Songs of Struggle
Teacher: Lexy Beckwith
Grade: 4th
Time: 30 minutes
Standards:
Wisconsin Standards:
E.4.2 Explain the influence of factors such as family, neighborhood, personal interests, language, likes and dislikes, and accomplishments on individual identity and development.
E.4.11 Give examples and explain how language, stories, folk tales, music, and other artistic creations are expressions of culture and how they convey knowledge of other peoples and cultures.
Music Standards:
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Objectives:
· Given 2 songs of struggle from different time periods, students will be able to state the purpose of the music in a historical context.
· Given the example songs, students will be able to identify current struggles in their own lives.
· Working in groups, students will be able to compose their own song of struggle.
Materials:
* audio of "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/followthedrinkinggourd.htm
* lyrics from "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
* audio of "World Destruction"
http://artists.letssingit.com/zone-time-lyrics-world-destruction-xhz3sxn
* lyrics from "World Destruction"
* paper and pencil
Rationale:
This lesson would fit nicely within a larger unit on "music in history." Music is a part of everyone's lives and it is important that my students understand that music is used in a variety of ways to convey messages. We like a particular type of music because we can relate to it. Music has been used since the beginning of time to express how people feel, and it brings people together. We remember lyrics to songs much easier than we can remember speeches or essays, and in this way, we can easily find connections to events in history through music.
Background:
"Follow the Drinking Gourd" was a song supposedly written by Peg Leg Joe, a white man who taught this song to slaves, to help them along their journey on the Underground Railroad. "World Destruction" was a song by Time Zone, released in 1984, and it topped the music charts.
Procedure:
Intro:
Say, "We have been talking about how music has been used throughout history. Now, we are going to listen to 2 songs of struggle from different time periods and compare them." (hand out lyrics)
Body:
1. Listen to "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
2. Listen to "World Destruction" (1:30 – 3:30)
3. Ask students: What are they describing? What do they have in common? What is their purpose?
(Music brings people together, articulates struggles)
4. Ask students to think of other themes of music that have brought people together, other than struggles.
5. Ask the class to identify current struggles in their own lives and record them on the board.
6. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 and ask them to create their own song of struggle based on the issues in their own lives. They may look at the list on the board if they need ideas. They may use whichever musical format (rap, poem, ballad) they want.
Closure:
Have students share their songs with the rest of the class if they wish, and explain why they composed it the way they did.
Assessment:
By actively participating and contributing thoughtful responses during our discussion and small group activity, students will be informally assessed on their understanding of the focus concept.
Adaptations/Extensions:
If time permits, or in the next class period, students should compose inspirational songs related to the struggles they just wrote about.
Connections:
This lesson could be integrated into various other subjects in the following ways:
* Literacy: students brainstorm other themes of music and create an "album" of lyrics.
* Art: students draw pictures to go along with their songs of struggle/inspiration/albums, etc.
* Social Studies: students look at various songs popular in the time of slavery or even war.
* Math: students look at songs of a certain theme and graph the percentage of each type (rap, ballad, country, etc).
Teacher: Lexy Beckwith
Grade: 4th
Time: 30 minutes
Standards:
Wisconsin Standards:
E.4.2 Explain the influence of factors such as family, neighborhood, personal interests, language, likes and dislikes, and accomplishments on individual identity and development.
E.4.11 Give examples and explain how language, stories, folk tales, music, and other artistic creations are expressions of culture and how they convey knowledge of other peoples and cultures.
Music Standards:
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Objectives:
· Given 2 songs of struggle from different time periods, students will be able to state the purpose of the music in a historical context.
· Given the example songs, students will be able to identify current struggles in their own lives.
· Working in groups, students will be able to compose their own song of struggle.
Materials:
* audio of "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/followthedrinkinggourd.htm
* lyrics from "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
* audio of "World Destruction"
http://artists.letssingit.com/zone-time-lyrics-world-destruction-xhz3sxn
* lyrics from "World Destruction"
* paper and pencil
Rationale:
This lesson would fit nicely within a larger unit on "music in history." Music is a part of everyone's lives and it is important that my students understand that music is used in a variety of ways to convey messages. We like a particular type of music because we can relate to it. Music has been used since the beginning of time to express how people feel, and it brings people together. We remember lyrics to songs much easier than we can remember speeches or essays, and in this way, we can easily find connections to events in history through music.
Background:
"Follow the Drinking Gourd" was a song supposedly written by Peg Leg Joe, a white man who taught this song to slaves, to help them along their journey on the Underground Railroad. "World Destruction" was a song by Time Zone, released in 1984, and it topped the music charts.
Procedure:
Intro:
Say, "We have been talking about how music has been used throughout history. Now, we are going to listen to 2 songs of struggle from different time periods and compare them." (hand out lyrics)
Body:
1. Listen to "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
2. Listen to "World Destruction" (1:30 – 3:30)
3. Ask students: What are they describing? What do they have in common? What is their purpose?
(Music brings people together, articulates struggles)
4. Ask students to think of other themes of music that have brought people together, other than struggles.
5. Ask the class to identify current struggles in their own lives and record them on the board.
6. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 and ask them to create their own song of struggle based on the issues in their own lives. They may look at the list on the board if they need ideas. They may use whichever musical format (rap, poem, ballad) they want.
Closure:
Have students share their songs with the rest of the class if they wish, and explain why they composed it the way they did.
Assessment:
By actively participating and contributing thoughtful responses during our discussion and small group activity, students will be informally assessed on their understanding of the focus concept.
Adaptations/Extensions:
If time permits, or in the next class period, students should compose inspirational songs related to the struggles they just wrote about.
Connections:
This lesson could be integrated into various other subjects in the following ways:
* Literacy: students brainstorm other themes of music and create an "album" of lyrics.
* Art: students draw pictures to go along with their songs of struggle/inspiration/albums, etc.
* Social Studies: students look at various songs popular in the time of slavery or even war.
* Math: students look at songs of a certain theme and graph the percentage of each type (rap, ballad, country, etc).
