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7th Grade General Music: Jazz Unit
One goal of mine during my Student Teaching experience was to create a unit for students in a genre which was essentially unfamilar to them. Because jazz, as a musical genre, is such an expansive term, and is a kind of "catch all," this was the genre of music chosen for the unit. Given a broader time frame, this lesson could be expanded to allow for greater student creativity. The Unit Lesson Plan (pdf) gives a broad overview of what is involved with the unit. Please note the contents of each group envelope.
Students were first given an overview of exactly what would be expected of them during the unit. Materials which assisted in this process can be found here. These were presented in overhead projector format; each group also receieved a copy in the group packet.
After having been randomly divided into groups and assigned genres of jazz, students were given information packets detailing exactly what they would need to know for each jazz style. Find links to each group packet below (pdf format):
Blues
Dixieland
Swing
Bop
Fusion
During group work, each group (titled above) fills in their area of the worksheet (for example, a student in the "Dixieland" group would fill in only those answers for the "Dixieland" section.
Groups finish by presenting (teacher assisted; perhaps without assistance, given more time to prepare, or a broader scope and grading scale for the unit) to their peers. This would be a great tool for integration with English or Speech class. During presentations, musical selections representative of the time periods are played for the class. At this time, each student writes the correct answers on their worksheet.
I found that students generally had a great time with this project. Because there are different roles in the groups, students with different talents and abilities can be grouped together so that each student's strength is utilized, and other areas may be improved. I found this to be a great activity for including all students, regardless of ability level.