Class Rap
Music Lesson Plan
Students will become familiar with many of the components of rap music. They will exercise their listening skills in order to pick out features of rap music. They will be able to compose their own rap based on rap music that they are exposed to.
several rap songs epitomizing the style of rap, chalkboard or dry erase board, something to write with
- Activate students' prior knowledge about rap music. Have them give some examples of music they have heard. See if they can already describe any features of rap music.
- Play a few different pieces of rap, and have the students generate a list of common features. Talk about these features and discuss the concept of generalizing – that the pieces they are hearing are typical but not exclusive.
- Come up with a topic, underneath the general theme that you are working on in your class, for your students to compose a rap about. Or let the students, in groups, come up with their own topics. In their groups, the students will need to do some brainstorming to decide on some key ideas, words, etc. that they want their rap to include.
- They will then create their rap, both the words and the beat (You may want to do this activity along with a musical instrument making activity so the students can really play their tune).
- The group will sing their rap together to the class. Each group can teach the class their rap throughout the week or unit.
- Compose a Rap Big Book with all of the different lyrics included and the song- writers. Add to it as the year progresses.
See how the class felt about the task. Was it difficult? Easy? Fun? What were some of the reasons that made it that way? What could we have done differently to make it more/less challenging? Is rap music easy or difficult to distinguish from other types of music? What makes it so unique? Have them write about all of these things.
Were the students able to add to the discussion? Were they able to hear the similarities in the different pieces of rap and make generalizations about the music as a whole? Did they enjoy the assignment? How did they reflect on the experience?
