to their creative experimentations. Roget's College Thesaurus offers them the luxury of numerous words that have similar meanings. It also motivates their gifts of discernment to be able to decide which word, which intent, they really mean in a line of sung verse.
It's not necessary that they be asked to "perform" their song, if even done a cappella. These written works might be personal to them and young students shouldn't be prodded to exhibit their inhibitions. Let them make these works of word craft their own artistic creation without the concern of having to bring them to some sort of public recital.
Your job should be to simply coach them on how long to make each stanza of a song, and to give them insights into the creativity of rhyming words. Instruct them to use descriptive poetic words and to adhere to proper spelling and phrase construction.
The magic in it all will be the titles that they choose, and the themes that they feel are important to write (or sing) about. Encourage them to write/sing about things that stir them emotionally.
For the more advanced students let them exercise the talent of "live" ad lib rap composition. Some kids are naturals at this and some will find the experience challenging, but enjoyable. Since this is normally done in real time, they'll need to have a tape-recorder at hand.
For the younger students start them out by writing an initial poem or piece of free verse that they could later re-compose into a set of song lyrics. Just the idea of writing a song could discourage them from writing anything at all.
Either way, most all age groups will find that the artistic freedom of creating messages/songs with their own inherent wording helps them master the English language and gives them a view into their own future of other accomplishments.
Gregory Schmidt worked with the child actors in his Bueno Gang Kids movie series for 18 months before putting them into their original production on camera. The first two movies in the series have earned the Dove Foundation stamp of approval. They can be purchased by contacting greg@festint.com. The two Bueno Gang movies are also available at ChristianCinema.com.
