Learning Objectives: Learn about the Powwow and then practice basic dance patterns.

Steps:

Have you ever attended a Powwow?

1. See what you know or can learn about Powwows from by watching Video 1. When you are done you should be able to:

• Explain what a Powwow is

• Name 5 types of dances

• Explain what regalia is

* You can also learn more about a powwow by reading this article and then watching the video at the end.

2. To learn basic Powwow dance steps click on the this link and scroll down until you see this blue banner:

• Try the Basic step! There are several videos here to dance with.

* Want to try even more? Check out the Powwow Sweat videos linked on the main Music page to learn and practice other powwow dance steps.

3. Angela Gladue is the artist leading the dance steps in the videos linked above. She is a celebrated dancer and Hip Hop artist from Edmonton, and part of the musical group “A Tribe Called Red” If you would like to know more about her story watch the interview in Video 2.

Learning Objective: Students will experience syncopated rhythms.

Steps:

1. Listen to "Cotton Eyed Joe" (Video 1). How does the music make you feel? Go ahead and move to the music.

   • This music just makes us want to dance!

2. In music, we use something called syncopation to create this sound. Syncopation is where there is an interruption in the general flow of the rhythm in a piece of music. There is an accent, or stress, in the rhythm where it wouldn’t normally occur.

   • Normally, a song will have an emphasized beat occurring on beats one and three. This is not an example of syncopation. Listen to the song "Hey Lolly, Lolly" in Video 2. This song includes syncopation. Go ahead and move to the music.

3. Often, eighth or sixteenth notes are used to create syncopation. For some musical styles, such as Latin, jazz, or ragtime, syncopation is an essential part of creating that style.

4. This step of this lesson has been removed to honour copyright and timeframe restrictions set for use and sharing of previous materials.

5. Using Video 4, you can dance along with the artist who found everyday objects to create her syncopation song.

Learning Objectives: Learn about modern era composer John Williams and music he has composed.

Steps:

1. Watch a brief biography on John Williams (see Video 1) to learn more about this composer.

2. Follow the listening maps as you listen to "Star Wars" and "Superman."

3. John Williams has composed music for many movies! Did you know that he also composed themes for "E.T.," "Harry Potter," "Indiana Jones," "Home Alone," and that's just the start of the list? Watch the second video to find out which John Williams scores musicians from the Nashville Symphony name as their favourites.

4. Finally, watch the John Williams movie mashup posted by Natalya Plays Piano (see Video 3) to determine how many John Williams' movie themes featured you recognize. Which one is your favourite and why?

Just for Fun:

• Try playing along to the Star Wars theme song using the rhythm play along showed in Video 4. Using found instruments you have in your home, how can you add interest in the repeated rhythms by playing them in different ways?

• Watch The Piano Guys as they use their cellos to have a lightsaber duel.

Learning Objective: Learn about world instruments and other instrument classification systems.

Steps:

1. How long has music existed for? Instruments have been found and documented dating back thousands and tens of thousands of years! Isn’t that incredible! Visit Oldest.org to check out some of our world’s oldest instruments and pay particular attention to the materials that were used to create these instruments.

2. What did you notice about the materials used to make these incredibly old instruments? Many were made from bone, others from stone or wood, but all were made from items that would have been easily accessible at the time.

3. If you were to create an instrument using only items you currently have accessible to you right now at home, what would it be? What would it look like? Would it be simple or would it be elaborate? If you want, take a few minutes right now to draw what this instrument might look like and write a description on how it would be played or how it might sound.

4. You may have previously learned that instruments can be grouped into four main families: woodwind, brass, strings, and percussion. Did you know that this is largely a western way to classify instruments? Instruments can also be classified in different ways, and these other systems need to be in place since not all of our world instruments would fit into the orchestral categories. Watch the first video to learn more about this.

5. There are so many different kinds of instruments that are used by people all over the world. Some have been used for centuries, others are newer, and still others might be in the process of being invented as we speak. In honour of Earth Day, let’s end by taking a few minutes to look at an instrument created by reusing a common, everyday item—the plastic water bottle. There are a number of different instruments that can be made from plastic water bottles; the next two videos look at the bottle xylophone. Check out the links provided to see this unique bottle xylophone in action and to learn more about how it was made.

Learning Objective: Develop skill in writing rhythm patterns. Cross Curricular, Language Arts - Experiment with language using figurative language.

Steps:

1. Click on the first video to watch a Google Slides presentation.

2. View the second video for some pointers to help you with completing this lesson.

3. Visit the online drum machine