A time or two ago, out West Texas way, a boy named Charles Hardin Holley was born. He was named after his granddaddy Charles and his granddaddy Hardin. But his mama called him Buddy.
That Buddy could shoot marbles with the best, hit homers in the red dirt, and pelt cans with his slingshot. But come sixth grade, when Buddy met up with a guitar, he never let it go. And later, when Buddy heard a new sound--part country, part gospel, and part blues, he got fired up.
It was the birth of rock 'n' roll.
Lesson Plan
Big Dreams, Note-by-Note
Objectives:
Through a look and listen at the life of Buddy Holly, students will:
* understand how historical figures and ordinary people helped to shape the community, state, and nation. (History TEKS: K, 1.1, 2.4, 3.1)
ounderstand important issues, events, and individuals of the 20th century in Texas (History TEKS: 4.5, 7)
ocommunicate in written, oral, and visual forms. (Social Studies Skills TEKS: 1.18, 2.18, 3.17, 4.23, 5.26
* understand the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created. (Culture TEKS: 5.22)
* understand the relationship that exists between artistic, creative, and literary expressions and the societies that produce them (Culture TEKS 6.18)
Introduction:
Listen to Buddy Holly music such as:
BUDDY HOLLY-FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES
MCA Records
Share with students that the book you will read today is a true story about a young boy from Lubbock, Texas, who had big dreams. His name was Buddy Holly and he changed the world through music. Rock 'n' roll music. In the 1950s it was new. It was different. And this early pioneer had plenty of detours before he soared.
To build background knowledge, invite your students to play:
Answers & Questions a la “Jeopardy”
To play, select a category and level. In the slide that opens, click any
where to reveal the question. To return to the main game board, click on
the back arrow.
Or give your class a virtual guided tour of the
Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
Before Reading:
Tell students that the author wrote that as a young boy Buddy Holly had “dreams bigger than the wide-open West Texas sky.” Locate Lubbock, Texas, on a map. Show photos of Lubbock. (Google Images: Lubbock sky and/
or West Texas sky)
Invite them to discuss why they think the author chose those words to describe his dreams.
Ask one or two students to share a dream they've had or currently hold. Then invite them to listen while you read and hear how Buddy's dreams came true.
Read:
BUDDY: THE STORY OF BUDDY HOLLY by Anne Bustard illustrated by Kurt Cyrus
During Reading:
As you read, stop and invite students to predict what will happen next. Ask them to describe how they think Buddy feels.
After Reading:
Continue to talk about the story. Questions to ask students may include:
What are you thinking and feeling?
What interested you?
What surprised you?
Compare Buddy Holly's life before and after his parents got him a guitar.
How did Holly's family influence his life?
How did people who didn't like Buddy Holly's music describe it? Have you ever heard a new sound or encountered a new idea that you
didn't like? Explain. Have you ever changed your mind? Tell us about your
experience.
Even though Buddy Holly and his friends were often discouraged, what did they do? What can you do when you feel like quitting? Can others help? How?
Discuss Buddy Holly's dreams, detours and destiny. Talk about the roles perseverance and practice played in Holly's life.
How is Buddy Holly's life like yours? How is it different?
Invite students to name their dreams in their journals. Suggested categories include:
Today-Tomorrow-Next week-Next year dreams
Small-Medium-Large-Extra large dreams
Eighth note-Quarter note-Half note-Whole note dreams
Then ask students to write one small thing they can do today to get closer to one of their dreams. Invite students to share.
You may choose to collect their dreams, keep them in a safe place, and return them to your students at a later point in the school year.
Read an interview about the author's dream of publication in the INTERVIEW section of this site.
Invite the students to interview an adult (family member, neighbor, teacher) about his or her life. Questions may include:
What was your life and the world like when you were young?
What did you want to do when you grew up?
What happened?
Who helped you along the way?
What's next?
Ask the students to write (and illustrate) a biography about the person they interviewed. Share the published pieces with the class and the adults. Place copies in the classroom library.
Or, turn the preceding idea into a whole class activity. Invite an adult (school music teacher?) to your class and have the students conduct the interview. Afterwards, facilitate the writing of a biography with contributions from the entire class. Revise. Illustrate. Publish. Share.
Talk about how people's dreams can change. Not everyone can be a major league baseball player, but a person could be the best baseball player s/he could be. And grow up to coach a Little League team. Dreams change when people find new and better dreams.
Share the format of a cooking recipe with your students: name, servings, ingredients, and directions. Then invite them to write a recipe for Buddy Holly's success, or their own.
Turn BUDDY: THE STORY OF BUDDY HOLLY into a reader's theatre script. Rock on!
More Options (older students):
Listen to the song "American Pie" by Don McLean and discuss Holly's influence in musical history. For insight into the lyrics click here.
Invite students to read articles written about Buddy Holly in his hometown newspaper. The "Lubbock Avalanche Journal's Buddy Holly Archive" has articles from Buddy Holly's birth announcement to articles written years after his death. Ask students to report three new things they learned.
Ask students to conduct primary research. Explore the artifacts (photos, letters, and more) at the Buddy Holly Center.
Click on Buddy Holly Exhibition, and surf The Timeline, Biography, Collection and Exhibition. What did they discover?
Have students study the three decades in which Buddy Holly lived:
1930s
See: The American Experience; Surviving the Dust Bowl
1940s
See:History: USA 1940-1950
1950s
See: The Fifties: A Biography of America (in particular page 4).
How did these times shape Buddy Holly's life?
Invite students to listen to Buddy Holly's musical roots and research his musical inspirations:
Gospel-Share songs from a Baptist church hymnal or gospel CD
Rhythm and blues-Muddy Waters
Country and western-Hank Williams and Bob Wills
What did they discover?
Ask students to explore artists that were influenced by Buddy Holly. Locate information on these musicians at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Web site.
The Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon
Elton John
The Rolling Stones
How do they think Buddy Holly made a difference in these lives?
Closing Activities:
Write B-U-D-D-Y-H-O-L-L-Y vertically on the chalkboard. Invite students to name a word or phrase about his life that is associated with each letter.
Listen to Buddy's top ten hits (see list in the book's bibliography). Invite the class to vote on their favorite. Or share stats from the Charts Files (Goldrosen, John and John Beecher, REMEMBERING BUDDY, p. 198) Compare results.
End with song. Invite students to write new lyrics to a traditional melody (e.g., Row, Row, Row Your Boat) about Holly's life and/or their own dreams.
A Few Ideas for a Biography Unit on Musicians
Other picture book biographies:
Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People
by Bonnie Christensen
What Charlie Heard
by Mordicai Gerstein
Duke Ellington
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
When Marian Sang
by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick
Sebastian: A Book about Bach
by Jeanette Winter
Compare and contrast the experiences of these artists through their dreams, detours, and destinies.
Play Who Am I? Invite students to write five clues about each musician. Then have each student share their clues and ask the class to guess who they match.
