I am a special education teacher at East Rock Global Magnet School, where I teach 7th and 8th grade self contained students. We have a multicultural population making our focus on global studies appropriate and essential to teaching diversity.
By researching the history of music from Kenya, I plan to show its importance to the culture. Music is a form of expression, entertainment as well as communication. Sounds we hear can control the frame of mind we are in.
Through collaboration with a team of fellow teachers, I plan to introduce my students to the culture and music of Kenya, while exploring the science of sound. We will learn the importance of music to a culture. We will make instruments and learn how the different shapes and sizes of the same material, creates a variety of sound. After the instruments are made we will learn how to play them.
At the end of this unit, my class will participate in a collaborative effort to present a culminating activity. An assembly called the "Festival of Sound" to be performed at an PTSO meeting for parents and students in the spring of next school year.
(Developed for Social Studies, Science, and Music, grades 6-8 and Special Education; recommended for Social Studies, Science, and Music, grades 6-8)
