Students in Philadelphia Public Schools are promised one expressive arts class, minimum, per year from kindergarten through eighth grade. When they get to high school, this goes down to 2 required arts and humanities courses within four years. This might mean a student has any combination of one to three classes in visual arts, music, dance, and theater. Clearly, having only one of these classes as an elementary or middle school student is not ideal. This year, my school has only visual arts and the students are very much missing the music classes they’ve had for the previous three years I’ve been teaching there. I will be transitioning to teach in a high school that hasn’t had art for the past few years, and does not plan to have a music class anytime soon. It seems like my work is cut out for me.

Many of my students come from an African American background, and still know very little about the musical traditions of the places they originally came from. This can be attributed to slavery: sometimes immediately and certainly over time it cut people off from cultural knowledge and languages from home regions. My intention is to teach students about the different musics across contemporary Africa, how those sounds are made, and how we can create our own sounds and rhythms with similar instruments. This unit will  begin with a geography lesson on Africa. Most students cannot identify African countries, or even identify that Africa is a continent. Most students have no concept of how large Africa is, or even how far it is from us in the United States.

I plan to explore all sorts of music and instruments with my students. We’ll combine the sound, timbre, rhythm, and pitch of the music with the careful handicrafts of creating the instruments to perfect the intended sound. I want to take my students with me on a journey through the music of Africa, have conversations about what they recognize and what is new, and simply get lost in the music together. This will not be short work, but it will be meaningful and intentional crafting with a goal and purpose in mind.

I plan to break my unit into lessons based on type of instrument, rather than by region. I intend to start with percussion instruments, as these are the most commonly recognized in North America as African instruments, and add in some winds as we go along. Strings, I think, would take more time than I have and would make a great extension lesson for the music classroom. I think that students are more likely to connect if we keep the lessons based on one instrument type and wander through African regions each time we start a new instrument type. This will simplify the need for technical understanding on the student part, and not require them to hold information on multiple types of instruments in their head while we can only craft one at a time.

Along with learning about the music and instruments of Africa, I want to give my students a rich vocabulary they can use to talk about music. I want them to be able to go beyond “I like it” and “this is cool” and use music-specific terms to describe what they hear and what about the music they find compelling. This will hit on the music standards for Pennsylvania plus national core music standards, as well as English Language Arts standards in terms of expanding their vocabulary with specific words for musical sound.

In addition to music and language standards, this unit will center on visual arts standards, and of course on social sciences and geography standards as well. We’ll touch lightly on the sciences and maths involved in music, both in the creation of the instrument and the music.

Preparing this unit will require a great deal of research on different music and instruments from the many regions of Africa. Most research will come from research journals and books, but I expect that websites with music and movies will also be a great resource for this work. I suspect these days you will find the web more helpful in understanding each of these instruments—look to Smithsonian Global Sound on Penn library site, there are recordings of these instruments, and liner notes in the older one. Also look in the Contemporary World Music database on the library site. You might be surprised how much material you find just in recordings.

This curriculum unit will focus on four types of instruments: shakers with objects inside, shakers with objects on the outside, wind pipes, and drums (specifically goblet drums). Limiting the focus of the unit to these four instruments will allow me to create a month-long unit, of about 8 75-minute class periods. A large portion of the class time will be dedicated to independent student work time to create their instruments, with teacher conferencing and small group demonstrations going on.

Lessons will mostly follow the same general format starting with hearing the music; students will enter the classroom to the music being studied during that lesson. They’ll be asked to hypothesize where the music came from (regionally specific as they can), what kind of instrument is being played, and what purpose the music might have. Students will bring in what they know, and the teacher can dispel myths about Africa early on to avoid any unnecessary racism, stereotyping, or xenophobia.

The first instrument I plan to tackle with my students is the hosho. A hosho is an idiophone (an instrument that makes noise when vibrating the whole piece) that originates from Zimbabwe. The hosho is made using a dried gourd filled with dried seeds. The seeds make the gourd into a sort of rattle that sounds differently based on the size of the gourd and the seeds. Seeds or corn kernels are inserted into the gourd through a hole bored into the side, and then sealed with a webbing of wire. The hosho is used in Shona music, particularly Mbira music. Hosho are played in pairs, one in each hand.  The origins of the hosho are difficult to trace, as the instrument itself is so ubiquitous and there’s little written history about the instrument.

