Students will demonstrate their ability to adjust the emotions of their characters by performing their monologues to music.
Materials Needed:
• Song list Lesson 4.Song List o Song List o Nessum Dorma- Paul Potts o Do You Love Me- The Contours o Rafiki Mourns- The Lion King (Original Broadway Cast Recording) o Spectrum Song- Sherman/Sherman o September- Earth, Wind, and Fire o Keep Your Head Up- Andy Grammer o Bad Day- Daniel Powter o Samba da Bencao- Bebel Gilberto o Love Song- Selena Gomez and the Scene o Live and Let Die- Paul McCartney • Ten CD players • Ten CD’s- with the music from the song list • Individual song names written on paper • Play Microphone
Hook:
Using one of the CD’s and players, play Love Song by Selena Gomez and the Scene as they enter the classroom and take their seats. Dance and bounce around to it. Sing along into the microphone! Go around the class and try to get students to sing along with you!
Teaching Presentation:
• If any students are willing to play along and have fun, ask them why they liked opening with a song. If no one liked the exercise, ask what they didn’t like about the song. What are your favorite genres of music? Why do you like it? Is it fun? Heart-wrenching? Cheery? Do you agree that music is enjoyed because it is impactful? Music is full of emotion. Do you think musicians are kind of like actors in that respect? They’re putting on a character to get the message of their music across. • Have the students stand up. Explain to them that you will turn on different types of music. You want them to think about the song for a little bit and decide on which emotion the artist is trying to convey. Then the students need to act out that emotion in whatever way they feel inclined. • Start playing the music in this order: 1. Rafiki Mourns- The Lion King 2. September- Earth, Wind, and Fire 3. Keep your Head Up- Andy Grammer 4. Samba da Bencao- Bebel Gilberto 5. Spectrum Song- Sherman/Sherman 6. Nessum Dorma- Paul Potts 7. Bad Day- Daniel Powter 8. Live and Let Die- Paul McCartney 9. Do you Love Me- The Contours 10. Love Song- Selena Gomez and the Scene
• Play each song for about a minute, giving the students time to go for it. Push them out of their comfort zone a little bit. If they are having a hard time, call out a couple of emotions that you hear in the song. 1. Fear, sadness, mourning 2. Excitement, elation, smiles 3. Encouragement, happiness, hope 4. Relaxation, calm, contemplative 5. Silliness, fun 6. Confidence, heavy-hearted 7. Hurt, depressed, upset 8. Power, force 9. Excited, optimistic, hopeful 10. Confusion, excitement, love • Point out the stations around the room with each CD player and CD as you tape up the song name signs. Give the students five minutes to decipher which song fits their interpretation of their monologue. Ask them to congregate at each station as it applies to their monologues. Ask them to practice their monologues to the music. Follow the rhythm, feel the music enter your soul as you rehearse the lines of your monologue. • Ask them to discuss with their groups why they chose that particular song. Come up with three reasons they work well with those monologues. Gather whole class together and talk about those reasons. • Guide the discussion towards the emotions they are feeling. Are they easier to tap into when you have music supporting your character’s emotions? Do you think you could go that deep without the music? • Try it! Rehearse your monologues while keeping the tunes of those songs in your head. Walk around and help them try to emote what they need to. Ask questions about their emotions and try to help them connect with their characters’ emotions. • Assign them to write a half page essay on who they are talking to in the monologue. What do they see? Where are they? Who is this person? What is their relationship? • Play music again as they leave.
