Unit Guide

New Worlds: Storytelling, Music and Writing

Cecilia Hann

The unit, New Worlds: Storytelling, Music and Writing relates storytelling, music and writing. To build background knowledge, students learn the elements of storytelling. Each music class, I tell stories about culture, history or ethics. My Fifth Grade students then read a story or write some sentences and accompany them with a musical composition. Students then listen to a musical composition and write about what they heard. Then, they create their own music using classroom instruments to accompany their story. After trying these two types, students will write their own story and music. Students discus their work and others. My idea is to have students focus on writing, storytelling both fiction and non-fiction and music. In this discussion, I can show how music is important to storytelling. Examples of music compositions and their stories are “New World Symphony” and “Peter and the Wolf.” Students can read a story like “Abiyoyo” and then listen to its corresponding music. What senses are they be experiencing? What is happening? Was there a climax in the story and music? Students will collaborate with peers and discuss their compositions and suggestions to improve each other’s works. This unit will allow creativity as well as bring writing into my music curriculum