Next up we’re going to venture into wind instruments, and touch on the Nyanga Pan Pipe. This pan pipe originated from the Nyungwe people of Mozambique. (https://www.allaroundthisworld.com/learn/africa-2/african-instruments/nyanga-pan-pipes/#.YInPeR9KiUk) These pipes are made of bamboo or river reeds, and tied together with leaf strips.  It’s a complicated instrument to play, and this particular instrument is played mostly for the purpose of dancing and not just for music and rhythm purposes. The people of Mozambique dance in large groups to the music of the Nyanga pan pipe for the purposes of summoning rain or even exorcising bad spirits.

Back to percussion, the sekere is another gourd-based instrument and is from West Africa. The sekere is a beaded gourd that rattles as the beads hit the gourd and each other. The gourd is dried for months, then the seeds and pulp are removed to form a hollow shell. Then color and expert beading is applied to the outside of the gourd to create the sekere. This is believed to be the origin of this type of instrument, which has similar variants around the continent and the world.

Since most Americans associate African music with drums, I would be remiss if I didn’t teach at least one membranophone. The last instrument I want to cover with my students is the Djembe. The djembe has rish roots in West Africa as being a religious and spiritual instrument, and was only played by highly skilled male musicians. (https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/75801/vhflaig_1.pdf;jsessionid=CB054DB197FE386666CF280547C30583 p.3) A djembe is a skin-covered goblet-shaped drum that originated in West Africa. It’s name is said to mean “gather peace.” (https://africaglobalnews.com/djembe-history-and-sound/) A djembe is made from hardwood body, an animal skin top, and ropes to bind the two together and tune the drum. The skin on top is often goat skin, but many different skins can be used. The thickness of the skin used affects the sound the djembe makes. The djembe originates from the Mali empire, and has several origin myths surrounding it’s creation.

Teaching strategies are what make lessons classroom-ready. Most teachers use teaching strategies and aren’t even aware they’re using them. These strategies not only create effective lessons, but allow connections between the students as well as between the teacher and students and the students and the material. Strategies allow students to interact with the materials, their classmates, and the world around them. These nine strategies were selected based on how well they lend themselves to interactions between students, teachers, and all the materials involved. The nine strategies I wanted to highlight in this unit were: anonymous questioning, check in and out, conferencing,connecting to prior knowledge, cooperative learning, critical listening, differentiation, graphic organizers, and response journals.

Anonymous questioning is a strategy that allows students to anonymously submit questions and concerns to be addressed in class. Equity in schools, especially for students who don’t have the materials they need to succeed, can be a tough subject and students don’t always want their peers to know about their personal concerns. Anonymous questioning not only lets students get their concerns across, but has the potential to show students that they’re not isolated in their concerns.

Check In/Check Out is a teaching strategy that allows teachers to figuratively take students’ emotional temperatures when they arrive and when they leave the classroom. This can be done in a variety of ways, through entrance and exit tickets, warm ups and wrap ups, or even verbal or eye contact as students enter and exit the classroom. Gauging where the students are both before and after class is important not only with this course material, but with high school students in general.

Conferencing is exactly what it sounds like, both allowing students to conference with one another, and the teacher to conference with individual students or student groups. In person conferencing allows ideas to flow more openly than having written comments, and allows the teacher and the students to better understand the concepts being discussed and assess the level of understanding. Conferencing is a great form of assessment that is low pressure for the student and allows the teacher to get a clear picture of what the students understand and what still needs to be ascertained. With this unit, conferencing is key as students work in groups to create their own instruments and work through challenges as a team and independently with teacher support as needed.

Connecting to prior knowledge is among the most basic of teaching and planning strategies, which involves using what students already know to build connections to the lesson at hand. This not only makes sure that students have some context before delving into a lesson, but gives students a buy in where they can feel that they have something to contribute to the lesson even before they’ve learned anything new. This unit looks at the sounds and music they’re already familiar with, and brings in new terms, instruments, and ideas on top of the things they already know.

