Title – M-U-S-I-C-I-A-N Rap

By – Merri Purdy

Primary Subject – Music

Grade Level – 3-6

Introduction:

At the beginning of the new semester, I asked my new students to tell me what it took to be a good music student. I told them that in my classroom, they were ALL musicians.

I then show them my very colorful poster with a poem that my student teacher printed out and decorated with music symbols. It spells the word “musician” in colored letters down the left hand side of each phrase. The letters to the word are used to begin each phrase in the rap (like an acrostic poem). The poem is as follows:




M


ake the most of each and every day,



U


nderstand the rules and respect what we say.



S


it tall, sing strong and have lots of fun.

 


I


nstructions should be followed by everyone.



C


ome ready to learn and be willing to share,

 


I


nstruments are delicate – so handle with care.



A


rrive on time, and don’t be late.



N


ow it’s time to “ROCK”, and that’s really great!

Procedure:

1. Place the poster in the front of the classroom where all are easily able to view it.
   
2. Use a CD track with a strong rhythmical beat (I use a CD with several rap tracks).
   
3. Recite each line of the poem, one at a time, and have students repeat it as the rap track is being played.
   
4. Once they feel comfortable with the flow of the poem to the music track, add seven beats of body percussion following each phrase.
   
5. To make it easier for the kids to remember the body percussion, create a symbol for each action and place them in order on the board. The kids LOVE to suggest body percussion to go with each phrase.
   
6. You could even carry it a step further and have them get into groups of 5-6 students and have each group create new body percussion to go with each phrase. They could put the actions (include a key) on a poster to be performed by the entire class.

Example:

Have fun!

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Merri Purdy

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