Exploring Cultures Through the Arts

1. Exploring Cultures Through the Arts By Jacqueline Kahan and Christina Ramsay Ed200 Curriculum Project ‘06 Trinity College

2. Introduction • Our curriculum is a month long unit on cultures through the lenses of language, music and dance. Each week the students will study one culture, the culture’s music, and a dance from the culture of the week. • The lesson plans we will focus on are from the second week of the unit which is on merengue and the Dominican Republic.

3. Context • Who? 5th graders • What? The Exploration of Merengue and the Dominican Republic • Where? Hartford public classrooms • When? 2-3 hours per day

4. Bloom’s Taxonomy Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences Linguistic Music Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal CT Framework Under The Arts Under Social Studies Cooperative Learning Framework

5. Objectives • Students will be exposed to a variety cultures. • Students will compare and contrast the different cultures, music, and dances in the unit. • Students will express themselves through movement and music. • Students will collaborate with each other and hone their interpersonal skills • Students will construct a dance performance (with teacher’s assistance)

6. Schedule of Week’s Activities

7. Day 2 – Music Day! • Folk Song • Sing-a-long • Discussion comparing merengue folk song to songs students know • Create their own folk songs in groups • Presentation on merengue music by ethnomusicologist/musician • Main Objectives: Students will develop an understanding of merengue music • Students will demonstrate cultural understanding by using linguistic, musical and interpersonal intelligences

9. Day 4 – Let’s Dance! • Learn the basic merengue steps (together) from merengue expert • Practice basic steps in pairs • Students will be evaluated based on participation and effort displayed • Main Objectives: Students will demonstrate bodily-kinesthetic intelligence through learning merengue steps. • Students will learn to make connections between dance and music.

10. Justification • Students develop “acceptable” ways of releasing energy and expressing themselves creatively • Interdisciplinary learning integrates different academic subjects, which fosters higher-level thinking • Our curriculum project employs several learning approaches and intelligences that takes into account different learning styles.