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Song 6: Good Morning, New Orleans
ACTIVITY MENU
PRE-LISTENING
Four Corners
How Many Questions in a Minute
What Do You Know About…?
LISTENING
Relax and Enjoy!
Listening Gap-Fill
Song Bingo
SINGING
Sing Along With Me
Disappearing Song
Old Song, New Song
POST-LISTENING
Speaking: What Do YOU Think?
Reading: Reading Groups
Writing: Songwriter Histories
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Good Morning, New Orleans
by Kermit Ruffins
(3:34)
1 Good morning, New Orleans (Good Morning, New Orleans)
We love you, New Orleans (We love you, New Orleans)
It’s such a lovely thing to love New Orleans
When people come they never leave because we’re swingin’ that way.
5 The sunshine’s so, so bright (the sun shines oh so bright)
The breeze is so, so nice (the breeze is oh so nice)
The star lights twinkle all night down by the riverside
So bye and bye sometimes I cry it’s such a beautiful sight.
9 Some people wonder what all this talk is about (New Orleans)
But if you love her, you know what I mean.
11 Good Morning, New Orleans (Good Morning, New Orleans)
We love you, New Orleans (We love you, New Orleans)
I feel like I’m a king when I lay down and dream
About my people that all live here. We just love her so much.
15 Ba boop beeeee biggitty bahp-bahp-bahhh-bah dweee dee zane bah-boo-dwee dee
zahhhn
co bah-bo det-un debobahhp bah-boo de zeee buu buu behpbehp unbeeee bahhp
bwaah
buh beep boo-boo-boo beep beep bahp boop boop booo-szweee
boopbwedodededwedskiddlydapbumsdfadvasdfvgshdbsd
bee bee beeeun beebee bahp bahp bu dzeee dsee deee
baahh bahpp boo dee dee tzsae tzeee tzaap-unzoozaaaate
20 Good Morning, New Orleans (Good Morning, New Orleans)
We love you, New Orleans (We love you, New Orleans)
I feel like I’m a king when I lay down and dream
About the people that all live here, and how we love her so much.
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Pre-listening Activities: Choose one or two of the activities below.
Four Corners
Purpose: To generate interest in the song, and activate background knowledge about New
Orleans
Level: 2 and above Time: 15 – 20 minutes, plus the length of the song (3:34 minutes)
Preparation and Materials: Write the title of the song on the board. Hang the pictures of New
Orleans (pages 632-635) around the classroom.
Instructions: See page 317, Modification D. After students have explained their choice of
picture, you can tell them the information about New Orleans listed below each picture and let
them change their opinion.
How Many Questions in a Minute?
Purpose: To generate interest and introduce vocabulary for the song, activate background
knowledge about the topic, and practice asking and answering questions
Level: 3 and above Time: 15 – 20 minutes
Preparation and Materials: Hang the large picture of the street jazz band (page 634) on the
board.
Instructions: See page 330. After completing the activity, you can share some of the
‘Information for Teachers’ (page 634) with the students.
What Do You Know About…?
Purpose: To generate interest and introduce vocabulary for the song, and activate background
knowledge about the topic
Level: 2 and above Time: 10 – 15 minutes, plus the length of the song (3:34 minutes)
Preparation and Materials: Make a copy of the quiz (page 636) for each group of students.
(Answer key: page 645.)
Instructions: See page 324.
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Good Morning, New Orleans: Four Corners
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Information for Teachers:
Although New Orleans is a modern city with skyscrapers and large office buildings, it is better
known for its historical architecture. The buildings pictured here show architecture that is
common in the French Quarter. The French Quarter is the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans,
and the buildings called Creole Townhouses show influences from Spanish, French, African and
Caribbean architecture. Typical of these buildings are the iron balconies, colorful stucco walls,
and tile roofs.
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Information for Teachers:
Mardi Gras (pronounced “grah”) is an internationally celebrated holiday, which has become the
signature holiday for New Orleans. During Mardi Gras, which is observed just before the six
weeks of Lent preceding Easter, celebrators wear colorful (often purple, green, and gold)
costumes and masks (as pictured above) at masquerade balls and king cake parties. Parades
are common where necklaces or strings of colorful plastic beads are thrown.
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Information for Teachers:
New Orleans has a deep connection with jazz music as well as ensembles of brass instruments
(such as tubas, trombones, and trumpets) and marching bands. Many people consider New
Orleans the birthplace of jazz. It’s not uncommon to see groups performing on the streets of
New Orleans (as pictured above), and the city even has its own musical traditions. For example,
funeral processions in New Orleans are sometimes accompanied by a brass band that marches
from the church to the cemetery playing sad music. After the burial, however, the band returns
from the cemetery playing upbeat jazz music, in what has come to be called “a jazz funeral.”
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Information for Teachers:
New Orleans is located on the Mississippi River and is the largest city in the state of Louisiana.
The city straddles the river, and tourists can ride a ferryboat across the river to visit the various
neighborhoods of New Orleans on the other side. The Natchez is an old-fashioned steamboat
with a calliope (a musical instrument fitted with steam whistles), which tours the Mississippi
River twice daily.
