comparing three songs with symbolic meanings about the past, present and future
This lesson was created by Northern Nevada Writing Project Consultant Rob Stone. If you're interested in using music in the classroom, you can join Rob's Music Inspires Writing! Ning.
This writing prompt inspired by
"Yesterday" originally sung by the Beatles, as well as two other songs.
Writing teacher-extraordinaire, Rob Stone, presented an adapted version of this on-line lesson at the NNWP's annual poetry festival in March of 2011. In order to present his lesson in a much shorter amount of time than he usually takes when presenting it to his own students, Rob created the following adapted graphic organizers and brainstorming tools.
On the surface, yesterday, today and tomorrow appear to be three simple, consecutive days, but a closer look reveals three hugely different symbolic meanings. Those immense, symbolic meanings have been experienced, explored and documented throughout human history in the form of novels, poems, plays, proverbs, narratives and songs. After listening to three modern songs that capture this symbolism in words--“Yesterday” by the Beatles, “Today” by the Smashing Pumpkins, and “Tomorrow” from the Annie Soundtrack--students will analyze their own experiences with these three concepts and then compare and contrast them with those of a character from the novel they are reading. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.
6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:
The focus trait of this lesson is idea development as students will be exploring themes and symbolism and letting their ideas about them drive their writing. The Support Trait of this lesson is word choice because students will be focusing on strong, unique, descriptive verbs and adjectives to convey their message to the reader.
You've found a Piñon Poetry Lesson! 
