Objective(s)

• Students will research and collect information about a song on a certain era.
• Students will research and collect facts about the world from the same year of the song's publication date.
• Students will create an informative and colorful display about one of the songs.

National Standards

Arts: relate various topics of art knowledge and skills within and across the arts discipline

Summary

In this unit, students will research songs and events from the time period 1900 to 1920. Students will then work in groups to create visual displays of the songs and historical references. At the conclusion of the unit, a concert will be held to perform the songs and feature the displays. These lessons could be completed as a multidisciplinary unit in Music and Social Studies.

Technology and/or Materials Needed

• Computers with Internet and printer access
• craft paper
• glue
• markers
• large envelopes
• poster board or display boards

Implementation Time Frame

Approximately eight 45-minute class periods (not including the choral rehearsals)

Activities

Students will form learning teams or groups of four members. Members will be selected to serve the following functions:

• Team Representative (Rep)
  This person will report the team's progress to the teacher at the end of each session.
• Document Handler (Doc)
  This person will be responsible for all printed media and for the arrangement of the showcase display.
• Computer Operator (Brain)
  This person will be responsible for logging onto the Internet and collecting all relevant electronia media.
• Timekeeper (Super)
  This person will keep a timecard showing the length of time spent on each task.

Each group of students will spend approximately three class periods collecting data. Each group will collect the following information about a song from the era 1900-1920:

• composer and/or lyricist
• date of song publication
• city of publication
• type of song
• lyric summary
• similar songs from the era
• other facts about the song

Students will also collect facts about the world from the same year of the song's publication date. These facts are to fall into the following categories:

• Inventions/Discoveries
• Important People
• Sports
• Fashion and Entertainment
• Other World Events

Students will compile the data, write summaries, and print materials to use in their displays. All printed material will be kept in a large envelope until the display is assembled.

Students will design displays. All materials will be printed using the computer or handwritten on large index cards. The display will be arranged on poster board or display board.

Each display will be hung or set up outside of the auditorium for the concert.

Assessment

Displays may be evaluated for originality, creativeness, historical accuracy, and attention to all components of the research.

Resources and Related Links

• The Digital Scriptorium, an archive of sheet music images published from 1860-1920