Cooperative learning has students working together in pre-planned groups to investigate materials as a team. Students work as a group to decide on a focus and, with the teacher as a facilitator, work within assignment parameters to create a final project. The pre-planning of groups allows for a fair balance of students who will all be able to contribute fairly to the project, as well as groups students with similar interests together to allow them to work cohesively as a team. With a music-making project, working in cooperative groups is key for creation processes.

Critical listening is a key strategy to be used when listening to music. Encouraging students to be critical about what they hear allows them to be more constructively critical about the work they create. Critical listening is not only important for this unit in terms of creating instruments and making music, but in nearly every other aspect of their education through high school, college, and beyond.

Differentiation is one of the most important strategies used in the classroom, allowing all students to succeed to their maximum potentials. Differentiation is designing lessons, work, and assessments for students to address their individual needs. Having multiple options for how students can organize themselves or complete work allows students to create work that can show what they know without being confined by restrictions that might impede their ability to get across the knowledge and information they’ve gained during the lessons. The assignments and assessments in this unit are pretty open-ended, allowing students to take them in any number of directions and still be successful.

Graphic Organizers are often at the heart of my instruction, giving students a concrete place to pull their thoughts and ideas together before beginning an assignment. For students who have trouble focusing their ideas, graphic organizers are one of the best things they can do in order to get everything down on paper before embarking on a large project. Even for students who are skilled at organization, graphic organizers allow all group members, and the teacher, to see what students are thinking and where their assignments are headed so specific conversations can be had to address any potential concerns before any work is completed on the project. This unit will have a teacher-generated graphic organizer for students to use, as well as options for students to create their own.

Response journals are going to be one of the most heavily used items in the studio during this unit, as a key strategy to taking notes and keeping track of thoughts and feelings on a daily basis. Students would be writing in their response journals on a daily basis, using them to take notes about the music they hear and the instruments they see, as well as ideas they have for their own instruments. All graphic organizers and check in/check out forms would be pasted into the response journals giving students a complete picture of what they’ve studied and where they want to go with all that information.

These lessons will be assessed based on student response journals, as well as portfolio submissions graded on a rubric. There will be no traditional exams as a part of this unit, as the artmaking process does not often fit within the small window that traditional tests and exams can assess. Students will also be assessed based on individual and small group conferences with the teacher, as the teacher can attain information on how students are progressing in their thinking and proceeding in their artmaking and musical thinking.

Week 1 – Intro to Africa  + Hosho

Time:  2 75-minute class periods

Objectives: Students will be able to assess their own knowledge in terms of the size and scope of Africa, in order to gain a further understanding of how large Africa really is.

Students will be able to create their own version of a hosho, in order to begin to understand African musical tradition.

Standards Addressed:

Music and Art: 9.1.12.A.2, 9.1.12.B.2., 9.1.12.A.4., 9.1.12.B.4, 9.1.12.C., 9.1.12.F., 9.1.12.H.2., 9.1.12.H.3., 9.1.12.I., 9.1.12.J.1., 9.2.12.A., 9.2.12.B., 9.2.12.D., 9.2.12.E., 9.2.12.F., 9.2.12.G., 9.2.12.K., 9.3.12.C.,  9.3.12.F., 9.4.12.B.

Social Studies: 7.1.12.A., 7.1.12.B., 7.3.12.A.1., 7.3.12.C.

English Language Arts: 1.2.11.B.1., 1.2.11.B.2., 1.4.11.A.1., 1.4.11.A.2., 1.6.11.A.1., 1.6.11.A.2.,  1.6.11.A.3., 1.6.11.D.1., 1.6.11.D.2., 1.6.11.D.3., 1.6.11.D.4., 1.6.11.D.5., 1.6.11.D.6., 1.6.11.D.7.

Instructional Strategies:

Anonymous questioning, connecting to prior knowledge, cooperative learning, response organizers, conferencing, critical listening

Materials: Posters of Africa, music, recordings of Hosho playing, images of Hosho, assorted art materials for making rattle instruments (both recycled and traditional art materials.)

