Teaching Adjectives With Music

By Wajid Ali
Primary Subject Language Arts
Secondary Subjects Music
Grade Level 3-5
Concept:
The students will broaden their knowledge about adjectives through music and by using them to
describe both objects and music.
Objectives:
The student will be able to:
1. write down adjectives to describe objects in a bag.
2. report to the class the adjectives they used.
3. write down adjectives that describe the music they listen to.
4. share their adjectives with the class.
Materials Needed:

5 paper bags

5 different objects to place in each bag (potato, granola bar, fabric softener, apple, and bagel)

various samples of recorded music (Classic Disney Volume I )

Musical Element:
The song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah can be taught using the repeated melody and form that it has throughout
the song. Children between the ages of kindergarten and second grade would all know this song and
they would understand form and repeated patterns more easily when working with a familiar song.
Procedure:
Introduction:
The teacher asks the students what an adjective is: a word that describes. The teacher then talks with
the class about the work they have done with adjectives the past few days. They have been identifying
adjectives in sentences. Explain that today they are going to do a fun activity using adjectives.
Activities:

Five mystery bags will be distributed around the room. Each student is asked to
place one hand in the bag and feel the object. They can touch the object, shake
the bag, etc., but they can not look at the object.

The student should then write down as many adjectives as they can to describe
the unknown object. After each child has written adjectives for all five bags, the
adjectives will be shared with the class. The teacher will ask the students if they
can name the object. The teacher will then display each object to the class.

We will then talk about the fact that adjectives can help us figure out what
objects are. Next, the teacher will play a sample of music (Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah)
and the students will write down adjectives that describe the music (elements
of the music, how it makes them feel, what it makes them think of). The
students will then share their adjectives with the class.

Closure:
The teacher will discuss that adjectives can be used to describe many objects and can also be used to
describe music. Even though we cant actually see the objects or the music, we came up with many
descriptive words to help others understand what are senses are telling us about the objects and music.
The song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah uses many different adjectives in the song that can help students better
grasp this concept.
Evaluation:
The students will hand in the papers on which they recorded adjectives. If the students words were
indeed adjectives, then they will receive full credit for this assignment.
Follow-Up:
The students can pair up and use adjectives to describe an object to their partner. The student
describing will have an object to describe while their partner sits quietly with their eyes shut. The
student describes the object using detailed adjectives so that the partner can guess the object. The
same can be done with music. One student describes a popular piece of music while the other tries to
guess the music by listening to the adjectives.