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Good Morning, New Orleans: What Do You Know About…?
We are going to listen to a song called Good Morning, New Orleans, performed by Kermit
Ruffins, a native New Orleans jazz musician. Kermit Ruffins really loves New Orleans! Answer
the following questions about the city of New Orleans.
I. Multiple Choice. The Facts about New Orleans
1. New Orleans is a city located in the state of _______________________.
A. Texas B. Louisiana C. Georgia D. Missouri
2. New Orleans sits on a big body of water, the ______________________.
A. Mississippi River B. Gulf of Mexico C. Atlantic Ocean
3. New Orleans is the birthplace of _____________ music.
A. rap B. country C. jazz D. folk
4. The weather in New Orleans is usually _____________________.
A. hot in summer, mild in winter B. mild in summer, cold in winter
C. very cold and snowy in winter D. desert-like
II. True or False? Really? I Don’t Believe it!
5. New Orleans is nicknamed “The Big Easy,” perhaps reflecting the easy-going pace of life.
true false
6. New Orleans is nicknamed “The Crescent City” because the Mississippi River forms a
crescent shape around the city.
true false
7. New Orleans is the only city in the United States where Mardi Gras is celebrated.
true false
8. New Orleans is nicknamed “NOLA,” which stands for N
ew Orleans LouisianA
true false
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Good Morning, New Orleans: What Do You Know About…? (quiz continued)
III. Matching. You Want Me to Eat WHAT?
Each of the following foods is typical of New Orleans. Many foods have Creole, Cajun, or
French influences, and use seafood from the nearby bodies of water. Can you match the food
with its name and description?
Foods: gumbo a stew made with okra, tomatoes, and seafood
crayfish a shellfish (that looks like a small lobster) that is boiled
oysters small mollusks eaten out of their opened shells
jambalaya a rice dish with shrimp, oysters and ham
9. ___________________ 10. _____________________
11. ___________________ 12. _____________________
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Listening Activities: Choose one of the listening activities below.
Listening Gap-Fill
Purpose: To listen for details
Level: 2 and above Time: 15 – 20 minutes (to play the song two or three times)
Preparation and Materials: Make a copy of the gap-fill handout (page 639) for each student.
(Answer key: see lyrics, page 630)
Instructions: See page 337.
Song Bingo
Purpose: To listen for specific words and phrases, introduce vocabulary from the song, and
make print and sound connections
Level: All Time: 10 – 15 minutes (to play the song two times)
Preparation and Materials: Write the following words from the song on the board in random
order:
good morning love lovely people swingin’ shine bright
breeze nice star twinkle night riverside beautiful city
cry king dream talk live
Instructions: See page 339.
Relax and Enjoy!
Purpose: To enjoy listening to the song
Level: All Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Preparation and Materials: Write the following discussion questions on the board, or create
your own.
Who is the person singing this song?
What is he singing about?
Is this song happy or sad? Why do you think so?
Instructions: See page 334.
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Good Morning, New Orleans: Listening Gap-Fill
Directions: First, read through these song lyrics and guess what the missing words might be.
Write your guesses in the blanks. Second, as you listen to the song, correct what you have
written and fill in any missing words.
Good (1) ________________, New Orleans (Good (2) ________________, New Orleans)
We love you, (3) __________________ (We love you, (4) ________________)
It’s such a lovely thing to love (5) __________________
When people come they never (6) ____________ because we’re swingin’ that way.
The (7) ________________ so, so bright (the sun shines oh so bright)
The breeze is so, so (8) _________________ (the breeze is oh so (9) ________________)
The star lights twinkle (10) _________________ down by the (10) ______________,
So bye and bye sometimes I cry it’s such a (12) __________________ sight.
Some (13) _________________ wonder what all this talk is about (New Orleans)
But if you (14) ________________, you know what I mean.
Good (15) _______________, New Orleans (Good (16) ________________, New Orleans)
We love you, (17) ___________________ (We love you, (18) ________________)
I feel like I’m a (19) ________________ when I lay down and (20) ________________
About my people that all (21) _________________ here. We just love her so much.
Ba boop beeeee biggitty bahp-bahp-bahhh-bah dweee dee zane bah-boo-dwee dee
zahhhn …..
Good (22) __________________, New Orleans (Good (23) ________________, New Orleans)
We love you, (24) ________________________ (We love you, (25) ___________________)
I feel like I’m a (26) _________________ when I lay down and (27) _________________
About the people that all (28) __________________ here, and how we love her so much.
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Singing Activities: Choose one of the singing activities below.
Sing Along With Me
Purpose: To practice pronunciation and intonation
Level: All Time: 10 – 15 minutes (to sing the song two or three times)
Preparation and Materials: Write the song lyrics (page 630) on the board or on a large poster.