New Vocabulary:

Africa, Continent, subcontinent, scale, country, Hosho, ideophone, rattle, gourd

Lesson Introduction:

Ideally, students should walk into a plethora of visual and aural representations of Africa. Posters, music playing, the works. Get students excited. The best way to introduce this unit is likely through a game (Kahoot! is a student favorite) to help them understand that their understanding of Africa isn’t quite correct. After that, there are a plethora of videos and images widely available on the internet for students to get an idea of how big Africa really is in comparison to other countries and continents.

A video introduction to African instruments, particularly the hosho for this lesson, is widely available on the internet for free. My recommendation is for several videos with music for the students to watch with their eyes closed to really get a feel for the sound and the beats, and then more instructional videos for students to see how the instruments are made and sounded. The hosho is such a great start because it’s so ubiquitous that nobody is really sure where it came from, and similar instruments can be found in multiple regions of the continent.

The teacher should emphasize to students that a lot of this unit will be about listening, and how to listen. Starting with their eyes closed is a great way to start, it’s the easiest way to not do anything while listening. It’s easy to get distracted when your eyes are open, so I recommend starting to listen with your eyes closed (you as you prepare for this lesson, and encourage your students to do the same as they listen.)

Direct Instruction:

            The teacher will review basic instrument-making techniques with the students, along with short demonstrations of how to use both traditional materials and recycled materials to create a set of hoshos on their own. This will include, but is not limited to, paper mache, clay, beads, jars and jugs, and even milk cartons! This is where it’s key to emphasize that almost anything and everything can be made into an instrument.

Students will use response journals and anonymous questioning during this initial class period to track their thoughts and have questions answered without risking embarrassment. Graphic organizers can be created based on the needs of the students, to make sure students are capturing the information relevant to them in their knowledge of Africa and creation of instruments.

Group Work:

            For this first project, students will work in small groups while each creating their own instruments. Groups will decide if they will use traditional art materials or recycled materials to create their instruments, and each student will produce a matching set of hoshos (matching their own, don’t need to match the within the group.)

Closure:

            Students will have the opportunity to share the instruments they’ve created with the class, and begin to explore if this is a form of instrument they enjoyed creating and/or making music with.

Week 2 – Nyanga Pan Pipe

Time:  2 75-minute class periods

Objectives:

Students will be able to create their own version of a Nyanga pan pipe, in order to continue to deepen their understanding of African musical tradition.

Students will be able to work collaboratively in a group, in order to further their listening, speaking, and collaboration skills.

Standards Addressed:

Music and Art: 9.1.12.A.2, 9.1.12.B.2., 9.1.12.A.4., 9.1.12.B.4, 9.1.12.C., 9.1.12.F., 9.1.12.H.2., 9.1.12.H.3., 9.1.12.I., 9.1.12.J.1., 9.2.12.A., 9.2.12.B., 9.2.12.D., 9.2.12.E., 9.2.12.F., 9.2.12.G., 9.2.12.K., 9.3.12.C.,  9.3.12.F., 9.4.12.B.

Social Studies: 7.1.12.A., 7.1.12.B., 7.3.12.A.1., 7.3.12.C.

English Language Arts: 1.2.11.B.1., 1.2.11.B.2., 1.4.11.A.1., 1.4.11.A.2., 1.6.11.A.1., 1.6.11.A.2.,  1.6.11.A.3., 1.6.11.D.1., 1.6.11.D.2., 1.6.11.D.3., 1.6.11.D.4., 1.6.11.D.5., 1.6.11.D.6., 1.6.11.D.7.

Instructional Strategies:

Anonymous questioning, check in-check out, connecting to prior knowledge, cooperative learning, differentiation, graphic organizers, response journals, critical listening

Materials: Images and recordings of pan pipes, especially Nyanga pan pipes, plastic and/or metal straws, jute cord, plastic tubing, sewing materials, assorted recycled materials, pitch pipe

New Vocabulary:

Wind instrument, pan pipe, reed instrument, pitch pipe

Lesson Introduction:

Now that students have had an introduction to Africa and the basics of the music there, you can jump right in to more music with the pan pipe. Learning about the panpipe, it’s intentions and usage in ritual ceremonies, and it’s creation can be pretty quick. Spend time with the students really listening to samples of the music, get a little lost in it. Have students reflect on what they hear.

