George Gershwin 

A WebQuest for 4th & 5th Grade (music)

Designed by

Gale Hill
Fierke School - District 146

 

Introduction | Task |Resources|Process | Evaluation | Conclusion |  Teacher Page

Introduction

       Pretend that you are George Gershwin.  You love to compose music.   You know that your new song will be a great hit.   If only it can be heard by a large group of people.
      Your brother just came by to tell you about a concert next week.  It is written in the paper that you will perform a great new song for this concert .  Here is that opportunity that you have been waiting for.
 

After listening to music using the resources below, your task will be to write  new lyrics to one of  his songs and write a paragraph about Gershwin's life.  Remember this may be the big chance that you have been waiting for.

 


Resources Needed


 Gershwin- Biography..Early years - Later years

Biography and songs by Gershwin-Official Web Site

Biography Gershwin

Gershwin - Biography and music

Gershwin - Lyrics to many of  his songs

 I Got Rhythm - Lyrics

The Process

1. First you will need to research Gershwin's life.  Start by looking at the web sites in the resource section.  After you have gathered the information, write a paragraph on Gershwin's  life.

Be sure that:

• your sentences begin with a capital letter.
• your sentences use the correct end marks.
• you have at least ten sentences in your paragraph.
• you have included facts about Gershwin life.
• you have included facts about Gershwin music.

When you are finished with your rough draft, meet with your teacher for final editing.

2. Next listen to the song "I Got Rhythm".  This can be found in the resource section.

3.  Sing the song  in music class, using the music books.

4.  During music class, practice changing lyrics to songs with your teacher.

5. Next, write you new lyrics to the song "I Got Rhythm".  The lyrics may be found in the resource section.

Be sure that:

• you have a topic for your new lyrics
• the words match to the rhythm of the song

When you are finished with your rough draft, meet with your teacher for final editing.
 
 

Evaluation

Your song and paragraph about Gershwin will be collected and graded as follows:

Song:  It should be neat, easy to follow, and go with the rhythmic beat of the music.  It should make sense.  Did you pick one topic for your song and stick to it?

Paragraph about Gershwin:  It should be neat, easy to understand, and listing the important events in Gershwin's life.  It will need to be at least ten sentences long.  Make sure you use correct punctuation and capitalization.
 

Congratulations!  You have created your own lyrics to a song by Gershwin.  You have learned about Gershwin's life and listened to some of his music using the internet.  Well done!