School of Rock Rocks Mayer Middle School

Mayer Middle School’s English Department created an innovative way to teach seventh grade students to use persuasive writing and figurative language - by writing protest songs and holding a legendary rock concert.

The seventh grade English teachers wanted to do something other than assigning an essay to help their students improve their writing. One teacher, Don Britton, came up with an ingenious idea. He asked all his students to write a poem to raise awareness of a topic they felt passionately about. Students that wanted to do more could put their poems to songs by artist such as Bob Dylan and The Clash. Eight of these songs were featured in a revolutionary concert that Mr. Britton and the School of Rock put on.

The concert was unforgettable. It was unbelievable how it all came together with such extraordinary awareness songs. Mr. Britton had volunteers sing and dance while the band played. While some songs were full of angst, other showed the raw emotion of the students. The crowd loved it too. During a student's rendition of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by the Twisted Sister, the crowd got on their feet and sang along. At the end, there was a standing ovation, the perfect way to end the concert. It was obvious that much time and effort were put into all of it.

The students also learned useful writing skills. Not only did the seventh graders write the amazing songs, but they also wrote a letter to the concert promoter and expressed their artistic side by creating posters for the concert. They learned about figurative language, sentence fluency, and proper word choice to make their poems come alive with the music.

The protest songs and incredible rock concert taught MMS students to use persuasive writing and figurative language while having the time of their lives.

Elena D.

Elena D. is a student of Mayer Middle School.

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Volume 1, Issue 7, Posted 4:07 PM, 01.08.2014