Lyric Annotation Lesson 

 

Objectives 
1. Students will determine a song from their playlist to derive its hidden or literal 
meaning. 
2. Students will begin to annotate the lyrics from their chosen songs to derive 
overall, stanza and word meaning. 
3. Students will reflect on music as it may also provide support for their lyrics 
annotations. 
4. Students will reflect on their current work in a journal entry.  

Standards 
Standards/Curriculum Goals:
___ Sing ____ Read ___ Improvise ___Audiate _X__Form ___Solos
___Play ___Notate ___Compose ​ X ​ Listening ​ X ​ Group Work ___ Movement

Create _X__ Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

_X__ Organize and develop artistic ideas
___ Refine and Complete artistic work.

Perform _X__ Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation
__ Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation
_X__ Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work

Respond X ​ Perceive and analyze artistic work.

X ​ Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work
___ Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work

Connect _X__Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make

art
X ​ Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical
context to deepen understanding

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Procedures 
Springboard & Open Discussion (8) 

● How do you know what a song or artist is trying to tell you? 

● How could you know? What would be your evidence to support your claim? How would 
you know? 
● Whole group discussion to further elaborate ideas 

Annotated examples (8) 

● Listen to songs one time, stopping at the section that repeats the chorus or pre chorus 
● Pull up lyrics, have students pair share some ideas about the lyrics for specific songs 
● Write down answers next to lyrics 
● Show teacher example of annotations and have students see if they had those same 
ideas 

Exploration of Song lyrics (20) 

● Students break off into solos to complete some of the annotation work 
● Students will choose one song from their playlist to analyze 
● Students begin the process of creating a Google Document 
● Copy and Paste lyrics into google document 
● Begin a few listens of selected piece to hear the lyric content and any musical features 
that support the analysis of your lyrics meanings 
● Make sure to share any google documents to teacher before leaving class 

Journal Entry (5) 

● Journal Prompts: What have you learned so far from your piece? How did the artist use 
specific phrases or vocabulary to make sense of the lyrics? Was the meaning hidden or in 
plain sight? 

Definitions: 

● Lyrics- the words of a song 

● Annotation- a note of explanation or comment added to text  

Listening 

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● Happy by Pharrell Williams 

● Happier by Marshmello & Bastille 

Differentiated Instruction 
Gifted Learners: ​May complete more than one annotation, also compare and contrast the two 
songs and define the practicality of use in their lives. 

Visual Learners: ​Larger bolder fonts on text, larger font on brainstorming chart, any material 
written large on the board, fix any seats to be positioned closer to board. Having the checklist or 
agenda written on board. 

Auditory Learners: ​Listening with headphones, having students discuss answers, using 
describing words, any noise cancelling headphones. 

ESL Students: ​Song lyrics can be found from their perspective languages if desired. Any charts, 
organizers from resource room 

Materials & Resources 

Instructional Materials: ​Journal Entry Books, Brainstorm Chart Chalkboard/Chalk, Chromebooks, 

Google Documents with Lyrics 

Resources:​ Fully Annotated Examples- Happy by Pharrell Williams 

Happier- Marshmello & Bastille 

Assessment 
Informal: 

● Open Discussion for whole group instruction pertaining to the meaning of songs. Are the 
meanings hidden in certain parts? What in the words or music, can support your idea. 
● Brainstorming chart with all ideas from our open discussion. The chart has room to 
exhaust all ideas. 
● Pair-Share allows students to share ideas amongst one another, garner more knowledge 
from their peers and create connections in class. 

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Formal: 

● Google Document comments and feedback 

● Journal entry on prompt: What have you learned so far from your piece? How was the 
artist able to accomplish creating meaning? Why do you think they wrote about this 
specific topic? 

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