Welcome back! In this week’s video and blog, we’re highlighting a very fun and exciting lesson about Chuck Berry. It’s a great lesson to do with your upper elementary students, and I like to teach it in February for Black History Month. Here we go!
When students come in, I start by having them listen to “Johnny B. Goode” which is one of his most famous songs. Then we start to talk about his background, how he’s from St. Louis, Missouri, that he was born in 1929, and how during his youth he was growing up in segregation times. We also discuss how he was first discovered as a musician at a talent show, then went on to study with a famous jazz guitarist before becoming a famous rock n’ roll performer.
We then talk about the songs “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven” (which I always find SO funny!), and then after listening to them they usually realize they’ve heard Chuck Berry before because he sings “Run, Run, Rudolph”. Some of my older students also connect that “Johnny B. Goode” was used in the movie Back to the Future!
After all of that I show them an original video of Chuck Berry singing “Johnny B. Goode” on a TV show. It uses a lot of old style dancing and it’s in black and white, so students are really able to get a sense of how entertainment was back in the day!
Okay, after ALL of that prep work, I like to do a tennis ball routine to “Johnny B. Goode”! The form is: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus. It’s the perfect time to review verse, chorus, and bridge! Then we listen through again, following the new form.
From there we walk through the movements without a ball. The verse is a really simple “bounce and catch” to the beat. They usually “catch” on pretty quickly! During the chorus, they’re passing the ball back and forth on the word “go”. It won’t be perfect but they easily start to anticipate the “go”s after some time!
The bridge is very exciting. They play their “air guitar” and start with two whole notes first. Then two half notes, then four quarter notes. After that, they do a “toss and catch” then a “bounce and catch” with their tennis ball, followed by passing the ball around your back two times. Then the whole bridge repeats!
Finally is the verse again and then the chorus! There is a short outro which you can have students freestyle with or create a movement together as a class!
This is a super simple lesson that I actually use in my “Rock n’ Roll” unit with my students. I also use Tina Turner, the Beatles, and Elvis Presley. If you’re interested in any of those resources or graphics, you can find them HERE on my TPT store!
I hope your students have as much fun with this lesson as mine do. It’s such an easy lesson but SO effective at reviewing form and giving them a taste of some good old fashioned “Rock n’ Roll”!
Have a fantastic week, and I’ll see you next time!
