Unit Guide

Social Justice through Musical Expression

Cecilia Hann

In Social Justice through Musical Expression, fifth grade students will focus on three guiding questions: How do performers interpret violence through the arts? How do individuals create music to show how to cope with violence? Ho can other artistic expressions be used to create, perform and respond to violence? Following the Delaware Music Standards and the Delaware Theater Standards, students will be introduced to the social problem of violence and then explore this in music and theatre. They will perform a violent scenario using hip hop, improvisation and pantomime. The objectives for “Social Problems through Musical Expression” are that the learners will discuss violence in the news and in their lives. How do they and other family members deal with violence? How can society show empathy and compassion to those who have suffered a violent act? They will compose a composition using various the various ideas of violence. Using dynamics, tempo, timbre, and articulation students will create a composition using pantomime and music. They will show solutions to violence using empathy. Finally, students will evaluate and discuss the musical work applying established criteria and appropriateness to violent context and results as decided by students.