Jennie A. Kerney
I teach K-8 at John S. Martinez School in New Haven, Connecticut. This is an inner city school where the population is of mostly Hispanic descent. I will be aiming this unit at the 6-8 grade population. When the term jingle is mentioned, they immediately respond with "5 dollar foot long", so they are all aware of the impact of jingles in their lives. The students are able to sing and dance their way through the more catchy jingles.
I meet with each class for one forty-five minute period per week. Therefore this unit will take approximately ten to twelve weeks. The first and second sections should take about three weeks for each. Depending on the length of each commercial and the feedback afterward, the third section should take about four weeks.
It is my job to teach to the National Music Standards. The specific standards that relate to this unit are as follows:
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1.
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Singing alone and with others. While I realize that it is almost impossible to get middle-school students to sing in front of a group, of their peers no less, they will be expected to perform in their groups. This will include both their original jingles and any others brought up in class
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2.
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Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. The students will be creating their own raps/jingles using a specific format a rubric.
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Reading and notating music. Those students that choose to compose a melodic jingle will notate that jingle.
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4.
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Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. Students will be listening to two popular commercial jingles from the 1970's and they will be answering questions about them.
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5.
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Evaluating music and music performances. Each jingle from Activity two will be evaluated both by their peers and by the teacher using a rubric created by the class.
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6.
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Understanding music in relation to history and culture. By understanding the history of the jingle, students will gain knowledge about the advertising world and how they are influenced by jingles.
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