This cooperative improvisation between fifth and second grade students can be planned and performed in less than one hour, but preparation for the event should include several previous experiences including viewing the famous painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, hearing the historical details from a variety of sources, engaging in student discussions of the events surround the planning and the Battle of Trenton and identifying targeted musical concepts.
This lesson was created for primary age students but can easily be adapted into an intermediate or middle school social studies lesson. Students will explore a period of time when African Americans were striving to make their mark on American music. Ragtime music will be experienced through listening to classics, observing performances, researching the life of Scott Joplin, learning dances, and wearing self-made costumes of the era. They will reflect on the Ragtime music, the struggle of African Americans, and the life skills of successful people who persevere.
This lesson is designed to help students understand that Classical music can refer to music composed during a period in music history known as the Classical Period rather than the style of all symphonic music. The students will be given a brief overview of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern Periods of music. Next, students will learn about the lives of two famous composers of the Classical Period, Beethoven and Mozart.
In the years following World War I, American composers like Ferde Grofé (1892 – 1972) sought new models of composition to authentically capture the American musical identity. The Grand Canyon Suite (1931) by Grofé reflects a strain of American composition in the 1930's where orchestral works depicted scenes of American life in a modern world. Inspired by the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, Grofé paints a musical impression of a day in the canyon for the listener, translating the beauty of nature into a tangible art form.
Students develop reading fluency and comprehension in nonfiction text as they learn about the period of time from post-Civil War to the 1930s. Students take notes and complete a finished project in the form of a slideshow to create art work, import pictures, and type text about the person they studied and music from a composer who lived during the same time period. The finished slideshow shares information and pictures about the person they studied, has transitions, and music from a famous composer.
Using Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, students will discover how difficult it is to compose music with a hearing loss. Children will develop an understanding of overcoming disabilities and preserving through life's struggles. Students will learn how to compose four bars of music using 4-4 time.