Submitted by Jennifer Lynn Plumley, LaGrange, Georgia

Idea posted October 12, 2004

I was recently asked to come up with a lesson plan for other (non-music) teachers to teach to their classes for "Fine Arts Day." It was also Career Week, so the lesson plan had to involve careers, too. I had to have this ready for the teachers by the next day. I frantically looked through my music textbooks for songs involving careers, but to no avail. Then, I remembered about the Music K-8 magazines and the index on the web site! I had the songs chosen in a matter of minutes. The samples of the songs are all right there, so I didn't have to hunt down CDs and flip through books to make my choices. I also came up with a worksheet using lyrics from the songs. I hope you will be able to use this, too. (Keep it handy in case someone asks you to have a lesson plan ready by the next day!)

Fine Arts Day / Careers / Music Lesson Plan

(I wrote this with fourth and fifth grade in mind, but this would work well with older students, too. Younger ones can listen to the songs while coloring the worksheet and pictures on the lyric sheets.)

To prepare: make copies of the "Rising Star" worksheet* for each student. Make copies or a transparency of the lyrics to "I Wonder" from Music K-8, Vol. 13, No. 5, "From The Inside Out" from Music K-8, Vol. 11, No. 1, and "Education Rocks!" from Music K-8, Vol. 9, No. 1.

  1. Pass out lyric sheets for "I Wonder" (or use transparency), while listening to the song. Students just listen, following along on their lyric sheet. Teacher points to the words on her lyric sheet or on the overhead, for those who get lost.
  2. Students sing along. ("I know this is the first time you're singing it - just do the best you can.")
  3. Teacher talks about the meaning of the song and how it corresponds to careers. Better yet, let them tell you the meaning of the song and how it relates to careers.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 for "From The Inside Out" and "Education Rocks."
  5. Pass out "Rising Star" worksheets*. Teacher explains what types of things to write in each shape.

    6. In the star, students write what they would like to be when they grow up (i.e., teacher).

    In the blocks, students write what character traits they need to have or other things they need to work on that are not school-related (i.e., "Love Kids," "Be Honest," "Be Fair," "Be Trustworthy," etc.).

    In the rocks, students write how much education they will need for this career (i.e., "Elementary, Middle, and High School," "College - 4 years," "Graduate School - 0-4+ years") or, they could put academic-related things they need to do (i.e., "Get good grades," "Do better in Math," etc.) It would be a good idea to do one worksheet together first, as an example.

  6. The students listen to the three songs while filling in the worksheet. They may sing or hum along, as long as they continue to work, are not too loud, and do not bother anyone.
  7. The students may color their picture and the lyric sheets if extra time is left.

*This is what the "Rising Star" worksheet looks like:

At the top right, I drew a 2" star, with lines coming from the bottom to show movement. I wrote "Rising Star" next to it. In the middle of the page, I made a drawing of a "house" made out of building blocks - a triangle block for the roof, two vertical rectangle blocks in the middle (with a space between them), and a horizontal rectangle block at the bottom of the house. I wrote, "I build my character. I am the architect." in the empty space in the middle of the blocks. At the bottom of the page, I drew three rocks resting on the ground (with blades of grass at the base of each rock). Under the rocks, I wrote "Education Rocks."