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Rock History Course for Teachers
- December 18, 2014
- Posted by: The Teachers Academy
- Category: All Blog Postings Online Courses
“Hold on to 16 as long as you can…changes come around real soon make us women and men.” – John Cougar Melloncamp
Hey teachers, are you looking for a great way to incorporate music into your curriculum? Do you want to explore a different way to motivate and connect with your students? Maybe you have very little experience with music and just need a fun way to get those pesky professional development hours? Well look no further! Our new course, “Rock History” will rock your socks off!
This new course celebrates the legacy of rock music and gives teachers a glimpse of some of the greatest artists of all time. You will listen to sound clips that take you on rock’s epic journey from early influences to modern day. Experience how rock captured the essence of our country’s political and cultural changes throughout the past 200 years. Have a blast rockin’ out to some great “oldies” tunes that shaped the music and messages we listen to today.
The projects in all of The Teacher’s Academy courses are designed for you to use in the classroom right away. Rock History is no different! Have fun stumping your students with some of the facts you’ll learn by completing the Assessment Questions. Analyze lyrics to a favorite rock song or one you just discovered in the course and then share this experience with your students! Finally, you’ll use the integration ideas to build your own custom “rock and roll” lesson plan to use in class.
You do not have to teach music to take this course. As a matter of fact, we love when teachers take courses outside of the realm of their expertise. Pre-K and kindergarten teachers can use the resources to bring music with lyrics into the classroom. Imagine setting up a “rock” center for these young learners to experience the rich history of music (i.e.: get out and release some energy!). Some fun activities could be listening to sounds from different countries or watching The Beatles take the stage for the first time in America. They can match different instruments with the sounds they make or begin to “read” lyrics by watching words pop up in time with the their favorite songs. This is a great time for them to discuss or sketch and draw what they’ve experienced!
Elementary learners can benefit from different rock lessons that cross over the curriculum. Students can create fun rock parodies to build comprehension skills, study for a test or teach others about a concept. They can listen to music and write what it means to them, then compare what it really meant to the artist. Music is a historical timeline and your students can learn to pinpoint an event in time and a place in America by making these connections through music. (You can too! Think about Revolutionary War music or the pioneers moving out west. What type of music do you connect with those events?)
Music weaves its way naturally into Math and Science with the study of statistics, money, sound waves, sonar and communication devices. If you teach middle or high-school students, a great activity might be to implement a project-based learning experience by having them set up their own music business! First consider their job, would they be a musician or an agent or maybe a producer? Maybe they want to be an artist hired to design album covers or create music videos? Next, they would set up their company. Discuss the costs involved, naming the company, marketing, production, customer satisfaction, sales results and accounting! The opportunities are endless! Let’s face it. Rock and Roll is here to stay, so why not use it as a teaching tool!
Also, it does not matter where you teach! Your area has most likely had an impact on rock’s history:
R-O-C-K in the USA!
- Ohio (Rock n’Roll Hall of Fame)
- Tennessee (Elvis)
- Pennsylvania (Will Smith, Pink)
- New York (John Lennon LOVED it there)
- New Jersey (Bruce, Bon Jovi)
- Texas (Gene Autry, Willie Nelson, Meatloaf – Yeah!!! Thanks for that one.)
- Oregon (Doc Severinsen)
Ok, you get the picture!!
Have fun with this one teachers, and keep those ideas for new courses coming!!