Portfolio Entry #35 – British Invasion Stations

Students will understand the culture, art, music, and prominent aspects of the British Invasion of the 1960s through stations.

1. Students are put in to groups of three or four and given a station answer packet.

2. Stations as follows -

• 1) Album cover art, what would sell a British Invasion album?
• 2) Mods and Rockers, what was the culture of the British Invasion?
• 3)Set up a sound system, what type of sound system did the Beatles have to set up?
• 4) Google Earth, where was the British Invasion going on?
• 5) Create sentences, how wouldyou describe the British Invasion?

Portfolio Entry #34 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Letter

Students will nominate an artist of their choice for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, based on actual criteria.

1. Students research the criteria to be included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

2. Students research three artists of their choice who have not been previously inducted.

3. Students choose one of those artists, and write a letter to the judging committee explaining why their artist should be chosen.

Portfolio Entry #33 – American Pie Rewrite

Students will rewrite the lyrics of the famous song “American Pie” by Don McClean to include recent historical information that is relevant to their lives.

1. Students watch a presentation about the meaning of the lyrics in American Pie.

2. Students discuss recent historical events that could be included in a song today.

3. Students use their understanding of written English and the parts of a sentence to reconstruct the song American Pie with a theme based on a recent historical event.

Portfolio Entry #32 – Windows Movie Maker Project

Students will use Windows Movie Maker to display a collection of images, songs, and biographical information about Southern Rock artists.

1. Students are given 15 artists, from which they must choose 12.

2. Students research information about these artists, and collect three pictures of each.

3. Students choose various songs to include in their project that are by the artist.

4. Students use movie maker to display the images, to present their research, and to play the songs of these artists.

Portfolio Entry #31 – Identify the Artists

Students will attempt to identify, from a 30 second video clip, the name of the rock and roll artist.

1. Students have previously studied various rock and roll artists from blues and country beginnings.

2. Students watch 30 second video clips of various artists.

3. Students have a name bank to assist them, and they write down the name of the artist that they think was in the video.  Students use stylistic knowledge, voice recognition, and other learned characteristics to determine the artist.

Portfolio Entry #30 – Blues Bass Line

Students will be able to play a blues bass line on the piano.

1. Students have previous knowledge of letter names on the piano.

2. Students have previous knowledge of reading notes in the treble and bass clef.

3. Students are given a demonstration of how, technically, to perform a boogie blues bass line.

4. Students watch the music as the teacher plays the bass line.

5. Students are paired up, or may work alone, and are given either a piano in the keyboard lab or a practice room piano, and they work on playing the bass line.

Portfolio Entry #29 – Stations of Blues

Students will learn about various blues singers by traveling to different stations, each with lyrics, a recording, and a biography.

1. 8 Stations are set up with the appropriate materials for 8 blues artists.

2. Students are put in to groups of 2 or 3.

3. Students take their question and answer packet and spend approximately 6 minutes at each station, listening to the music, reading the lyrics, reading the biography, and answering questions.

Portfolio Entry #28 – Create 12 Tone Music

Students will create their own 12-tone modern music composition.

1. Students are given an explanation of 12 tone music.

2. Students help build an example of a tone row in class.

3. Students, as a class, discuss how the tone row is put onto the staff.

4. The creation of the 12 tone music is modeled for the class by the teacher.

5. Students use the keyboards in the lab to then create their own 12-tone row using the same method.

Portfolio Entry #27 – Symphony Fantastique

Students will create their own “Symphony Fantastique”.

1. Students are given a background about Symphony Fantastique by Berlioz.

2. Students listen to and analyze segments of music from Symphony Fantastique.

3. Students go to the computer lab and log into www.imeem.com

4. Students use 5 contemporary songs (popular) to create a story in five movements.

Portfolio Entry #26 – Classical Piano

Students will learn about an accompaniment style used primarily during the classical period – the Alberti Bass.

1. Students are given a lesson on alberti bass, including a demonstration.

2. Students are shown how to create chords with which they will perform alberti bass.

3. Students practice the alberti bass pattern.

4. Students perform the alberti bass on the pianos.