Echoes in Fur and Feather | Stories from The Carnival of the Animals | Carnival of Animals Lesson Plan

Learning Objective(s) aligned to standard(s): The student will be able to transfer the tone of the selected section of “The Carnival of the Animals” into a written piece. Students will be able to create a writing that closely reflects the selected piece and presents it appropriately in terms of content and meaning.

Options for writing pieces would be narratives from the animal’s point of view, or poetry that would closely align with the tempo and mood of the piece.

Success Criteria: 

I will describe success in using a rubric (attached). Some of the features that I would want students to include in their work would, be, in the case of narratives:

• The ability to speak from the POV of the animal assigned.

• The ability to mimic the tone and tempo of the piece

• Incorporation of sounds associated with the animal

• Incorporation of sensory words that reflect the animal choice

The features I would look for in poetry would be the same, however a specific type of poetry would need to be identified, with the required structure and format followed that goes along with that specific type of poem.

The musical selection from “The Carnival of the Animals” would be played in the background as the student performs the written piece.

Student Check-in Strategy (ies): Each class period, I will have a short meeting with each student to ensure that they are working forward in a productive manner. I will use the rubric and show them where, on the rubric, their work is currently landing. I’ll give them time to ask for clarification and for reflection on what they have already completed.

Connections to Prior Learning/ Setting Purpose (Opening): This lesson will build on the previous lessons we have had throughout the year, creating a variety of poetry types, as well as written narratives. This lesson is important in that it will give the students an opportunity to take what they have learned in regard to poetry and aptly connect a specific type of poetry or writing to the musical selection of their piece. Creative writing students are always looking for the next challenge, so I feel as though they will be intrigued with this lesson.

New Learning: 

I will begin the lesson by talking about music in general. Students love to talk about music, so I feel like this would be a good way to start. This will not be a familiar concept in my classroom, so I’ll have to slowly build the groundwork. Some leading questions might be,

• “When I say ‘music’ what comes to mind?’” “How many different genres of music are there?”

• “What is the difference between pop music and orchestra music?” “What instruments are associated with popular music?”

• “What instruments are associated with jazz music?” “What instruments are associated with orchestra music?”

Following that, I would steer the class toward orchestra music and ask how many had seen an orchestra perform and what were their thoughts?

I would ask for descriptive words that best described what they heard. I would guess words like “serious” and “formal” might pop up.

I would play a snippet of Beethoven's Fifth to reinforce that idea.

Then I would introduce them to Camille Sainte-Saens and explain that while on sabbatical, he dedicated to be a little silly and created “The Carnival of the Animals: and that he was so unnerved by his frivolity that he refused to allow it to be played until after his death.

After that, I would tell them to be open-minded and listen to the following piece, and would play them “The Carnival of the Animals”. We would stop after each of the 14 sections to discuss the tone and tempo, and the animal that it represents.

At this point in the year, the students have already successfully written a variety of writing styles and narratives, so the challenge is just to get them intrigued. Depending on the size of the class, I would assign a number from the 1-14 pieces. I could have them draw numbers, pick numbers, and if the class is really large, they could work in pairs.

Tone is a big part of writing. What the poet is trying to communicate with the audience. Same as with music. The composer also communicates tone through choices of instruments, speed of play, etc. For example, in the section about the long-eared animals, there is communicated a sense of speed and levity, a lightness in the frolicking. The student would be charged to recreate this same tone in the choice of poetry, words, and rhythm.

I will assist the students by checking their work at the end of the class period, review what has been created, and discuss any points that I feel need to be established or clarified.

Practice: The students will interact with the learning content first by listening to the pieces. I will make the link available in the assignment so that they can go back on their Chromebook and further listen to the piece. They will also have links so that they can research the animal in preparation for the writing assignment. If the students are paired, they will work together and share the content.

Differentiation: This lesson will reach all levels because writing is conducted on all levels. The material from the music is easy to grasp, as is the animal. Students will have prior knowledge of most of the animals. The challenge will be to write about the animal with the piece of music in mind.

Lesson Reflection/Closure: At the end of the presentations, I will have the students write an exit ticket about how they feel the assignment went. They will also have the opportunity to write about the presentations that they enjoyed the most, and the least, and why.

The student work will be the final presentation, where the student will recite the written piece, with the section of music playing in the background.