Choosing Lyrics and Writing Questions

We know what Close reading is, now let’s start creating our own questions using song lyrics.

So, here’s the process…

  Steps 1 and 2: Think of your outcome/Choose Standards/Find a Song

• What is the point of your lesson? We need to keep this standard-aligned, so choose a CCSS to help guide you while choosing a song and creating questions. Click here for a page of standards (1st-5th grades).
• When looking for a song: Search the net, make sure the song is appropriate, and find a song that has enough meaning to teach a 45 minute lesson. Use www.azlyrics.com or even Youtube to help find the lyrics.
• Once you find the song and lyrics you want to use, copy and paste them into a Word document, Publisher, or PowerPoint.

  Step 3: Begin Creating Questions

• How do you want this lesson presented to students? Do you want individual questions on task cards? Do you want them in a handout format? Do you want this lesson in PowerPoint format, so it can be projected? (See a template for task cards here and here– these are in Microsoft Publisher Format)
• Based on the standards you already chose and the lyrics you have already found, begin building HOT (High Order Thinking). Remember, Close Reading should be done in a way where questions are text dependent, however, we still want these questions to be HOT.
• See this page to help you write HOT Close Read questions.
• Write 8-10 text dependent questions at varied levels (see below for more examples).
• Click here for sample song lyrics and questions.