Lesson Overview

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Students will interpret fragments of lyrics and identify the key skills necessary to decode and analyse media messages embedded in popular music. In subsequent lessons, students will use this learning to role-play scenarios about control of, and decisions about, their own money and spending habits. This drama lesson could also be used as an introduction to poetry, or used in conjunction with a unit on media literacy.    

Connections to Financial Literacy

Drama

B1. Creating and Presenting
Grade 7:

  • B1.1: engage actively in drama exploration and role play, with a focus on examining multiple perspectives related to current issues, themes, and relationships from a wide variety of sources and diverse communities

Grade 8:

  • B1.1: engage actively in drama exploration and role play, with a focus on examining multiple perspectives and possible outcomes related to complex issues, themes, and relationships from a wide variety of sources and diverse communities

B3. Exploring Forms and Cultural Contexts
Grade 7:

  • B3.2: identify and describe several ways in which drama and theatre contribute to contemporary social, economic, and cultural life

Grade 8:

  • B3.2: identify and describe a wide variety of ways in which drama and theatre make or have made contributions to social, cultural, and economic life in a variety of times and places

Curriculum Expectations

Drama

B.1 Creating and Presenting
Grade 7:

  • B1.3: plan and shape the direction of the drama by working with others, both in and out of role, to generate ideas and explore multiple perspectives

Grade 8:

  • B1.3: plan and shape the direction of the drama by negotiating ideas and perspectives with others, both in and out of role

B2. Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing
Grade 7:

  • B2.2: analyse and describe, using drama terminology, how drama elements are used to communicate meaning in a variety of drama works and shared drama experiences

Grade 8:

  • B2.2: evaluate, using drama terminology, how effectively drama works and shared drama experiences use the elements of drama to engage the audience and communicate a theme or message

Learning Goals

At the end of this lesson, students will

  • identify key skills developed through dramatic play and role play
  • interpret and make meaning of lyrics from songs about money
  • identify implied or inferred messages about money and finances from media sources
  • connect media messages about money to financial responsibility in their own life, the community and the world

Instructional Components and Context

Readiness

Students are encouraged to have previous experience working collaboratively in a safe and supportive classroom environment. Familiarity with the routines of a drama circle and, working in role should be in place before beginning. These lessons may be used as part of a larger unit on popular culture and media manipulation, or as part of a unit on inferring and synthesizing.

Terminology

Personal storytelling

Anchor chart
Spectrum of difference
Carousel presentation
1-2-3 Countdown
Ticket out the door

Drama

Inner and outer circle
Tableaux

Materials

Music
Chart paper and markers
Computer access
Drama journal
BLM #1 Song Fragments
BLM #2 Ticket Out the Door

 

Lesson Plan

Minds On

Whole Class > Personal Storytelling using Inner and Outer Circle

Invite the students to work with a partner in two circles, one student on the inside facing the partner on the outside circle. Ask students to tell a story about a time they borrowed or lent money. When both partners have shared, the outside circle moves one person to the right. With a new partner, instruct students to share a story about a time they received money as a gift.  Instruct students to shift partners again, and tell a story about why they feel they need money in their lives. This strategy is called inner and outer circle.

Invite the students to reflect on the storytelling. Prompts: What did you learn about your partner through the story that was shared? Were your stories similar? Do you think you or partner need money or want money? Is there a difference?

After sharing, ask students to recall and brainstorm a list of “money words” from the stories they contributed or heard (e.g., save, spend, borrow, lend, steal, bank account, etc.) and record on an anchor chart.

Extension idea:
  • Students can write a journal entry of their own stories or one that they heard that was meaningful, or connected to them in some way.   

Connections

Connections: Remind students to continue to refer to and add to the anchor chart during the Action! section of this lesson and during lesson two.

Differentiation: Students may require some additional thinking time before the storytelling or may wish to write their stories out as jot notes or on cue cards before moving into the circle.  Stories can be shared in a Fold the Line activity, where students are arranged in a straight line and given one of the prompts as a starting point. Students who feel strongly about, or have had experience with the prompt would be at one end, while students who have little or no connection to the prompt would be at the other. The line folds in on itself so that two students are facing each other. This may be more engaging for some students as they are not just retelling a story, but taking a position on it. For students who prefer to move, stories can be shared by Milling to Music.  

Assessment as learning: By sharing personal stories about money, students can reflect on their own and others connections to finance. Invite students to compare and contrast their stories using a graphic organizer such as a Venn diagram with their peers in order to make connections and further build empathy between themselves and their classmates.

