How Music
Forms a Culture
Madelaine Feakins
Emily Meehan
Intro
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Our goal is to suggest alternates to the
teaching methods we saw when observing
Hartford classrooms
The classrooms are very diverse but there is
limited material taught about the different
cultures of the students
To fix this, we are teaching a curriculum on
musical history, and how music can shape a
culture or heritage
Plan
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1 ½ hours for five days will be devoted to
this topic
Students will pick a particular song from
their culture and research when this song
was written in their cultures history, and
for what purpose
At the end of the week students will
present a project to the class about their
own culture
Objective 1
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Students will gain an understanding of the
importance of personal identity and how heritage
plays an important role in this concept.
Objective 2
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Students will develop intrapersonal and
interpersonal intelligence skills through research of
their own cultures and presentations
Objective 3
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Students will be exposed to music from various
cultures
Objective 4
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Students will learn that music differs between cultures
and develop an understanding of how music expresses a
cultures experiences, beliefs, and values.
o One history standard for fourth graders in Hartford is
to “analyze and evaluate human action in historical
and/or contemporary contexts from alternative points
of view (cite evidence to explain the various
feelings/points of view of people in a historical
situation and predict various points of view people
might have on a contemporary issue).”
Monday
Introduce theme
Show two videos:
Native American
rain dance and
Michael Jackson
"Black and White
(20 minutes)
Explain music
and culture
correlation
(20 minutes)
Show example of
project
(20 minutes)
Develop research
questions
(30 minutes)
HW: ask parents
and grandparents
research
questions
Tuesday
Continue
researching
individual cultures
and picking songs
(incase students
didn't’t do it for
homework)
(30 minutes)
Explain music and
how it can express
social issues that are
specific to a culture
(15 minutes)
Music teacher will
come in with
instruments for the
students to play
(45 minutes)
HW: Have students
continue researching
their cultures and
start working on
their projects
Wednesday Thursday Friday
Speaker from, The Artists
Collective, in Hartford
will start by performing
music for the class
(45 minutes)
Speaker will emphasize
how music is an outlet of
expression about social
issues or can express
certain ideals and values
of a culture
The students will take a
social issue in their lives
or in hartford and write
a paragraph, song, or
poem expressing
themselves and their
feelings
(45 minutes)
HW: Continue working
on final projects
Work on their
projects
either a poster,
powerpoint, a song
that reflects the
culture they
researched, or any
other creative idea
(1 hour)
Students teachers
questions
Finalize project
Prepare for
presentation
(30 minutes)
HW: Make sure
projects are finished
for presentations
tomorrow
Final two
hours of the
day
Students
present
Fill out
evaluation
sheets for
other
students
Wednesday
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Speaker from The Arts Collective in Hartford
Perform for the class
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Express the importance of music in culture
Students will do an activity that stresses the importance of taking
social action
Work in partners and think of a social issue
o write song/poem/short story about it
Social action allows the students to learn on a higher level of
Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
o Synthesis
Teacher, Linda Christensen stressed the importance of taking
social action in the community
o “my students walk out the school door to social emergency...I believe
that writing is a basic skill that will help them both understand that
emergency and work to change it” (Christensen, 162).
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enhances musical intelligence
Evaluation
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Presentation in front of the class
Students can grade each other
Grade based on whether or not we believe
they met the objectives
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they gained an understanding of the importance of
personal identity and how heritage plays an important role
in this concept.
o They gained an understanding of how music expresses a
cultures experiences, beliefs, and values.
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Resources
Connecticut State Department of Education. State of Connecticut, 2002.
Website. April
26.<http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Curriculum/Curriculum_Root_Web_F
older/frarts.pdf>
Connecticut State Department of Education. State of Connecticut, 2002.
Website. April
27.<http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/curriculum/socialstudies/CT_Social_S
tudies_Curriculum_Framework_2011.pdf>
Helen1434. “Native American -Music- (Rain Dance).” Online Video Clip. Youtube.
YouTube, April 22 2006. Web. April 25.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WNLLNxURt4>
MichaeljacksonVEVO. “Michael Jackson -Black or White.” Online Video Clip.
Youtube. YouTube, April 22 2006. Web. April 25.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2AitTPI5U0>
Musical instruments from the music classroom in our school
Silver Burdett: Making Music. Persons Education Inc, 2002. Website. April
25. <http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/cultures.html>
The Artist Collective. The Artist Collective. Planet Bret. Website. April
26. <http://www.artistscollective.org/about.htm>