Name that Tone

A Concept Mini-lesson on Tone

Anna Spence

Purpose:                     This mini-lesson is intended to teach students the meaning of the  

                                    author’s tone.  This will be done by comparing the musician’s tone or tune in certain pieces of music.  This mini-lesson also benefits those students who connect through music and sound and learn from comparisons.

                                   

Time:                         Around 35-45 minutes

 

Materials:                  For teacher:  tape or cd player, three different pieces of music (must have a singer) each having three different tones (sarcastic, depressed, angry, enthusiastic, etc…), copies for the class of a short story (about one page in length), crayons and construction paper to distribute to students

                                   

    For students:  crayons and construction paper (supplied by teacher), pencil or pen, notebook

    paper

 

Objectives:                NCTE Standards: 

11.       Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and  

         critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

                                   

                                    NCSCS Standards for English/Language Arts: 

8th Grade Competency Goal 5:  The learner will respond to various 

literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes.

               

5.01  Increase fluency, comprehension, and insight through 

                         a meaningful and comprehensive reading program by:

 

·          analyzing the effects of elements such as plot, theme, characterization, style, mood, and tone.

                                   

Script:                        “Okay everybody, I have a fun activity for us to do today, and I need everyone’s attention.  I’m going to play three different pieces of music, and as you listen to them keep in mind which one you like the best because we’re going to do something with it in just a little bit.  Alright, now while this first piece of music is playing I want everyone to close your eyes and just relax and listen to the music play.” [Play first piece of music and write the musician’s name and song title on the board]  “Now I want you all to just think silently to yourselves for a minute about the music you just heard and about how you think the musician was feeling or what the musician was thinking when he/she was playing this.  You can use the crayons and paper I put on your tables to draw or write anything that you believe expresses how the musician must have been feeling while he/she wrote the words to the song and when he/she sang the song.”  [Give the class 2-3 minutes to reflect and draw, then play the next piece of music and write musician and song title on board.  Have the class reflect to themselves, play last piece, have class reflect, then class can share their ideas about how the musicians were feeling.  Then have a teacher-directed class discussion to introduce tone.]  “All of the musicians’ attitudes and opinions towards life, other people, and certain issues can be heard through the tune of the music.  The musician’s tune is essential to the song and expresses the musician’s feelings and thoughts.  Just as musicians create certain tunes in songs, writers create certain tones in their writings.  A writer or an author’s tone shows their true attitudes and opinions, and just like in the songs, a writer can have a depressing, angry, or an enthusiastic tone.  Writers and musicians can express their tone through the words and the sounds that they use.”  [Write the word tone on the board, and have the class decide on the definition (teacher may need to guide the class with definition).  Then have students pick one piece of music that they liked the best out of the three that they heard, and ask them to be that particular musician.  Ask them to step into the musician’s shoes and write a short story (about a paragraph in length) about anything they think that musician might want to write about, and as that musician they need to set the tone of their writing to match that musician’s attitudes and opinions (students can also make a drawing to go along with their story if they want to).  Give them 7-8 minutes to write their stories, then have volunteers share (only 2 or 3).  Afterwards discuss how they as writers set the tone in their writings-what words they used and how they used them.  Then hand out a short story of your choice (about 1 page in length) to students and together as a class discuss the tone of the writing.]                                                                                           

                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                                                         -Anna Spence