Incorporating international languages in a music illustration project.
Music is a great motivator for students. They have a passion for it and strong opinions. I have done a music illustration before HERE, but in this lesson, we will focus on international languages. I decided to partner with our Spanish teachers for this lesson, but you could open it up to any language the students want to choose. Maybe they can research their own cultural backgrounds and use music from that culture. I am Irish, Swedish, and Belizean. I could research music from those countries. I could also put country names in a box, and have students pick from that to do some additional research. That might be a great connection to World Cultures.
I would advise students sign up on a list so that the same song is not illustrated by several students. At the moment, BTS is very popular, but I don’t want 10 versions of their current hit illustrated. Others may feel differently though.
Students found a song, found lyrics, and translations. They were to focus on one line or chorus of the song to illustrate. Our Spanish teachers would see their sketches to confirm the language was “school appropriate.” You may need to discuss this with students ahead of time. If a song includes a “curse word” I ask them to pick another song or use symbols like #%?! To represent the word.
My requirements were these:
While students work, I will find the music on YouTube and create a play list to listen to in the background as students work. It’s great for them to hear songs from other cultures and gain a broad appreciation.
When we display the work, students do a little writing on an index card with a translation of the lyrics and a little explanation about why they selected that song. Students earn additional points on my rubric when the song has personal connections to themselves.
I would advise students sign up on a list so that the same song is not illustrated by several students. At the moment, BTS is very popular, but I don’t want 10 versions of their current hit illustrated. Others may feel differently though.
Students found a song, found lyrics, and translations. They were to focus on one line or chorus of the song to illustrate. Our Spanish teachers would see their sketches to confirm the language was “school appropriate.” You may need to discuss this with students ahead of time. If a song includes a “curse word” I ask them to pick another song or use symbols like #%?! To represent the word.
My requirements were these:
- Lyrics must be integrated into the image
- Colors must be layered
- Include overlapping to give the illusion of space
While students work, I will find the music on YouTube and create a play list to listen to in the background as students work. It’s great for them to hear songs from other cultures and gain a broad appreciation.
When we display the work, students do a little writing on an index card with a translation of the lyrics and a little explanation about why they selected that song. Students earn additional points on my rubric when the song has personal connections to themselves.
If you need a resource to develop your lessons, THIS BOOK is one I wrote with 50 lessons that can be personalized and use nearly any media you have available for grades k-12. It's a starting point as you develop your own lessons. If you need more help with pedagogy, (how to teach art) Then THIS BOOK is one I wrote to explain my process developed over 30+ years. It's free on Kindle if you have an Amazon account. More of my resources can be found HERE. If you click on any image, you'll be linked to the book on Amazon.
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