Direct Instruction:

            The teacher will review basic instrument-making techniques with the students, along with short demonstrations of how to use both traditional materials and recycled materials to create a set of panpipes of their own. Students can use traditional piping and tubing materials and cords, or any recycled materials that could serve a tube-like function.  This is where it’s key to emphasize that almost anything and everything can be made into an instrument.

Students will use response journals and anonymous questioning during this initial class period to track their thoughts and have questions answered without risking embarrassment. Graphic organizers can be created based on the needs of the students, to make sure students are capturing the information relevant to them in their knowledge of Africa and creation of instruments.

Conferencing will also be utilized during these lesson, as the teacher circulates to understand the group dynamics happening around the room.

Group Work:

            For this second project, students can decide if they want to work in groups or on their own, based on the success of their first project. Groups will decide if they will use traditional art materials or recycled materials to create their instruments, and each group will work together to produce one or more pan pipes of their own.

Closure:

            Students will have the opportunity to share the instruments they’ve created with the class, and begin to explore if this is a form of instrument they enjoyed creating and/or making music with.

Week 3 – Sekere (SHAY-keh-ray)

Time: 2 75-minute class periods

Objectives: Students will be able to create their own version of a sekere, in order to continue to deepen their understanding of African musical tradition.

Students will be able to work collaboratively in a group, in order to further their listening, speaking, and collaboration skills.

Standards Addressed:

Music and Art: 9.1.12.A.2, 9.1.12.B.2., 9.1.12.A.4., 9.1.12.B.4, 9.1.12.C., 9.1.12.F., 9.1.12.H.2., 9.1.12.H.3., 9.1.12.I., 9.1.12.J.1., 9.2.12.A., 9.2.12.B., 9.2.12.D., 9.2.12.E., 9.2.12.F., 9.2.12.G., 9.2.12.K., 9.3.12.C.,  9.3.12.F., 9.4.12.B.

Social Studies: 7.1.12.A., 7.1.12.B., 7.3.12.A.1., 7.3.12.C.

English Language Arts: 1.2.11.B.1., 1.2.11.B.2., 1.4.11.A.1., 1.4.11.A.2., 1.6.11.A.1., 1.6.11.A.2.,  1.6.11.A.3., 1.6.11.D.1., 1.6.11.D.2., 1.6.11.D.3., 1.6.11.D.4., 1.6.11.D.5., 1.6.11.D.6., 1.6.11.D.7.

Instructional Strategies: Anonymous questioning, check in-check out, connecting to prior knowledge, cooperative learning, differentiation, graphic organizers, response journals, critical listening

Materials: images of sekere rattles, video/audio of sekere, assorted percussion materials (both recycled and standard), jute cord, assorted beads, paints, paint brushes

New Vocabulary: gourd, sekere, percussion, rattle, bead cage

Lesson Introduction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmJm91UPGfs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnE50Ho7RYM

Direct Instruction:

The teacher will review basic beading techniques with the students, along with short demonstrations of how to use both traditional materials and recycled materials to create a sekere rattle on their own. Students can use traditional beading and cord material, or any recycled material they find to be useful.  This is where it’s key to emphasize that almost anything and everything can be made into an instrument (again!)

Students will use response journals and anonymous questioning during this initial class period to track their thoughts and have questions answered without risking embarrassment. Graphic organizers can be created based on the needs of the students, to make sure students are capturing the information relevant to them in their knowledge of Africa and creation of instruments.

Conferencing will also be utilized during these lessons, as the teacher circulates to understand the group dynamics, and the progress of students working alone, for this project. The teacher will steer students in the right direction if they get lost, and help guide groups back to a working path if there are disagreements that cannot be resolved internally.

Group Work:

            Now that students have had the opportunity to work both as a group and alone (if they wanted to), the teacher will conference with small groups so all students can make the best-informed decision on whether working alone or in a group is the best idea.

Closure:

Students will have the opportunity to share the instruments they’ve created with their group and the entire class, continue, and reflect on their exploration of traditional African instruments through the study of creating music.

