Lesson #1: Music and Society

Who Are My Learners?

At risk youth from urban centres.
Youth diagnosed with mental illness and or substance abuse.
Some students with IEP’s.
Students with gaps in reading and comprehension skills

Minds On:
Ask students their favourite musician and why.

Introduction to Unit:
Provide quotations from popular artists (example: "I know it seems hard sometimes but
remember one thing. Through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no
matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.... and handle it."  -Tupac
Shakur.
Provide movies, biographies, research materials.
Provide learning activities that involve student inquiry and investigation

Action!
Students read (or have teacher read aloud) quotes from popular artists.
Questioning to evoke and expose thinking.
Students choose to watch Ray (biographical film of Ray Charles) and or the Biography of
Tupac.
Students read (or have the teacher read aloud) research materials on various jazz and
hip hop artists, provided by their teacher.
Students work individually or in pairs, according to their learning preferences.

Consolidation:
Check for knowledge and understanding through:
Student/Teacher discussions
Student responses and reflections in their journals

Critical Learning:
Understand the meaning of traditional, commercial and art music and how they are
related.
Understand how traditional, commercial and art music reflect the society in which they
were created and how they have affected communities and cultures.

Guiding Questions:
What were some of the cultural struggles that Ray Charles or Tupac experienced during
their childhood?
How would you have felt if you were an African-American teenager growing up in the
United States during the 1940’s?
 Why do so many youth in this facility tell me that Rap is their favorite music?

Curriculum Expectations:  What Do I Want Students to Learn?

B.2 Music and Society

B2.1 Identify and describe ways in which
traditional music reflects the society in which
it was created and how it has affected
communities or cultures.
B2.2 Identify and describe ways in which
commercial music reflects the society in
which it was created and how it has affected
communities or cultures.
B2.3 Identify and describe ways in which art music
reflects the society in which it was created
and how it has affected communities or
cultures.

Learning Goals: (Unpacked Expectations)

By the end of this unit, students will:
Understand how the music they listen to
relates to their lives.
Understand how music has affected society
and how music affects the culture they are
growing up in.

Instructional Components and Context:

Readiness:
Students know what music they like and relate to.

Terminology:
Culture
Society
Segregation

Assessment:
Assessment for knowledge and understanding

Materials/Resources:
Pencil
Eraser
Personal Response Journal
Printed material from the internet
Biography:  Tupac Shakur
Video clips from You Tube
The Rose That Grew from Concrete (book)