Week 1
Our goal for the students in the first week of the unit is to make connections between music and narrative. To spark students’ thinking on this topic, we are reading excerpts from John Lennon’s biography and Jay-Z’s biography, as they discuss how their music expresses their life experiences. Ultimately, we want students to take these connections between music and life and analyze how stories come out in artists’ music, lyrics aside. So, our concepts for the week are the components of narrative: conflict, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. This gives us a language to work with as we analyze the narrative qualities of music. Students will gain a deeper understanding of narrative as we discuss how narratives follow these conventions and how they don’t follow them—both in literature and in music.
Our reading of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” bookends the week, as it portrays the sentiment about the expression of life experience through music similar to the two biographies we read. It also gives us an opportunity to engage the students in a literary text.
Our reading of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” bookends the week, as it portrays the sentiment about the expression of life experience through music similar to the two biographies we read. It also gives us an opportunity to engage the students in a literary text.
Daily Lesson Plans - Week 1
Day 1
Small group discussion comparing excerpts from John Lennon and Jay Z memoirs, introduction to the concept album project.
Find the lesson plan for day 1 here.
Find the concept album assignment sheet here.
Find the lesson plan for day 1 here.
Find the concept album assignment sheet here.
Day 2
Students will learn concepts and terminology for the unit with a brief Narratives and Music PowerPoint, then apply those concepts in watching clips from Disney's Fantasia (1940).
Find the lesson plan for day 2 here.
Find the PowerPoint presentation here.
Find the lesson plan for day 2 here.
Find the PowerPoint presentation here.
Day 3
Introduction to Jazz music, including useful background knowledge for reading "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin; begin reading "Sonny's Blues" in class.
Find the lesson plan for day 3 here.
See YouTube links on materials page.
Find the lesson plan for day 3 here.
See YouTube links on materials page.
Day 4
Continue and finish reading "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin; introduce Friday's project in the computer lab.
Find the lesson plan for day 4 here.
Find small group discussion questions for "Sonny's Blues" here.
Find the lesson plan for day 4 here.
Find small group discussion questions for "Sonny's Blues" here.
Day 5
