Lesson 9: Songwriting
50 minutes
Overview Objectives
This context-setting lesson will help students understand Students will be able to:
why combining chunks of code into functions can be a
helpful practice. Describe how functions can make
programs easier to write.
Identify sections of a song to pull
Purpose into a function.
Locate repeating phrases inside
The use of functions helps simplify code and develop the
student's ability to organize their program. Students will song lyrics.
quickly recognize that writing functions can make their
long programs easier to read and easier to debug if
something goes wrong. Preparation
(Optional) Watch the *Lesson in
Action Video.
Full Course Alignment
Standards Print several *worksheets for
each group.
CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2017)
Print one *assessment for each
AP - Algorithms & Programming
student.
Secure access to songs and lyrics
Agenda for activity.
Make sure every student has a
Warm Up (20 minutes) journal.
Introduction
Main Activity (20 minutes) Links
Songwriting
Wrap Up (5 minutes) Heads Up! Please make a copy of
Reflection any documents you plan to share
with students.
Assessment (5 minutes)
Extended Learning For the teachers
Cross-Curricular Opportunity CSF - Course E - Slides 2022-
2023 - Slides (Download)
Make a Copy
Functions Unplugged:
Songwriting - Lesson in Action
Video
Functions Unplugged:
Songwriting - Assessment Answer
Key Make a Copy
For the students
Functions Unplugged:
Songwriting - Worksheet
Make a Copy
Functions Unplugged:
Songwriting - Assessment
Make a Copy
Songwriting with Functions -
Unplugged Video (Download)
Vocabulary
Function - A piece of code that
you can call over and over again.
Teaching Guide
Warm Up (20 minutes)
Introduction
Display: Show “Reflect” slide
Reflect: What is the chorus to your favorite song?
Vocabulary
Display: Show “Vocabulary” slide
This lesson has one new and important word:
Function - A piece of code that you can call over and over again.
Sing a Song
Display: Show “Baby Shark” slide
Let the class know that today is song day!
We're going to learn a song together.
Start with a simple song, either written out or projected on the screen.
Point to the chorus and be sure that the class knows how it goes before you begin on the song.
Blast through the song, singing it with them in the beginning, then see what happens when you
get to the part where it calls the chorus.
Teaching Tip
Baby Shark is being used here as an example only. If your students know this song, feel free to use
it. Otherwise, choose an appropriate song that they might be more familiar with (either from music
class or the radio.)
Key Gestures:
Baby shark: make a shark mouth with finger and thumb.
Mommy shark: make a mouth with both hands, opening at the wrist.
Daddy shark: make a big mouth with both of your arms.
Grandma shark: like mama shark, but with fingers curled in.
Grandpa shark: like papa shark, but with fingers curled in.
Hungry shark: one hand on head like a fin, rubbing tummy with the other hand.
Little fish: both hands together with fingers pointing forward, move from side to side.
Swim away: pretend to swim.
Safe at last: wipe forehead, and flick hand like removing sweat.
Chorus:
doo doo, doo doo doo doo
Song:
Baby Shark
Chorus
Baby Shark
Chorus
Baby Shark
Chorus
Baby Shark
Mommy Shark
Chorus
Mommy Shark
Chorus
Mommy Shark
Chorus
Mommy Shark
Daddy Shark
Chorus
Daddy Shark
Chorus
Daddy Shark
Chorus
Daddy Shark
(Continuing on, if time permits, with "Grandma shark", "Grandpa shark", "Hungry shark", "Little fish",
"Swim away", "Swim faster", "Safe at last".)
It's quite likely that the majority of the class will sing the lyrics for the chorus when you point to that
bit.
Stop the song once that happens, and explicitly highlight what just happened.
You defined the chorus.
You called the chorus.
They sang the chorus.
Display: Show “Discuss” slide
Ask the class why they suppose you only wrote the chorus once at the top of the paper instead of
writing it over and over in each place where it is supposed to be sung.
What are other benefits of only writing the chorus once when you sing it many times?
Teaching Tip
Call out the difference between a function (“doo doo”) and a loop (“baby shark doo doo” x 3) - or
ask your students if they can tell you the difference between them.
To hit this point home, you can look up the lyrics for some popular songs on the Internet. Show the
students that the standard for repeating lyrics is to define the chorus at the top and call it from
within the body of the song.
