This is my final installment for 2024 - A Year of AWE - Authentic Writing Experiences. My definition of AWE is any writing intended to be shared with more people than the classroom teacher. This month I'm exploring Winter Song Parodies.
Songs written to the tune of popular winter melodies can be great fun. Singing and performing them in front of classmates adds a social element that makes this activity highly interactive. If you pair a winter songwriting activity with a book review, poetry analysis, or author-inspired profile, you may get some hilarious results and some very different interpretations.
I have had Edgar Allan Poe on my mind all year, as you may have noticed from previous posts about my book, The Raven Remix. In my Song Parody Below, I combine "Jingle Bells" with Poe's famous poem, "The Bells," and a few other Poe-inspired images for good measure. Try this with your students.
1. Provide a variety of winter songs to choose from.
2. Choose a rhyming poem, multiple poems, or a body of work from a famous poet or author that students may use to create a parody. I use poems in the public domain, so I can be careful not to infringe on anyone's copyright.
3. Make a list of rhyming words inspired by the work.
4. Use words, images, and ideas from the poem to write a spoof based on the winter song.
5. Be sure to credit the original poet and acknowledge that this is a parody of their work.
"The Haunted Jingle Bells" by Carolee Dean
Inspired by "The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
Verse 1:
Dashing through the snow
on a sledge with silver bells
Passing ghouls, we go,
with screams and shouts and yells.
Bells on steeples ring.
Spirits roam at night.
What fun it is to listen to
a scary tale tonight.
Chorus:
Jingling bells, Tinkling bells,
bells that clang and chime.
Oh, what fun it is to plot.
What fun it is to rhyme.
Scary birds, made-up words,
bugs that bite and sting,
treasure maps, pits and traps,
bells that ring and ring.
Verse 2
If you're looking for a tale
to give yourself a fright
If you like to stay up late
reading in the night...
Check out Ed A. Poe,
a man of mystery.
Open up a book.
This is what you'll see...
Chorus:
Jingling bells, Tinkling bells,
bells that clang and chime.
Oh, what fun it is to plot.
What fun it is to rhyme.
Scary birds, made-up words,
bugs that bite and sting,
treasure maps, pits and traps,
bells that ring and ring.
My new decodable book The Raven Remix: A Mashup of Poe Titles is now available on Ingram, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can also order it from your favorite local bookstore.
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