I love music and I love teaching. On those occasions when I have a chance to combine the two, good things always seem to happen. Last year, I decided to showcase music as a thematic unit for the year and though all of the lessons were constructive, there was one in particular that turned out to be extra-special.
This particular activity represents a portion of a larger unit on the roots of rhythm and blues music. The class had already discussed gospel and jazz and we were now studying the characteristics of blues music and its influence on modern day R&B.; The entire thematic unit incorporated several aspects of core curricula, such as reading and writing, US History, technology, and more. The assignment for this unit was to write a blues song and perform it over a musical track. This particular task would help my ESL students with their writing, listening and speaking skills.
Background:
The unit on blues music is the second in a series of mini-units on the roots of rhythm and blues music. The unit opened with a discussion of the genre itself, with an emphasis on the prevalence of instrumentation (acapella and piano on earlier recordings and guitar on more recent blues music) and the mood typical of blues songs.
The students had previously studied earlier blues recordings, most notably the works of Billie Holiday. As a preparation for this assignment on newer forms of the genre, students took a listen to songs by Muddy Waters and BB King. Next, they were shown a clip from the film Adventures in Babysitting, in which the main characters inadvertently find themselves on the stage at a blues club and are compelled to improvise a blues song: The Babysitting Blues. You can see the video here.
Once the students had seen the clip, we watched it again in pieces, and altogether we transcribed the words to the song. Next, they took turns reading the written words as everyone else chimed in with an improvised guitar riff after each line. They were now ready for the assignment.
The Task:
For this assignment, I gave the students a choice: they either had to write an essay on blues music, using two pieces we hadn’t studied and show how they belonged in the blues genre, or they could simply write a blues song. Here are the written instructions for that part of the assignment:
Write a song based on the typical blues song you heard in the movie Adventures in Babysitting. The song must have two verses and a chorus. Remember, a blues song is typically about one’s troubles, so keep that in mind when writing yours.
Begin with “My name is…” and follow the format of Babysitting Blues.
As any good teacher will do, I modeled that part of the assignment with my own song and performed it for them. Here are some of my lyrics:
ESL Teacher Blues
My name’s Mr. Myers
I’ve got lots of students
That always miss the bell
There’s Jazzy, Supi, and Sonia
When they’re late, I say I told ya
But I’ve got even more trouble than that…
.
And it’s so hard
Trying to teach these guys
I’ve got the
ESL Teacher Blues (teacher, teacher)
The ESL Teacher Blues
I gave the students some title suggestions to get them started: High School Blues, ESL Blues, Immigrant Blues, etc. and let them at it. Surprisingly, the great majority of the students opted to write the song instead of the essay, and I was quite impressed with the results. Some of their titles say it all: Illegal Immigrant Blues, Guatemalan Blues, Club Fighting Blues, Teenager Blues, and more.
Once they’d written, edited and rewritten their songs, they took turns performing it for the class. Next, we downloaded an instrumental version of George Thorogood’s Bad to the Bone, which has a similar melody to the song in the movie. The students held a recording session, performing their songs over the musical track, using the Mac program Garage Band. In the end, all of the blues songs were burned on to a CD and each student was able to take home their collection of our class’ ESL Blues Greatest Hits.
Not only was the experience a lot of fun, the students’ songs were great, and this was a lesson they’d all remember for a lifetime. Every once in awhile, one of them will come across a blues song in a movie or they’ll see Adventures in Babysitting on TV and they’ll tell me about it, remembering with fondness that lasting lesson. That’s what teaching should always be about!
