Bluebonnet Folktale and Composition

This lesson beings with a discussion on folktales. We discuss some examples and why students think they were given the name "folktale". (Babe and the Blue Ox, Rip Van Winkle, Johnny Appleseed) I explain that we will be using a folktale from the State of Texas as a basis for an original composition. We then learn the American folk song Deep in the Heart of Texas.

 

I ask students to identify a repeating pattern in the song. After we decide that the four eighth note clapping is the repeated pattern, they create a square around them and shade them in with colored pencils or crayons.

In the next lesson, we read The Legend of Bluebonnet, a folktale of Texas.

 

Then we identify the five W's. I use their answers to create a poem about Bluebonnet. Together we review rhythms using the poem. Then, we use the poem along with the rhythms to create our own pieces using xylophones.

I have used this composition model before. They improvise in groups of four, each taking one measure. Then, they create a piece to perform for the class. Later, we practice together as we make a treble clef. (I start with a number 6 and add a loop to the top, line down, then opposite loop on the bottom) You can skip the bottom section if you do not have time, but students like to add their notes on the staff. I sometimes have them skip the bottom and use noteflight.com, finale, sibelius or another similar program.