Week 4: Djembe and Wrap Up

Time: 2 75-minute class periods

Objectives: Students will be able to create their own version of a djembe, in order to continue to deepen their understanding of African musical tradition.

Students will be able to develop their own wrap up and/or celebration of their African musical instrument unit in order to take pride in their accomplishments of the 2+ months spent on this unit.

Standards Addressed:

Music and Art: 9.1.12.A.2, 9.1.12.B.2., 9.1.12.A.4., 9.1.12.B.4, 9.1.12.C., 9.1.12.F., 9.1.12.H.2., 9.1.12.H.3., 9.1.12.I., 9.1.12.J.1., 9.2.12.A., 9.2.12.B., 9.2.12.D., 9.2.12.E., 9.2.12.F., 9.2.12.G., 9.2.12.K., 9.3.12.C.,  9.3.12.F., 9.4.12.B.

Social Studies: 7.1.12.A., 7.1.12.B., 7.3.12.A.1., 7.3.12.C.

English Language Arts: 1.2.11.B.1., 1.2.11.B.2., 1.4.11.A.1., 1.4.11.A.2., 1.6.11.A.1., 1.6.11.A.2.,  1.6.11.A.3., 1.6.11.D.1., 1.6.11.D.2., 1.6.11.D.3., 1.6.11.D.4., 1.6.11.D.5., 1.6.11.D.6., 1.6.11.D.7.

Instructional Strategies: Anonymous questioning, connecting to prior knowledge, cooperative learning, response organizers, conferencing, check in and out, critical listening

Materials:

Recordings and images of djembe drums

Classical art materials: Clay, wood, beads, paper mache, fabric, sewing materials

Recycled materials: Plastic bottles, aluminum cans, milk cartons, coffee cans,  clothing recycle

New Vocabulary: drum, percussion, drum skin, goblet drum

Lesson Introduction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoSggNdJT9g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXAfPnwvchE

Direct Instruction:

            After showing the videos of djembe music and the introduction to the djembe, the class will brainstorm together how they might approach this project, with the teacher commenting on the ideas and maybe bringing some new ideas to the table. The teacher should have several examples of djembe drums, both traditional and made from recycled materials. Students can and should experiment with the instruments available to them before deciding how to embark on creating this last instrument. Check in with students frequently, but allow them to use their groups as primary support.

Group Work:

            For this last project, students will create individual projects with some group critique. Now that the students are all more familiar with the instrument-making process, students will have more of a critiquing and conferencing role, and more of a creative hand in this assignment. The teacher will still circulate and conference as needed, but the presence and input of the teacher should be less needed at this point. Allow students to facilitate their own groups as much as possible.

Closure:

Students will get to share their instruments, all their instruments, with all the sections that have completed this unit, and maybe even present them to the entire student body. The presentation and celebration of the unit options are endless, and can be elaborated upon in many forms. The students should be involved in the selection of the wrap up for this unit as much as possible.

Books:

Agawu, Kofi (2016). The African Imagination in Music. Oxford University Press

Berliner, Paul (1981). The Soul of Mbira: Music and Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe. University of California Press.

Blanc, Serge (1997). African Percussion: The Djembe.

Articles:

Tracey, Andrew. “The Nyanga Panpipe Dance.” African Music, vol. 5, no. 1, 1971, pp. 73–89. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30249960. Accessed 28 Apr. 2021.

Video/Film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnE50Ho7RYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXAfPnwvchE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoSggNdJT9g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmJm91UPGfs

Websites:

https://www.allaroundthisworld.com/learn/africa-2/african-instruments/#.YHdTqhNKhR1

https://africaglobalnews.com/african-wind-instruments-the-nyanga-pan-pipes-and-kudu-horns/

https://omeka-s.grinnell.edu/s/MusicalInstruments/item/1829

https://www.ibiblio.org/musicians/botsford/educators/shekere/

http://www.instrumentsoftheworld.com/instrument/157-Sekere.html

https://africaglobalnews.com/djembe-history-and-sound/

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/75801/vhflaig_1.pdf;jsessionid=CB054DB197FE386666CF280547C30583?sequence=1

https://prezi.com/terhhw3dut16/nyanga-pan-pipes/

https://www.allaroundthisworld.com/learn/africa-2/african-instruments/#.YHdTqhNKhR1

