KEYSTONE CREATIONS ~ Educational Songs: LYRICAL CREATIONS

'National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry which takes place each April, was introduced in 1966 and it is organized by the Academy of American Poets... (It also) provides free educational resourcs to teachers for classroom celebrations and activities...' ~ Wikipedia

National Poetry Day occurs each year in October.

'...each year the day is given a new theme, in order to highlight particular poets and styles of poetry.'

(In 1999 the theme was Song Lyrics.)

The Lyric Writer's Workroom explains the difference between song lyrics and poetry, thus: '...there's only one difference between poetry and song lyrics: Lyrics are set to music.'

My colleague, Kathryn, and I write curriculum-aligned songs (and lesson materials) for schools. These songs started life as lyrics/poems before being transformed by Kathryn's musical genius (download a free sample, here).

FYI:
All of our publications are Covid-friendly (Song packages, illustrated song videos, poem video lessons, song packages, lyric sheets...) so if your students are not allowed to sing at the moment, our song lyrics stand alone as curriculum content-rich poems!

As a teacher, it had been a long-held dream of mine to combine my passion for teaching, singing, and writing, to provide time-poor teachers with resources that would support and integrate classroom learning across key subject areas ~ through the powerful and effective medium of song.

The result is a catalogue of song & poem-based teaching resources, the lyrical content of which targets outcomes & learning sequences of curriculum documents, and supports and integrates learning across key subject areas.

These curriculum-aligned songs (and poems/lyrics) are perfect for:

Motivating and engaging students
Introducing new units of work
Kickstarting discussion
Summarising, reinforcing, and aiding recall of important curriculum content
Integrating learning
Reinforcing school and life themes & concepts
Extending literacy
Poetry lessons/units...
Assembly & performance pieces
Arts integration
Building unity
Homeschooling
Distance learning...

A Review:

'In terms of application to the classroom, and usability by teachers they rate a tick in every box.' ~ Brendan Hitchens, Teacher, Music In Action: A Magazine for Educators

One of my earlier blog posts, 'Lyrical Literacy' discusses the rhythmic nature of songs, highlighting the importance of the 3 Rs: rhyme, rhythm, and repetition, as a perfect platform for building phonemic awareness and a firm foundation for literacy.

The same 'Lyrical Literacy' post also gives simple, practical suggestions for achieving Literacy outcomes when using poetry with students, through integrating Grammar, Writing, Talking, Listening, and Reading Comprehension.

Below is a list of some of our curriculum-aligned, read & learn-along poem videos from our ever-growing new series:

'NOUNsense!' (Grades 1-6)
Their There They're (Grades 2-7)
'People & Their Beliefs' (Grades 3-7)
'Colors' (Grades Pre-K - 3)
'Nocturnal Animals' (Grades Pre-K - 6)
'Fathers'

Below is a list of some of our curriculum-aligned
poems currently downloadable as single lyric sheet/poem PDFs only:

'Our Solar System' (Grades 3-7)
'One World' (Grades K-7) *Multiculturalism (FREE, for ltd time)
'People & Their Beliefs' (Grades 3-8)
'Busy Bodies' (Grades 3-7) *Human Body Systems
'Our Class Rules ~ OK!' (Grades K-3) *Rules & responsibilities
'Bully-Free Zone!' (Grades K-7)
'Bounce Back!' (Grades 3-7) *Resilience
'Living Values' (Grades K-12) Government's 9 Values for Australian Schooling
'ABC! Sing With Me!'
'Wake Up!' (Grades 3-7) *Gratitude *choices *Empathy
'Australia'
'Gold Fever!' *Australian Gold Rush
'Eureka Stockade'
'Australian Democracy' (Grades 3-12)
'Swimming Carnival' (Grades K-6) *Participation *Courage

Bundles (Poem/Lyric Sheet PDFs Only):
'4 Curriculum-Aligned Poems' (Grades 3-7): *Science
'4 Curriculum-Aligned Poems' (Grades Vary)
*Our World
'4 Curriculum-Aligned Poems' (Grades Vary)
* Health
'4 Curriculum-Aligned Poems' (Grades K-7) *Valuable Lessons
'4 Curriculum-Aligned Poems' (Grades 3-7):
*Australia-Specific

FYI: Preview samples of all of our currently-available song packages and Curriculum Karaoke™, read, sing & learn-along videos are available in our stores:

Amped Up Learning

ATM (Australian Teachers Marketplace)

Teachers Pay Teachers

I will be adding more titles to this blog post, so be sure to check back from time to time.

Have a poetical day, and, until next time, stay safe & well!

Nuala :-)

FYI: Our ever-growing Curriculum Karaoke™ song video series is available to subscribing schools on ClickView, '... the world's leading producer of educational videos, providing curriculum-aligned content to schools.'