On the eve of the Grammy Awards and just before Valentines Day 2012, we have lost a music great who was best known for her powerful voice and according to the the Guinness Book Of Records was the most awarded female act of all time- RIP Whitney Houston.

Here is footage of Whitney Houston singing one of her signature songs called “ I Will Always Love You” – A Perfect title for a  Valentines Day Music Lesson Plan, which became a No1 after Houston’s first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard in 1992. This single became the best-selling single by a female artist in music history.

Another piece of footage which caught the attention of the world in the early 90’s and has been highlighted in the media over thesepast couple of days was her version of the Star Spangled Banner.

It’s also interesting to note that in ITunes over these past couple of days, Whitney Houston’s album is the top album featured and her song “I Will Always Love You” is also one of the top singles – a sign that everybody is thinking Whitney Houston at the moment.

Using these current events as a basis, it would seem fitting to teach our students about the impact of Whitney Houston’s music, her place at the Grammies both past and present and the Grammy Awards in general as a Valentines Lesson Idea for 2012.

One of our US friends, Jo – teacher of 30 + years in middle school, has recently posted a fantastic new blog called “The Secret of My Success” outlining a lesson plan based on the Grammy Awards which would be a great basis to plan this lesson from.

In the article, she talks about how she gets her students thinking about the Grammies. She has several question ideas to help you get started, some research tips and a worksheet that you can download based on the Grammy Awards for students to fill in.

Take a look at the article and let me know how you use it with your classes. Did showing footage of Whitney Houston have an impact on your students? How? Do your students already know what the Grammies are and how they work? I’d love your feedback on this Lesson Idea, so make sure you leave your feedback in the comment box below.