Instructions: See page 345, Modification B. Divide students into two groups. As you point to
the words on the board, one group sings the first part of the lines, and the other group sings the
words in parentheses. Example from line 5:
Group 1 sings: The sunshine’s so, so bright
Group 2 sings: (The sun shines oh so bright)
Disappearing Song
Purpose: To practice pronunciation and intonation, and recall words and phrases
Level: 2 and above Time: 20 – 30 minutes (to sing the song four times)
Preparation and Materials: Write the song lyrics (page 630) on the board.
Instructions: See page 345. Stop after Step 4 (when 50% of the words remain).
Old Song, New Song
Purpose: To explore the rhythm of words
Level: 2 and above Time: 40 – 55 minutes (may be extended over several class sessions)
Preparation and Materials: Make a copy of the song lyrics (page 630) for each group of
students, or write them on the board.
Instructions: See page 346.
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Post-listening Activities: Choose one or two of the activities below.
Speaking: What Do YOU Think?
Purpose: To ask and answer questions, and to summarize and present information
Level: 3 and above Time: 30 – 40 minutes (may be extended over several class sessions)
Preparation and Materials: Pre-teach the concept of surveys and their results: the purpose of
a survey, types of questions, how to calculate and present results.
Instructions: See page 358, Modification B. Possible survey topics:
1. Strengths and weaknesses of the students’ hometown
2. Jazz music
3. Reasons to like or dislike a particular city
Reading: Reading Groups
Purpose: To practice reading comprehension skills, conduct research, think critically, and
collaborate as part of a team
Level: 3 and above
Time: 45 – 50 minutes in class (groups may need much more time outside of class)
Preparation and Materials: Make a copy of the reading text (page 642) for each student.
Assign this project as a group activity. Give the group one week to prepare. Provide students
with colored pens/markers, glue, and paper for making posters as needed.
Instructions: See page 372.
Writing: Songwriter Histories
Purpose: To write short narratives in the past tense
Level: 2 and above Time: 40 – 50 minutes (may be extended over several class sessions)
Preparation and Materials: Make a copy of the handout (page 344) for each group of
students.
Instructions: See page 376, Modification C.
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Jazz in the United States
The song “Good Morning, New Orleans” by Kermit Ruffins is an example of jazz, a popular
musical genre of the United States. Jazz got its start at the beginning of the 1900s in New
Orleans, a city in the South. Other important cities in the history of jazz are Saint Louis, Kansas
City, and Chicago. According to legend, jazz traveled up the Mississippi River to these central
and northern cities.
Jazz music is important to American history because it
combines musical traditions from European immigrants
26
and African slaves.
27
During the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, many Europeans from Ireland, Italy, France, the
United Kingdom, and Germany immigrated to the United
States. The Atlantic slave trade brought many Africans to the
United States until slavery was abolished
28
by the
Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Many customs and musical traditions came with European
immigrants and African slaves, and weren’t abandoned after
they settled in the United States. Rather they were passed
down through children and children’s children. Over time
musical traditions blended together into a new style of music.
This new style of music included many of the rhythms and
melodies
29
common to African musical traditions. From
European traditions, the style adopted many instruments as
well as the use of harmonies.
30
The result is the unique
31
style of music today called jazz.
How is jazz special? When you hear a jazz song, the melody
is usually played first and then repeated several times.
Popular instruments for jazz are traditionally the saxophone,
trumpet, trombone, piano, drums, clarinet, tuba, string bass,
and banjo. Nowadays jazz musicians also use the vibraphone, cello, and guitar. What
instruments did you hear during the song?
The focus of jazz is often on how the performers improvise or make up tunes as they play with
the melody. Many styles of jazz have developed since the early twentieth century. In one style,
singers sometimes sing lyrics with no meaning. This style of jazz is called “scat” and is heard in
“Good Morning, New Orleans.” Do you remember the lyrics “ba boop beeeee biggitty”? This is
an example of scat, because these sounds have no meaning in English.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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immigrant a person who moves to a new country to live
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slave a person who is owned by another person, and who is forced to work for that person without being paid
28
abolish to officially stop or end something
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melody a pleasing series of musical notes that form the main part of a song or piece of music
30
harmony the combination of different musical notes played or sung at the same time to produce a pleasing sound
31
unique unlike anything or anyone else; very special!
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Top row, from left to right: saxophone, trumpet, string bass
Bottom row, from left to right: clarinet, trombone, banjo
!
!
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Good Morning, New Orleans: Songwriter Histories
Directions: In your group, create a sequence of events that could have led up to the writing of
the song, Good Morning, New Orleans. Fill in the blank comic strip below with your drawings of
the events and write brief dialogues to go along with the drawings.
1)
2)
“
“
”
”
3)
4)
“
“
”
”
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Good Morning, New Orleans: Answer Keys
What Do You Know About…?: Answer Key
1. B. Louisiana
2. A. Mississippi River
3. C. jazz
4. A. hot in summer, mild in winter
5. True
6. True
7. False. Many cities and regions across the United States celebrate Mardi Gras with large
festivals, however, it is not a national holiday.
8. True
9. oysters
10. crayfish
11. gumbo
12. jambalaya
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