Pennsylvania Education Standards

Art and Music:

9.1.12.A.2. Know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities. Elements: Music: duration; intensity; pitch; timbre. Principles: Music: composition; form; genre; harmony; rhythm; texture

9.1.12.B.2. Recognize, know, use and demonstrate a variety of appropriate arts elements and principles to produce, review and revise original works in the arts. Music: sing; play an instrument; read and notate music; compose and arrange, improvise

9.1.12.A.4. Know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities. Elements: Visual Arts: color; form/shape; line; space; texture; value. Principles: Visual Arts: balance; contrast; emphasis/focal point; movement/rhythm; proportion/scale; repetition; unity/harmony

9.1.12.B.4. Recognize, know, use and demonstrate a variety of appropriate arts elements and principles to produce, review and revise original works in the arts. Visual Arts: paint; draw; craft; sculpt; print; design for environment, communication, multimedia

9.1.12.C. Integrate and apply advanced vocabulary to the arts forms.

9.1.12.F. Analyze works of arts influenced by experiences or historical and cultural events through production, performance or exhibition.

9.1.12.H.2. Incorporate the effective and safe use of materials, equipment and tools into the production of works in the arts at work and performance spaces. Evaluate issues of cleanliness related to the arts.

9.1.12.H.3. Incorporate the effective and safe use of materials, equipment and tools into the production of works in the arts at work and performance spaces. Evaluate the use and applications of mechanical/electrical equipment.

9.1.12.I. Distinguish among a variety of regional arts events and resources and analyze methods of selection and admission.

9.1.12.J.1. Analyze and evaluate the use of traditional and contemporary technologies for producing, performing and exhibiting works in the arts or the works of others. Analyze traditional technologies

9.2.12.A. Explain the historical, cultural and social context of an individual work in the arts.

9.2.12.B. Relate works in the arts chronologically to historical events

9.2.12.D. Analyze a work of art from its historical and cultural perspective.

9.2.12.E. Analyze how historical events and culture impact forms, techniques and purposes of works in the arts

9.2.12.F. Know and apply appropriate vocabulary used between social studies and the arts and humanities.

9.2.12.G. Relate works in the arts to geographic regions: Africa; Asia; Australia; Central America; Europe; North America; South America.

9.2.12.K. Identify, explain and analyze traditions as they relate to works in the arts

9.3.12.C. Apply systems of classification for interpreting works in the arts and forming a critical response.

9.3.12.F. Analyze the processes of criticism used to compare the meanings of a work in the arts in both its own and present time.

9.4.12.B. Describe and analyze the effects that works in the arts have on groups, individuals and the culture

Social Studies:

7.1.12.A. Analyze data and issues from a spatial perspective using the appropriate geographic tools.

7.1.12.B. Analyze the location of places and regions.

7.3.12.A.1. Spatial distribution, size, density and demographic characteristics of population at the international level

7.3.12.C. Analyze the significance of human activity in shaping places and regions by their settlement characteristics.

English Language Arts:

1.2.11.B.1. Select appropriate electronic media for research and evaluate the quality of the information received.

1.2.11.B.2. Explain how the techniques used in electronic media modify traditional forms of discourse for different purposes.

1.4.11.A.1. Apply varying organizational methods.

1.4.11.A.2. Use relevant illustrations.

1.6.11.A.1. Ask clarifying questions.

1.6.11.A.2. Synthesize information, ideas and opinions to determine relevancy.

1.6.11.A.3. Take notes.

1.6.11.D.1. Ask relevant, clarifying questions.

1.6.11.D.2. Respond with relevant information or opinions to questions asked.

1.6.11.D.3. Listen to and acknowledge the contributions of others.

1.6.11.D.4. Adjust tone and involvement to encourage equitable participation.

1.6.11.D.5. Facilitate total group participation.

1.6.11.D.6. Introduce relevant, facilitating information, ideas and opinions to enrich the discussion.

1.6.11.D.7. Paraphrase and summarize as needed.