Day one of teaching tone was an absolute success! The lesson went almost exactly as planned, and I’m happy to say the kids picked up the topic very well. I think the most effective part of the lesson was playing the two versions of “Let Me Love You.” Not only did the kids know the song, but they enjoyed listening to some pop music in class. Further, the two versions are so radically different that it helped them to more concretely see that the author can be delivering the same message, but change the manner in which it is delivered in order to create a different feeling or tone.
Additionally, we were able to compare the mood and the tone very easily. The mood of both those songs is rather sad or lonely. However, the heightened beat as well as the power behind the vocalists’ voices makes for a more upbeat, optimistic tone. We did NOT put words to these differing tones today, but we did discuss the difference between the positive and negative tones.
I could not have planned the end of the lesson any better, when one of my students posed the question, “Well, how does someone do that in a book if they don’t have the music?”
I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when we actually look at word choice, details, and imagery!