Now, imagine that this song is a computer program. Defining a title (like "chorus") for a little piece of
code that you use over and over again is called creating a function.
This is helpful to computer scientists for some of the same reasons that it is helpful to songwriters.
It saves time not having to write all the code over and over in the program.
If you make a mistake, you only have to change it one place.
The program feels less complicated with the repeating pieces defined just once at the top.
We are going to play with songs a little more, to try to really understand how often this technique is
used!
Main Activity (20 minutes)
Songwriting
A fantastic way to compare functions to something we see in our everyday lives is to look at songs.
Songs often have certain groups of lyrics that repeat over and over. We call such a group a "chorus."
Unplugged Activity Songwriting - Functions Unplugged Activity
Teaching Tip
It's most exciting for students to do this lesson with popular music from the radio, but if you're
having a hard time finding appropriate songs where the lyrics repeat exactly, here are a few
timeless options:
You Are My Sunshine
Boom, Boom, Ain't it Great
How Much Is That Doggie in the Window
I Love Trash
Display: Show “Songwriting” slide
Directions:
Divide into groups of 4, 5, or 6.
Give each group several copies of the *Songwriting Worksheet.
Play a short song for the class that contains a clear chorus that does not change from verse to
verse.
Challenge the class to identify (and write down) the chorus.
Compare results from each group.
Did everyone get the same thing? Sing your choruses together to find out! Play this game over and
over until the class has little trouble identifying the choruses.
It is often easier just to have the class listen to (or watch) the song, then vote on what the chorus is
by singing it together, rather than writing the whole thing down. If you choose this method, consider
having the class do a written chorus for the final song selection to be sure that the visual learners
get proper reinforcement.
Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Reflection
Display: Show “Discussion” slide
Teaching Tip
Flash Chat questions are intended to spark big-picture thinking about how the lesson relates to the
greater world and the students' greater future. Use your knowledge of your classroom to decide if
you want to discuss these as a class, in groups, or with an elbow partner.
Flash Chat: What did we learn?
Would you rather write lyrics over and over again or define a chorus?
Do you think it's possible to make multiple choruses for the same song?
Does it make sense to make a new chorus for every time it's needed in a song?
Display: Show “Reflect” slide
Reflect: Can you think of another activity (besides songwriting) where you might want to call a special
group of instructions several times?
Assessment (5 minutes)
Display “Songwriting Assessment” slide.
Hand out the *Songwriting Assessment worksheet and allow students to complete the activity
independently after the instructions have been well explained. This should feel familiar, thanks to the
previous activities.
Extended Learning
Use these activities to enhance student learning. They can be used as outside of class activities or other
enrichment.
Functional Suncatchers Visit the CS Fundamentals Unplugged Table or click on the link for Functional
Suncatchers. This activity does take a few supplies from the craft store, but it helps students to see the
value of calling multiple functions.
Create Your Song
Start by creating a chorus together, then repeat it between verses of a song that you develop
around it.
Make a change to the chorus, and ponder how much easier it is to change in just one place.
Change the chorus again, making it much longer than it was originally.
Add a second chorus and alternate between them in your verses.
Songwriting a Program
What if we acted out songs instead of singing them? All of a sudden, our chorus would be a
function of repeated actions, rather than words.
Use the concepts of the arrows from the Graph Paper Programming lesson and create a program
with lots of repeating instructions.
Circle those repeating actions so that the class can see where they are.
Define a function called "Chorus" above the program.
Cross out everywhere the repeating actions appear in the program and write "Chorus" instead.
Repeat until the class can go through this process with little direction.
Cross-Curricular Opportunity
Fossil Fact Rap (45-60 minutes)
Computer Science + English Language Arts + Science
Fossil Fact Rap is an optional activity aligned to Common Core ELA and Next Generation Science
Standards, written by our teacher community. Students will expand their knowledge of functions to
write a rap using academic terminology and facts related to fossils and rock layers. They will then learn
how to “call a function” using the provided “defined function,” or rap song’s hook.
Standards Addressed:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2.D: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform
about or explain the topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through
investigation of different aspects of a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.5: Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when
appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
NGSS.4-ESS1-1: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to
support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
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