Grade 8
Music of the Americas
Music is one of the oldest human art forms in the world. So many cultures have devloped a way to use different sounds, timbres, and rhythms to communicate ideas and traditions. But what happens when cultures are forced to move? How do you retain your cultural identify while forming a new one? And when you encounter new people and cultures, what magic can happen?
Key Concept
IDENTITY is the state or fact of being the same. It refers to the particular features which define individuals, groups, things, eras, places, symbols and styles. Identity can be observed, or it can be constructed, asserted, and shaped by external and internal influences.
Global Context
FAIRNESS & DEVELOPMENT and how these ideas impact the imagining of a hopeful future.
How does our personal and cultural understandings of "fairness" help us develop a sense of justice for others?
Statement of Inquiry
SOI: A community often expresses its collective identity in a shared artistic style which often imagines a hopeful future.
To begin the unit, the students have been learning about The Blues and Jazz, two unique musical art forms from North America. Born out of the tragedy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, these two styles highlight the mixing of two distinct cultures. From the enslaved Africans came the traditions of syncopation and oral storytelling while European culture brought western instruments and timbres. Together, over time, these two new styles emerged, and while they both are recognizable on a global stage, they still retain a strong cultural element from the communities that developed them.
For this formative, the students were asked to experiment and create an original piece in the style of Jazz or The Blues, using GarageBand. The students must consider structural elements in their experiment as well as musical devices. This formative will receive feedback in preparation for the summative at the end of the unit.
Please click on the student work tab to view their experiments.
Criterion B: Developing
How well can the student synthesize the learning into their work?
Criterion C: Creating
How well can the student express their learning in an artistic way?
ATL Skill: Thinking
How can we approach a new and foreign concept critically without losing its humanity?