Assessment for learning: Use the 3 -2-1 Countdown strategy to consolidate student learning.  In their journals, students will note three important things they learned during the activity, ask two questions they would like answered and recount one way their learning connects to something they knew before.

 

Action!

Individual > Introducing and  Interpreting a Song Fragment

Provide students with a lyric fragment from Patti Smith’s Free Money song. Do not reveal the song or the artist.

Lyrics:  

Every night before I go to sleep
Find a ticket, win a lottery,
Scoop the pearls up from the sea
Cash them in and buy you all the things you need

First, instruct students to read the fragment silently. Then moving through the room reading aloud the fragment in a variety of ways (e.g., loudly, softly, staccato, increasing volume, etc.) Invite students to experiment with different movements (e.g., skipping, hopping, marching etc.) as they read. Suggest that students choose a different line to begin so that they are not trying to read in unison.

Invite students to consider the meaning of the text through the following discussion questions:

Key Questions for Discussion:

What word in the lyric resonates with you most? Share your word with a partner and explain why you chose that word?
Who might be the author of this text?
Is the speaker male or female?
Who is the implied audience?
What text clues, if any, help you understand when this was written?
What is the difference between what you need and what you want?
What is the untold story?

Pairs > Making Connections to Personal Stories

Explain that these lines belong to a song called Free Money by Patti Smith. Give background information about Smith and her importance to popular music today. Smith often writes personal lyrics based on family members and friends. Invite students to make and share connections to their own personal stories from the Minds On to the possible stories in Free Money. Prompts: Which story did you share or was shared with you that reminds you of or is connected to Free Money? Does Free Money remind you of another personal story?  

Play the entire song. Encourage students to share their initial response to the song with a partner and then in a whole group. Prompts: Were you surprised by the music? Is it what you expected? Is your interpretation changed now that you have heard the whole song? What questions might you want to ask Patti Smith about the song?

Small Group > Sharing and Tableau Creation

Instruct students to work in groups of 4 or 5 then ask them to explore and interpret another fragment of the song. Give each group a song fragment from BLM #1 Song Fragments. Prompts: What is the “message” or meaning in your song fragment? What, if anything, is positive about that message? What, if anything, is negative? Who is speaking? Whose voice is not being heard? How do these words relate to money?

Next, ask students to create two tableaux based on their song fragment - as if they were short excerpts from a music video. Remind students to consider different ways of transitioning from one tableau to the next (e.g., melting, clapping, dissolving etc.) If available, provide the use of a musical instrument such as a tambourine or drum to cue transitions.

Provide students with sufficient time to rehearse and once ready ask groups to present to the class using a carousel strategy. Students will return to the drama circle and each group presents their tableaux, in turn, one after the other without interruption.

Invite the students to respond to and reflect on the presentations. Prompts: Did you notice any similarities and differences in the images? Which tableau did you believe was most effective in representing the lyric? Which image or tableau did you personally connect to? Why? Having observed the other presentations, would you change or add anything to your presentation?

Guide students in working together to create another anchor chart listing the positive and negative messages communicated through the scenes. Post this chart with the anchor chart that listed money words from the Minds On activity. Ask students to select and bring in a fragment from song lyrics to work with during lesson two.

Connections

Connections: Use the anchor chart created in this part of the lesson as a guide for the next two lessons. Keep this chart posted along with the vocabulary anchor chart listing “money words” from the Minds On section of the lesson.

Differentiation: Allow students to share with one other group before the whole group to further rehearse their tableaux. Groups may also only share with one other group depending on the needs of the students. Allow students to film their tableaux and share their work on computer.  Showing examples of snippets from music videos may help with transitions from one tableau to the next. Provide graphic organizers to record students’ thoughts and ideas. Keep groupings flexible.  

Assessment of learning: The tableaux can be assessed using the CODE resource Tableau Rubric. If this method of assessment is used, students will require more time to practise and be given more descriptive feedback during the creation process to ensure success.  

 

Consolidation

Individual > Ticket Out the Door

Ask students to complete BLM #2 Ticket Out the Door to consolidate their thinking from this lesson. Prompts: What was the message from your own song fragment? Does the message reflect your own relationship with money? Explain.

Connections

Connections: Use the ticket out the door as a springboard for lesson two. Remind students to bring in their own choice of song lyrics for lesson two.

Differentiation: Give students a choice for consolidating their learning: a journal entry, 3-2-1 Countdown, visual representation, or a brief writing task in the role of the songwriter or consumer.

Assessment for learning: Invite students to share their Tickets out the Door with two other students to reinforce and extend their understanding of implied messages in music.  Students should give feedback to their peers before submitting the Ticket to the teacher.