SAUL aus Georgina Castilsja uned-In Teaching: sing Lyrics to Teach Language Arts Everything we strive to teach Students lies in a catchy tune that they might actually remember! Why not use this to introduce or feview important concepts and Skills, without it being drill and kill? y classroom always comes to life when my speakers come on and our text is musical. My disengaged, and ‘ny struggling readers, often an overlapping group, lend me their sitention and open an analytical ar they didat know they had ‘My students, largely Aftican American and Latino, probably have sever heard the music I use, as it doesnt match the traditional Beats and voices they are accustomed to, but it allows me to ‘expose them to different genres and powerful messages. I engage any students in higher-level critical thinking, through atext thats Both attainable and high interest. ‘Why use music? Let’ face it: time is short in the classroom, Using songs to teach and review concepts using what I call a three ‘minute text, allows students to have multiple reads in one class period. OF course, songs dont replace our traditional texts, but they are a time-efficient tool that can expose students to author's craft, style, and purpose. Everything we strive to teach students lies in a catchy tune that they might actually remember! Why not ‘use this to introduce or review important concepts and skills, ‘eithout it being drill and kill? Occasionally, using music my students are already familiar with ‘ensures that students revisit the lesson and are aware that every song is a piece of lyrical art that possesses a style and a message. Georgina Castilleja as boen In education for over 14 years, working with siruggling readers and English Language Leerne’s. She is the manages anc coach of Secondary ELA Teacher Development Specialists {at Houston ISD. She can be reached at cast @houstonied.og, LEADING WITH QUALITY LITERATURE Beers and Probst (2012) state that “the essential element in rigor is engagement [and it] has to be achieved by engaging ina process that is sufficiently interesting or rewarding that they'll invest energy in the work (p. 22) The benefit of using popular or current songs is that students have an immediate sense of relevance that creates engagement. Using music allows me to infuse literary and ‘media awareness in a fun and interesting way for my students. Incorporating music is easy. I treat a musical piece as text that requires deep reading. Beers and Probst (2012) describe rigor as “not an attribute of a text but rather a characteristic of our behavior with that text” (p. 20). Just like a complex text requires multiple readings, a song requires the same, Typically the first step is a cold listen, Students hear the song with the lyrics provided. ‘This is when students simply experience the song and get a first impression for the style, lyties, mood, etc. The main purpose is ‘comprehension. Students may jot down any thoughts or questions that come to mind. For the second listen, the teacher provides a more specific purpose; for example, students may look for contradictions, or pay attention to characterization or imagery. At this point, students annotate the lyrics for that concept. The third listen comes with a prompt students should be ready to discuss and then write about in a paragraph of essay, ‘This is something, like: “explain how the imagery used in this song creates the mood Eralih in Tos | Volume 45.1 |. SovingySuiemer 2015 ‘A Jounal of Tuas Counel ol Teacher of Engh Langue As a